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Mrs. Woodcourt
Charley is the daughter of Neckett, the elder sister of Emma and Tom, and the maid of Esther Summerson. Charley is orphaned when her father dies, and she is left to care for her siblings. She works as a maid for Judy Smallweed in order to support them. Charley and her siblings share a filthy room in Mrs. Blinder’s house and there is no one to care for them during the day when she is out at work. Although the children are innocent, people are reluctant to help them because their father was a debt collector, which was an unpopular profession. The children’s only friend is Gridley, who lives in their same building. Charley and her siblings are rescued from this dire situation when Mr. Jarndyce learns of their situation from Mr. Skimpole, whom their father unsuccessfully tried to arrest for debt. He employs Charley as Esther’s maid, who Esther agrees to tutor, and provides an education for Tom and Emma. Charley grows up to be a happy and industrious young woman because of this. She is a dedicated servant to Esther and becomes her close friend as she grows up and leaves her service.
Charley Quotes in Bleak House
The Bleak House quotes below are all either spoken by Charley or refer to Charley. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 15
Quotes
We were looking at one another, and at these two children, when there came into the room a very little girl, childish in figure but shrewd and older-looking in the face—pretty-faced too—wearing a womanly sort of bonnet much too large for her, and drying her bare arms on a womanly sort of apron. Her fingers were white and wrinkled with washing, and the soap-suds were yet smoking which she wiped off her arms. But for this, she might have been a child, playing at washing, and imitating a poor working-woman with a quick observation of the truth.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Bleak House LitChart as a printable PDF.
Charley Quotes in Bleak House
The Bleak House quotes below are all either spoken by Charley or refer to Charley. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 15
Quotes
We were looking at one another, and at these two children, when there came into the room a very little girl, childish in figure but shrewd and older-looking in the face—pretty-faced too—wearing a womanly sort of bonnet much too large for her, and drying her bare arms on a womanly sort of apron. Her fingers were white and wrinkled with washing, and the soap-suds were yet smoking which she wiped off her arms. But for this, she might have been a child, playing at washing, and imitating a poor working-woman with a quick observation of the truth.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
