Early experience had left Dickens with as little respect for the legal profession as for politicians. With rare exceptions, such as Jaggers in Great Expectations, the attorneys in his novels discredit their calling. They are the venal and frequently fraudulent supporters of the established order, masters of prevarication and double- dealing. The “Wiglomeration" against which John Jarndyce rails [in Bleak House] is their natural element. Many of Dickens' most memorable scenes from Pickwick Papers to A Tale of Two Cities take place in courtrooms and make fun of legal procedures. Bleak House, however, contains Dickens' most concentrated attack on this form of institutionalized chicanery. [pp. 40-41]
References
Johnson, E.D.H. Charles Dickens: An Introduction to His Novels. New York: Random House, 1969.
Last Modified 23 October 2002