Do smallpox blind the eyes?

Question

I don't know if any of you have read "Bleak House" by Charles Dickens, but in Chapter 31, Esther receives smallpox from her maid, Charley. She tells her to come near her because she has "become blind". I was wondering if you could actually go blind from smallpox.

Answer 1

Smallpox isn't around anymore, but when it was, people were blinded by it... if they were lucky.
What I mean is if they were ONLY blinded that they were lucky, because many people died from smallpox.