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Originally Posted by paola
I also liked the vividness with wich lowlifers were described - in this respect I particularly liked Jo and Phil, who does not speak much and yet is very well characterised. And Mr. Tulkinghorn is also an interesting character to me - appearing out of nowhere, evil but in a principled way, with his little indulgences and shortcomings, like his overconfidence in his knowledge of human nature, that eventually leads him to a fatal misjudging of Hortense's reactions.
What I really found touching is the deep, passionate, desperate love of Sir Leicester, this most upright of man who is ready to forget all he stands for his fallen woman, and the description of the vigil was probably the most moving part of the novel for me.
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Jo was one of my favourite characters. He is a good example of the deep human sympathy Dickens could create and the death of Jo is very moving.
I agree that Sir Leicester develops powerfully as a character and Lady Dedlock shows a remarkable suppressed passion--much more so than is the case with Esther (Chapter 35 excepted}. Her switch from John to Allan is just not convincing and IMO one of the weakest sections of an otherwise fine novel.