Esther Summerson's Notes on Nursing

I argue that Esther Summerson from Charles Dickens' novel Bleak House (1853) is the forerunner of the “new-style" nurse that Nightingale later capitalized upon and made fashionable. In addition to being the ideal Victorian “angel in the house” with her gentle personality and excellent household management skills, Esther is an excellent nurse and sanitary reformer, culminating in her position as doctor’s wife at the end of the novel. And while critic Bronwyn Rivers briefly notes her significance as a moral nursing heroine, most scholars overlook her nursing role. Esther is a model new-style nurse in part because she needs training and experience to be a good nurse, rather than relying on instinct alone. Esther learns to nurse by observing Charley care for Jo, and then gains practical experience by caring for Charley. Esther is also a new-style nurse because she uses new-style nursing techniques regarding fresh air and sunshone when she cares for Charley and Caddy. Esther uses the same nursing practices Nightingale advocates in Notes on Nursing (1859), yet Bleak House was published six years before Nightingale's famous work. I argue that Dickens presents Esther as a model nurse other women should  emulate; Inspector Bucket even calls her a “pattern” (902). Dickens’ previous literary nurses Sairey Gamp (1843-44) and Mrs. Prodgit in his story “Births. Mrs. Meek of a Son” (1851), as well as his involvement with the Children’s Hospital in Great Ormond Street, demonstrate his interest in hired nurses. Additionally, Dickens was actively involved in sanitary reforms, thus Esther’s specific new-style care is not accidental.