Previous
Book 1, Chapter 10
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Our Mutual Friend, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Society, Class, and Character
Greed and Corruption
Marriage, Adoption, and Family
Education vs. Real-World Experience
Misfits and Outcasts
Summary
Analysis
Mr. Podsnap thinks highly of himself. He inherited money and married into even more money. Because he has such a high opinion of himself, Mr. Podsnap feels he has certain responsibilities in the world. One of them is socializing his daughter, Miss Georgiana Podsnap, who is about to turn 18. He decides to hold a large dinner for her birthday.
Mr. Podsnap is one of the stereotypical examples of upper-class London society. Unlike the Veneerings, who are too new-money, or Twemlow, who is too old, Mr. Podsnap does everything correctly. But especially in this novel, being the perfect example of upper-class London society is not a good thing, and this passage hints at how a vain and arrogant man lurks beneath Mr. Podsnap’s supposedly sophisticated exterior.
Themes
Literary Devices
The Veneerings are at Georgiana’s birthday dinner, but Mr. Podsnap is more interested in a foreign gentleman who speaks French and seems like he might be rich. Mr. Podsnap tries, not quite successfully, to convince the stranger that Britain is the finest nation in the world with the finest customs. Afterwards, Mr. Veneering brings up the topic of the John Harmon murder. He heard that in John’s absence, Boffin has inherited old Mr. Harmon’s property, and people are calling him The Golden Dustman. Mrs. Veneering talks about what a beautiful but pitiful person Bella is.
Mr. Podsnap’s extreme patriotism and belief in British culture seem to be related to the fact that he himself is at the top of British society—so he feels the need to justify it. Although Boffin is a subject of fascination for people at this party, it’s clear based on nicknames like “The Golden Dustman” that people look down on him due to his humble origins (which is hypocritical in the case of the Veneerings, who themselves only recently became wealthy).
Themes
Literary Devices
At the dinner, Alfred and Sophronia attach themselves to the Veneerings, as they do at most social gatherings. At one point, Sophronia is happy to get away from the Veneerings to play cards with Georgiana, but Georgiana is shy and isn’t interested in talking. Sophronia persists and tries to befriend Georgiana, insisting that Georgiana isn’t as dull as she believes herself to be.
The amount of time that the newly married Lammles and the Veneerings spend together is a sign of how each of them lacks connections in the upper-class London social world, and so they are stuck together. Georgiana seems to be in a similar situation, too shy to take advantage of her father’s esteemed position in society. Sophronia recognizes how Georgiana is a fellow outcast in this upper-class world.
Themes
Literary Devices
Meanwhile at the dinner, Mr. Podsnap gets in an argument with a meek-looking man. The man talks about people starving on the streets of London, but Mr. Podsnap feels that that isn’t possible. It’s only possible, he suggests, if people starved through their own fault, because Britain has done more than any other country in the world for the poor. Sophronia introduces Georgiana to Alfred and says that all of them must be good friends from that point on. With that, Sophronia and Alfred leave, and in their carriage ride, they talk about how Georgiana is an “idiot girl” who might be useful in their schemes to make money.
Once again, Mr. Podsnap speaks in hyperbolic terms about how great Britain is. By saying that it isn’t possible for a hard worker to starve in Britain, he is really just flattering himself, implying that his own status and fortune is a result of hard work (even though in reality, his wealth is simply the result of his inheritance and his marriage). Although Sophronia seemed to take pity on Georgiana earlier, when she’s alone with Alfred, she shows her more ruthless side, revealing how greed can motivate characters to try to manipulate each other.
Themes
Get the entire Our Mutual Friend LitChart as a printable PDF.
