Page 198-199

“They strolled away, among the lanes beginning to be indistinct in the twilight-she leaning on his arm-and she little thought how she was going down, down, down, Mrs. Sparsit's staircase.

Night and day, Mrs. Sparsit kept it standing. When Louisa had arrived at the bottom and disappeared in the gulf, it might fall in upon her if it would; but, until then, there it was to be, a Building, before Mrs. Sparsit's eyes. And there Louisa always was, upon it.

And always gliding down, down, down!

Mrs. Sparsit saw James Harthouse come and go; she heard of him here and there; she saw the changes of the face he had studied; she, too, remarked to a nicety how and when it clouded, how and when it cleared; she kept her black eyes wide open, with no touch of pity, with no touch of compunction, all absorbed in interest. In the interest of seeing her, ever drawing, with no hand to stay her, nearer and nearer to the bottom of this new Giant's Staircase.

With all her deference for Mr. Bounderby as contradistinguished from his portrait, Mrs. Sparsit had not the smallest intention of interrupting the descent. Eager to see it accomplished, and yet patient, she waited for the last fall, as for the ripeness and fullness of the harvest of her hopes. Hushed in expectancy, she kept her wary gaze upon the stairs; and seldom so much as darkly shook her right mitten (with her fist in it), at the figure coming down.”

Mrs. Sparsit is imagining this staircase as the relationship between Harthouse and Louisa grows. She has continually resented the marriage of Bounderby and Louisa, so this descent of Louisa down the staircase is enjoyable. She wants Louisa to ruin her reputation so that Bounderby is once again a bachelor. Dickens’ shows Sparsit’s self-interest and lack of compassion by saying, “she kept her black eyes wide open, with no touch of pity, with no touch of compunction, all absorbed in interest.” Dickens shows the high society’s lack of empathy for others. Instead it’s all for one and one for all. Throughout this passage, Louisa is going farther and farther down the staircase since her relationship is growing stronger leading up to Harthouse later confessing his love. This is noticed as Dickens repeats, “down, down, down” for emphasis. Dickens also brings up natural time like the he had before with the seasons when saying, “Eager to see it accomplished, and yet patient, she waited for the last fall, as for the ripeness and fullness of the harvest of her hopes”.Sparsit is willing to wait patiently because she wants Louisa’s reputation to be ruined very much. Once Louisa fully consents to the romance of James, Sparsit can go back to being Bounderby’s main companion.

Samantha Seaton