Bleak House

Bleak House

by

Charles Dickens

Judy Smallweed Character Analysis

Judy Smallweed is the granddaughter of Mr. Smallweed and Mrs. Smallweed and the sister of Bart Smallweed. She is mean, pinched woman who has grown up to be just as bitter, joyless, and greedy as the rest of her miserly family. Judy cares for her elderly grandparents but is not a particularly loving or affectionate grandchild. She often roughly shakes her grandfather when he slumps down in his chair and allows him to throw a pillow at his wife every time she speaks. Judy keeps a servant, Charley—a young orphan girl whom Mr. Jarndyce eventually hires to be Esther Summerson’s maid. Judy is a cruel employer, as she makes Charley work long hours and only feeds her table scraps for her meals.

Judy Smallweed Quotes in Bleak House

The Bleak House quotes below are all either spoken by Judy Smallweed or refer to Judy Smallweed. 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:
Social Mobility, Class, and Lineage Theme Icon
).
Chapter 21 Quotes

Everything that Mr. Smallweed’s grandfather ever put away in his mind was a grub at first, and is a grub at last. In all his life he has never bred a single butterfly. The father of this pleasant grandfather, of the neighborhood of Mount Pleasant, was a horny-skinned, two-legged, money-getting species of spider, who spun webs to catch unwary flies, and retired into holes until they were entrapped. The name of this old pagan’s God was Compound Interest.

Related Characters: Bart Smallweed, Mr. Smallweed, Mrs. Smallweed, Judy Smallweed
Page Number: 248
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 39 Quotes

They gradually discern the elder Mr Smallweed, seated in his chair upon the brink of a well or grave of waste paper; the virtuous Judy groping therein, like a female sexton; and Mrs Smallweed on the level ground in the vicinity, snowed up in a heap of paper fragments, print and manuscript, which would appear to be the accumulated compliments that have been sent flying at her in the course of the day. The whole party, Small included, are blackened with dust and dirt, and present a fiendish appearance not relieved by the general aspect of the room.

Related Characters: Mr. Guppy, Mr. Jobling / Mr. Weevle, Mr. Smallweed, Judy Smallweed, Krook
Page Number: 477
Explanation and Analysis:
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Judy Smallweed Quotes in Bleak House

The Bleak House quotes below are all either spoken by Judy Smallweed or refer to Judy Smallweed. 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:
Social Mobility, Class, and Lineage Theme Icon
).
Chapter 21 Quotes

Everything that Mr. Smallweed’s grandfather ever put away in his mind was a grub at first, and is a grub at last. In all his life he has never bred a single butterfly. The father of this pleasant grandfather, of the neighborhood of Mount Pleasant, was a horny-skinned, two-legged, money-getting species of spider, who spun webs to catch unwary flies, and retired into holes until they were entrapped. The name of this old pagan’s God was Compound Interest.

Related Characters: Bart Smallweed, Mr. Smallweed, Mrs. Smallweed, Judy Smallweed
Page Number: 248
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 39 Quotes

They gradually discern the elder Mr Smallweed, seated in his chair upon the brink of a well or grave of waste paper; the virtuous Judy groping therein, like a female sexton; and Mrs Smallweed on the level ground in the vicinity, snowed up in a heap of paper fragments, print and manuscript, which would appear to be the accumulated compliments that have been sent flying at her in the course of the day. The whole party, Small included, are blackened with dust and dirt, and present a fiendish appearance not relieved by the general aspect of the room.

Related Characters: Mr. Guppy, Mr. Jobling / Mr. Weevle, Mr. Smallweed, Judy Smallweed, Krook
Page Number: 477
Explanation and Analysis: