Bleak House Bleak House: Losing One’s Place – Displacement and Domesticity By: Kevin McLaughlin Presenter: Roy Chan
Key Vocabularies/Terms Theme: Home Displacement Domesticity “Self Estranged Subject” Veil Phenomenology
Home in Bleak House A social form A source of order Esther Summerson is both homeless and a woman. She is displaced from her actual parents, and tries to figure that out at John Jarndyce home
Domesticity vs. Displacement Domesticity - The quality or state of being domestic, domestic character; home or family life; devotion to home; homeliness. A source of order Displacement – the removal of a thing from its place; putting out of place; shifting, dislocation. The removal of someone or something by someone or something else that takes their place
“Self-Estranged” Subject The recognition of oneself as different or strange.
Veil To cover the person with, or as with, a veil; to conceal or hide the face by means of a veil; to enveil.
Georg Hegel’s Philosophy Phenomenology – an approach to philosophy that begins with an exploration of phenomena (a conscious experience) “Self-estranged Subject” vs. “Self-Estranged Spirit”