Victorian Visual Culture

So far, in the first 19 chapters of Charles Dickens’ Bleak House, we see two examples of mothers who work, Mrs. Jellyby and Mrs. Pardiggle. The way Dickens chooses to portray them is particularly interesting. I do not believe that it is a coincidence that both women are portrayed as ‘bad’ mothers. Mrs. Jellyby is neglectful of her children’s needs in favor of her passion project to ‘help’ Africa, and Mrs. Pardiggle forces her children to contribute to her work. While their interactions with their respective children are different, they are both shown as ‘bad’ mothers, because they are focused on something other than their domestic duties. In contrast, Joshua Reynolds’ “Lady Delme and Her Children,” portrays Lady Delme as nothing more than her identity as a Lady and mother. She is pictured with her arms wrapped protectively around her children, but not entirely forcing them to pose a certain way for the portrait. She is depicted as more attentive to her children than Mrs. Jellyby, but not overbearing as Mrs. Pardiggle. The portrayal of these two characters in the novel, whether intentional or not (though I believe it was), makes the statement that women should stick to their domestic duties, or else they have failed as mothers.

Works Cited

Dickens, Charles. Bleak House. Oxford University Press, 2008.

Reynolds, Joshua. “Lady Delme and Her Children”, 1777-79.