Charles Dickens’s Bleak House (1852–53) portrays a staggering array of medical conditions. Beyond the much-discussed contagion that spreads to Jo, Charley, and Esther, the novel depicts such diverse afflictions as epilepsy, addiction, gout, stroke, paralysis, dementia, dyspepsia, ague, nervous shock, respiratory conditions, postpartum complications, as well as injuries resulting from industrial accidents, collapsed tenements, and spousal abuse. Additionally, the novel depicts Gridley’s and Richard’s more inscrutable deaths: They both lack any diagnosable disease, but still perish as a result of being “worn out” or “worn away.”