For some reason, Charles Dickens decides to give Esther and Charley contagious illness from Jo. Most people assume that it is smallpox. However, I am not a qualified medical professional, but I have been given the smallpox vaccine and live with a Registered Nurse at my home of record. To start out with there was no mention of any type of rash on anyone of the individuals. When someone contracts smallpox it takes around twelve days for the incubation period. That incubation period is when the smallpox will develop and within the story Charley was taken ill within only four days of exposure to Jo. After exposure and then rash the infected site then “erupts” into a sore. The sores need to be covered or else sores will run rampant across the body because it is so contagious; even just touching the infected site and touching another area will bring about further sore spots.
Esther had evidently contracted the “smallpox” after caring after Charley. Dickens writes that when she recovers her face is not the same as it was. However, towards the end of the story Mr. Woodcourt says that Esther is even more beautiful now than she ever was. If it were truly “smallpox” on her face then the sores that erupt and spread so very quickly then the healing process would create pits in her face with true, deep scarring and would most definitely disfigure Esther’s face creating a less symmetrical face. Of course, there is the possibility that Mr. Woodcourt was just trying to reassure her that her scars would not only heal more so over time, but that his love is so true that he can see past them and love Esther for being herself.
The discussion in class included the idea that Mr. Jarndyce only wanted to marry Esther to keep her safe from a homeless lifestyle and never getting married to anyone else, but even in a time of arranged marriages the man of the relationship that has the most power to make changes would need to be attracted to the fiancée just a little bit before he would commit to a lifetime of marriage. So if Mr. Jarndyce were willing to sign the contract of marriage with Esther then her wounds were not as bad as Dickens tried to make them sound. What I am sure about is that since Mr. Jarndyce knew Esther far before the “illness” happened that he could see past the wounds.
I like your analysis of smallpox in the novel. It would be interesting to research what people knew about the disease in the middle of the nineteenth century to get a better sense of why Dickens has these inconsistencies. The only part of your post that I'm not sure about is the claim/logic in the last paragraph. I don't see any places where Jarndyce seems to be attracted to Esther, so I have a hard time seeing his proposal as anything but security for Esther's future.
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