• Journal of English Language & Literature
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• v.55 no.6
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• pp.993-1011
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• 2009

Generally, the parts narrated by Esther in Bleak House has been considered less convincing and reliable than those by the anonymous narrator for some problematic qualities in her character and narration. However, Esther's narrative shows Dickens' masterly depiction of emotional deprivation, the psychic consequences of the Victorian sexual repression on its victim. Therefore, to restore the reliability of Esther's narrative is the prerequisite for claiming its value as an appropriate locus of the meanings of the text. On the other hand, the anonymous narrator is not so omniscient as he has been regarded. As the chapters proceed, his omniscient power and authority is conspicuously weakened, and even transferred to other characters such as Esther and Mr. Bucket. This shows that the identity of the omniscient voice is unstable and that Dickens does not intend his voice to be the sole center of meanings of the text. In short, these two narratives are the necessary partners in imagining and understanding the society in its wholeness. Alternating and sometimes intersecting each other throughout the novel, these opposing viewpoints make us see the contradictory multi-leveledness of the Victorian society. The equality of them implies Dickens' notion that more than single unified voice is needed to portray ideological conflicts of his age.