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Book 1, Chapter 1
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. and Mrs. Veneering are a newly rich couple who live in a newly built part of London. They hold large social gatherings and invite the gentleman Twemlow over so often that he’s like a piece of furniture that they bring out for parties. Twemlow is always confused about where he stands with the Veneerings, including whether he’s a new friend or an old one, because they seat him differently at each event. One evening, there’s a banquet that the Veneerings host with 14 people, including Twemlow, Mr. Podsnap, and Mrs. Podsnap. A newcomer at the party mistakes Mr. Veneering for Twemlow, which annoys both Veneering and Twemlow. Twemlow is about 30 years older than Mr. Veneering, but he considers himself better-bred than Veneering.
The setting of the second chapter is very different from the first, taking place at parties for the wealthy rather than on the dirty River Thames. This establishes how the novel will explore a wide range of London society, from the bottom of the social ladder to the top. Although the Veneerings are wealthy, this chapter is highly satirical of their lifestyle, showing how despite their money, they don’t understand the social rituals of upper-class society as well as someone like Twemlow. Twemlow’s indignation at being mistaken for Veneering reveals how important this distinction between new money and old money is for these characters.
Themes
Literary Devices
A woman at the party named Lady Tippins starts telling a story she heard recently about a man named John Harmon who has been away for a while, possibly out of the country. But he’s coming back now after the death of his wealthy father, who made a fortune as a “Dust Contractor” (cleaner) and who eventually formed his own “Dust pile” (garbage dump). The old Mr. Harmon also has a daughter, but they had a falling out over her choice of husband, and she died. When the old Mr. Harmon died, the fortune was set to go almost entirely to his son, John, except for a small amount to a loyal servant.
Like the Veneerings, old Mr. Harmon made his money recently rather than coming from an old aristocratic family. As her title suggests, Lady Tippins is from the old aristocracy, and she seems to regard newly wealthy families like the Harmons with condescension (emphasizing old Mr. Harmon’s role in the dirty dust business) but also fascination. The disagreement between old Mr. Harmon and his daughter hints at how he could be a controlling person, and the conflict between parents and children, particularly on the subject of marriage, will come up again many times in the novel.
Themes
As Lady Tippins continues to tell the story with help from a gentleman at the party named Mortimer, she reveals one last twist: In order for John to inherit the fortune, he has to marry a specific girl. When the will was written 14 years ago (around the same time John himself went away), the girl was only 4 or 5, but now she’s of marriageable age.
Old Mr. Harmon’s provision in his will is clearly eccentric—he had no way of knowing what would become of this girl when he saw her at age 4 or 5. Old Mr. Harmon attempts to use his wealth and his son’s inheritance as a way to exercise control over his family rather than trusting young John’s judgement, reflecting a potentially strained relationship.
Themes
Just then, a someone gives Mortimer a note with news: Apparently, shortly after returning to London, John Harmon drowned in the river.
Dickens published many of his novels in serial installments, including this one, and so chapters often end in cliffhangers. The graveness of the death here contrasts with the upper-class party, showing how while some people are gossiping aimlessly, others are out dying.
Themes
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