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Jarndyce and Jarndyce drones on. This scarecrow of a suit…

“Jarndyce and Jarndyce drones on. This scarecrow of a suit has, in course of time, become so complicated that no man alive knows what it means. The parties to it understand it least, but it has been observed that no two Chancery lawyers can talk about it for five minutes without coming to a total…” quote by Dickens, Charles
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““Jarndyce and Jarndyce drones on. This scarecrow of a suit has, in course of time, become so complicated that no man alive knows what it means. The parties to it understand it least, but it has been observed that no two Chancery lawyers can talk about it for five minutes without coming to a total disagreement as to all the premises. Innumerable children have been born into the cause; innumerable young people have married into it; innumerable old people have died out of it. Scores of persons have deliriously found themselves made parties in Jarndyce and Jarndyce without knowing how or why; whole families have inherited legendary hatreds with the suit. The little plaintiff or defendant who was promised a new rocking-horse when Jarndyce and Jarndyce should be settled has grown up, possessed himself of a real horse, and trotted away into the other world. Fair wards of court have faded into mothers and grandmothers; a long procession of Chancellors has come in and gone out; the legion of bills in the suit have been transformed into mere bills of mortality; there are not three Jarndyces left upon the earth perhaps since old Tom Jarndyce in despair blew his brains out at a coffee-house in Chancery Lane; but Jarndyce and Jarndyce still drags its dreary length before the court, perennially hopeless.””

Dickens, Charles

About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

The endless legal battle becomes a tangled, incomprehensible maze that consumes generations, illustrating how bureaucracy can dominate lives and destroy meaning.

In simple terms: Legal disputes can become endless and meaningless.

Key Takeaway

Avoid getting trapped in endless bureaucracy.

Themes

law bureaucracy generational conflict justice complexity

Mood

cynical somber

Type

literary cautionary

When to use this quote

  • family inheritance disputes
  • long‑term litigation
  • historical legal analysis

Key Concepts

legal inertia institutional decay social stagnation

Questions to Reflect On

  • How does bureaucracy erode personal agency?
  • What can be done to prevent endless legal entanglements?
A Different Perspective

Legal systems can become self‑destructive and lose purpose.

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