Richard Carstone

A ward of the endless Chancery lawsuit Jarndyce and Jarndyce, Richard is young, restless and amiable, unable to settle to a profession because he is convinced the case will soon make his fortune. He is affectionate toward his cousin Ada and grateful to his guardian Mr Jarndyce, but easily swayed and quick to chafe against patience or advice.

Dickens uses Richard as a warning wrapped in charm: his amiability makes his slow capture by the lawsuit's false promise feel less like folly than tragedy. Patrick Kennedy plays the early boyishness with real warmth, so the gradual tightening of obsession registers as loss rather than judgment, a decent nature undone by patience running out.