Charles Dickens's England was plagued by disease, pollution and poverty. It was England that gave birth to the Salvation Army, the gin craze and Benthamism, and it is no coincidence that Charles Dickens' Bleak House has a lot to say on the question of charity . As Esther advances in life, she is both a recipient of the charity of others and a bit of a philanthropist herself. However, it is John Jarndyce who is the central philanthropist in this novel. It is through his help that the causes of Miss Barbary, Mrs. Jellyby, Mrs. Pardiggle, Harold Skimpole and, of course, Esther Summerson are championed. However, Dickens does not always present the charitable work of these characters in the most favorable light. If anything, there's a sense that their perspectives are a bit skewed and that they're missing out on a lot of the good work they could be doing. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original Essay The first so-called philanthropist the reader comes into contact with is Miss Barbary. Esther's "godmother", who is actually her aunt, does much to provide for Esther's basic needs, albeit through the generosity of Mr. Jarndyce. However, the home she and Esther share is not necessarily a happy one. Esther tells us that although Miss Barbary was quite pious -- "[she] went to church three times every Sunday, and to morning prayers on Wednesdays and Fridays, and to lectures whenever there were lectures -- - ", she never smiled. She was always serious and strict" (28). It was in this house that Esther spent her early years, a house without friends, without birthdays and without much joy. After the death of Miss Barbary, it was again Jarndyce who comes to help Esther and ensures that she attends Greenleaf, a boarding school in Reading During her transit by coach, Esther meets Jarndyce - even if she does not know it is him at the time -, that she finds it "very strange" and a little scary. As Esther begins to cry over her unknown future, Jarndyce attempts to console her with plum cake and pie, a trick the reader soon comes to recognize as his standard way of coping with an adverse situation: "In this paper,” which was nicely folded, “is a piece of the best plum cake that money can get – sugar on the outside an inch thick, like fat on mutton chops. Here's a little pie (a gem, both in size and quality), made in France. And what do you think it's made of? Livers of large geese. Now let's see you eat them." "Thank you, sir," replied [Esther], "thank you very much, but I hope you will not be offended" (37-8) Although; "[such] a man be rich and good, warm and generous, golden at heart", what Jarndyce fails to recognize is that Esther has no need of an imported pie or the finest cakes" that can be had for money” (Goldfarb 144). What she needs is love, acceptance and reassurance – not handouts, no matter how luxurious. After her six years at Greenleaf, Esther. finds himself once again under the influence of John Jarndyce; he is asked to serve at Bleak House, Jarndyce's home. While she is on the way, she and two of Jarndyce's other wards, Ada and Richard, spend the night at Mrs. Jellyby's house. Another cause that Jarndyce chose to fund. While Mrs. Jellyby devotes much time and energy to the cause of Africa, her house is in ruins and she mistreats her daughter Caddy by forcing her to work tooassiduously for this cause. When Esther draws Mr. Jarndyce’s attention to the fact that “[Mrs. Jellyby] did not care much for his home,” Jarndyce is “stunned” (83). Esther suggests that “it is right to begin with the obligations of the home [...]; and that, perhaps, even if these tasks are neglected and neglected, no other duty can be substituted for them? » (83). Jarndyce responds: "She has good intentions" (84). This seems to be the whole of Jarndyce's philanthropic mission: good intentions and good intentions are all that is necessary to win John Jarndyce's charitable support. At Bleak House, Esther, Ada and Richard meet Harold Skimpole, another of Jarndyce's charitable projects. and a fine example of its philanthropic mission. A doctor by training, Skimpole has recently chosen to live, thanks to Jarndyce's support, the quiet life of a dilettante. He manages to convince Esther and Richard to help pay one of his debts and, in effect, renounce any normal responsibilities required by adult life. Because “Harold Skimpole likes to see the sun shine; he likes to hear the wind blow; he likes to observe changing lights and shadows; he likes to hear the birds, these choristers of the great cathedral of nature. And it seems to me that I am about to deprive Harold Skimpole of his share of these goods, which are his only birthright! » (99). Interestingly, it was a doctor, Skimpole, who was allowed to live a life of leisure by Jarndyce. In a time and place of much suffering and disease – Esther herself is afflicted with smallpox – Skimpole should have much to offer her society. Instead, he lives a comfortable life in Bleak House, allowing others to pay his debts, while he takes time to enjoy the sun. Jarndyce's young wards, Esther, Ada and Richard, are introduced to another of his charitable causes during their residence. at Bleak House, Mrs. Pardiggle. "[A] lady of wonderful style, with glasses, a prominent nose and a loud voice, who had the effect of wanting lots of space", Mrs Pardiggle cares very much about her charity work and the help of her five boys don't provide so willingly. She is "a school lady, [...] a visiting lady, [...] a reading lady, [...] a distribution lady, [...] within the local committee of the laundry box and numerous general committees. ," and led a vast prospecting campaign (125-6). She takes Esther and Ada with her to visit a brickmaker, "a very bad character", and his family (128). On their arrival, Esther and Ada sees “a woman with a black eye, nursing a poor little panting baby near the fire; a man, all stained with clay and mud, and looking very worn out, lying full length on the ground, smoking; a cigarette', a pipe; a powerful young man, tying a collar to a dog; and a daring girl, doing a sort of laundry in very dirty water" (130). not very friendly", warns that she cannot be tired and that she will continue to make regular visits until conditions suit her. Even if the brickmaker informs her that their situation is as it is and is unlikely to be changed by her regular visits, Mrs. Pardiggle insists What Mrs. Pardiggle does not notice or even care about, and what Esther and Ada care about, is the baby. Upon closer inspection, they discover that he is dead. While the brickmaker is unable to get rid of Mrs. Pardiggle, Mr. Jarndyce has relatively little trouble; it became his standard method of conflict resolution: writing a check. Because “doing good for the sake of doing good is not his impulse in life. He uses money, his unearned money,, 12:2 (1980), 144-52.