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Book 2, 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
Miss Peecher continues to quietly spy on her love, Headstone. Miss Peecher asks Mary Anne questions about Charley’s sister, Lizzie. Soon after, Headstone himself approaches through Miss Peecher’s garden. He wants to leave his house key with Miss Peecher because he’s going out for business and Charley will soon be back from an errand and need the key.
Headstone’s secrecy about his actions suggests that perhaps a part of him is ashamed or uncertain about what he’s doing. This could be because in spite of everything, he still sees Lizzie as beneath him, suggesting that his supposed love for her is more about controlling her than meeting her as an equal.
Themes
Literary Devices
Headstone heads toward Jenny and Lizzie’s place, feeling a little ashamed of how much his passion for Lizzie is controlling him. When he arrives, only Jenny is present. Jenny is skeptical of Headstone because she doesn’t like Charley. Headstone says he’s only come to speak with Lizzie and “reason with” her. Finally, Lizzie herself shows up.
Headstone likes to imagine himself as an intellectual who is always in control of his actions, not moved by passion. One possible meaning of his name “Headstone” is “hard-headed,” suggesting that he is stubborn and sets his mind on Lizzie even though he can tell she doesn’t want him.
Themes
Headstone says he’s come to see Lizzie for his own reasons, not on Charley’s behalf. Headstone has heard from Charley that Lizzie is going ahead with getting a tutor, but she is leaning towards choosing Eugene. Headstone can barely contain how much he dislikes Eugene as he talks. Lizzie says she appreciates the concern, but that she’s made up her mind.
Headstone claims that he wants what’s best for Lizzie when he offers to act as her tutor. But as this passage reveals, what he really wants is to control and manipulate Lizzie. If he really believed in his stated goal of helping Lizzie to get an education, it wouldn’t matter whether she got the education from him or from Eugene.
Themes
Headstone promises to conduct another “interview” with Lizzie later and asks her to keep an open mind. Lizzie is confused, but he leaves before explaining. Left alone with Jenny, Lizzie brushes her hair, as she often does, reflecting on how strange Headstone is. Jenny brings up the subject of Eugene. She asks how Lizzie would feel around Eugene if she herself were a lady. Although Lizzie is reluctant to imagine herself as a lady at first, at last she admits that an aristocratic version of herself would probably love Eugene.
Headstone’s insistence on coming back, despite Lizzie’s clear rejection, shows again how stubborn he is, foreshadowing the lengths he will go to in his attempt to control Lizzie. Because Jenny is a peer—a young woman who also has had to deal with an immature, alcoholic father—Lizzie is more honest with her, revealing that she would in fact love Eugene if circumstances allowed.
Themes
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