How can a review be written of Bleak House with no mention of it's central character, Lady Dedlock? And if you are to talk about fog, her life of all characters in the book, is the one most beset by fog. She does not know that her lover is yet alive - and even once she sifts through the fog, she finds only his grave. She does not know that her daughter is still alive, yet once she finds her she must continue life without her. And the great tragedy of Lady Dedlock is that she cannot see through the fog of her husband's arrogant exterior, to the deep love that he has for her. Richard Carson may die ultimately because of the fog of Chancery. But Lady Dedlock dies because of the fog of her own perceptions. She cannot see her way through the pain that clouds her senses to self forgiveness and so cannot imagine that anyone else could forgive her either. Surely she, not the hollow Richard Carstone, is the tragic character of Bleak House?