How do Dickens and Weldon create and convey character?

How do Dickens and Weldon create and convey character?

When writing, the means used to convey character are very important for the author to get their point across, or create a particular atmosphere. Showing perspective through the different narrative voices that exist, as well as whether or not the dialogues are written out, or just described, are some of the ways a character seems realistic and convincing to the reader.

In Dickens’ and Weldon’s cases, both use the first person perspective, and thus leave out information from the reader. Dickens uses the first person with the character of Esther in Bleak House, whose retelling of her and Richard meeting Mrs. Jellyby is descriptive, and her first impression of the woman influences the reader’s way of looking at the woman. Esther talks of feeling “uneasiness”, and Mrs. Jellyby’s formal tone creates distance between her and the two guests, especially since they’re not in a familiar environment. This feeling of unfamiliarity is further emphasised by the description of the hostess, as she is said to be dressed loosely, presenting herself with such untidiness, that the reader can relate to being uncomfortable at the sight of “the open space” of Mrs. Jellyby’s attire. Dickens obviously did not do this for the sake of describing the woman, so that readers can picture what she looks like, as her physical state translates her state of mind. She is kept busy by “the African project”, welcomes her guests in semi-darkness, and doesn’t even react when her child falls down a flight of stairs.

Weldon’s way of using a first person point of view creates a different effect. As we read, it’s as if the woman saying “I” in Clinical Disco is talking to us, and we are in the bar with her, drinking. The author achieves the feeling of franticness the young woman emanates, by having her talk non-stop, and rapidly, in an informal way, which is the opposite of Dickens’ characters in Bleak House. Compared to Mrs. Jellyby, her speech is not being transmitted through the words and vision of another character. Weldon’s character differs from Esther with the fact that her first person point of view is used to directly divulge excessive information about that woman. It is quite ironic that we don’t even know her name, but her casual tone and fast-paced speech seems like her attempting to engage proximity with the person she is talking to. The perspective also contributes to the surprise we have of reading that she was a patient at Broadmoor, a mental institution in charge of “the criminally insane”, especially since the monologue leading up to this point had just been the main character talking about trivial topics, and doing small talk.

The description of a character, or lack thereof, is also an essential aspect of creating an impression, an image of the main character in a book. We see this with Mrs. Jellyby, with how the description of her house’s darkness, the woman’s carelessness towards her appearance, and her child being hurt, paints her in a rather mysterious light. The reader is inclined to wonder how a “pretty [...], plump woman from forty to fifty”, can be so clueless, and not notice she is pouring all of her energy into her work. Esther keeps mentioning her physical appearance, and the reader only gets to see the overworked woman in Mrs. Jellyby, again in the sentence “[she]

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