
Lucina S. answered 01/14/21
Princeton Graduate for Literature and Academic Writing Tutoring
In literary studies, we would simply say that Dicken's uses a mixed and plural point of view, alternating between a first person narrator and an omnicient third person narrator.
There are a few possible reasons that Dickens chose to split Bleak House this way, and focus on Esther Summerson.
(1) Esther's story links to one of the central mysteries of the novel: the scandal of Esther being Lady Dedlock's secret, illegitimate child.
(2) Esther is a governess and housekeeper who exists almost (but not entirely!) in the private sphere, meaning: at home. In Victorian England, people are concerned about maintaining a division between public life and private life. Men were (generally) expected to focus on public life (jobs, politics, etc.), while respectable women were expected to stay within the private sphere. Therefore, using Esther as a narrator for the private sphere and the third-person narrative for the public sphere emphasizes these expectations, though it doesn't necessarily mean that Dickens himself supported them.
Given Esther's status as a kind of "domestic angel," it's interesting to see when she breaks out of that mold, such as the sequence when she joins Inspector Bucket, a professional detective, in the search for Lady Dedlock, her mother. Think about Esther's role in the investigation? Is she important? Does she remain within expectations of femininity?