Bleak House · Character

Miss Flite

A gentle, half-mad old woman who has spent decades in Chancery's shadow, keeping caged birds she means to set free.

supporting

Also known as Flite, little Miss Flite

As a supporting figure in Bleak House, Miss Flite is not background color—the story leans on what they do once the chapter opens.

A little mad old woman who is always in court, expecting a favorable judgment in her own suit, carrying documents consisting of paper matches and dry lavender.

In the storyIn ChanceryOpen this moment free

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Miss Flite haunts the courts and Lincoln's Inn, dressed in faded finery and attended by a collection of birds she names after legal virtues and delays. She is a living warning of what the Chancery suit does to those who wait on it, yet she is also kind, ceremonious, and oddly hopeful, calling the wards her friends and dressing up for her Monday calls. Her birds and her patience make her one of the novel's most haunting figures, a small human emblem of the law's slow cruelty.

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See Miss Flite in A Morning Adventure

Character Web

3 connections

A slice of how Miss Flite sits in the book — open the reader for the full interactive map.

Relationship types

Other

Character groups

Minor Figures and Background Characters
Protagonist
Chancery and Mystery Core

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Narrative arc

Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Exposition.

Setup
Escalation
Breaking point
Aftermath
Closing

This passage marks the dramatic climax because it depicts Esther’s psychological reversal from illness and los…

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In the story

Miss Flite appears across 8 companion beats. Open any chapter in the free preview to see the notes beside the text.

In Chancery
A little mad old woman who is always in court, expecting a favorable judgment in her own suit, carrying documents consisting of paper matches and dry lavender.
A Progress
A curious old woman who greets the wards in court, claiming to expect a judgment on the Day of Judgment.
A Morning Adventure
The 'poor half-witted creature' who lives above Krook's shop; tells the story of Tom Jarndyce; keeps caged birds she hopes to free after her judgment.
Deportment
Recovering from illness caused by the death of Nemo; receives weekly shillings from an unknown benefactor.
A New Lodger
Lends Mr. Weevle a needle and thread for his new lodging.
An Appeal Case
Present in court; agrees to visit Gridley; refers to Esther as 'Fitz Jarndyce'.
XXXV: Esther’s Narrative
Visits Esther; brings news of Mr. Woodcourt's heroism in a shipwreck and speaks of her own expectations in the suit.
XLVII: Jo’s Will
Now lodging with Mrs. Blinder, she welcomes Allan and offers to help with Jo.

Chapter companion notes

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See Miss Flite in A Morning Adventure

See Miss Flite in In Chancery