“Bleak House” (post 4) by Charles Dickens: Esther Summerson’s nicknames are additional symptoms of “gratuitous multiple personality”

Esther Summerson’s multiplicity of nicknames include “Dame Durden” (1, pp. 138, 210, 215), “Mother Hubbard (1, p. 270), and “Mrs Shipton” (1, p. 271). Other writers have raised the issue of Esther’s nicknames, but I have not seen anyone raise the issue in relation to the only psychological condition which is known for a person’s having multiple names: multiple personality. Esther’s multiple names are more evidence that Dickens, for some unknown reason, has given this character symptoms of multiple personality (see prior posts).

I have no reason to think that Dickens intended to give Esther symptoms of multiple personality. Indeed, I think it was unintentional. In fact, my experience in reading for this blog has, years ago, led me to the conclusion that most symptoms of multiple personality in literature are not intended. My term for this is “gratuitous multiple personality,” which I have discussed in many past posts.

I infer that the reason for the surprisingly common occurrence of gratuitous symptoms of multiple personality in literature is that it reflects the psychology of many fiction writers, which I call “multiple personality trait” (as opposed to multiple personality disorder).

Please search both “Dickens” and "gratuitous multiple personality.”

1. Charles Dickens. Bleak House [1853]. London, Penguin Books, 2003. 

Added Feb. 17: These nicknames could be nothing more than clever conversational ways of noting Esther's attributes – motherly, perceptive, etc. — except for the fact that no other character has been continually accumulating nicknames.

Also, search "Hemingway nicknames."