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Book 2, Chapter 5
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
Mortimer and Eugene are having a conversation on an upper floor of their office. Mortimer can tell something is bothering Eugene, but Eugene drags out the conversation and refuses to reveal his thoughts. As they’re talking, they notice they have two visitors below at the front door: Charley and Headstone. Eugene doesn’t realize that they’ve come to see him and Mortimer, and so for his own amusement, he tries to drop little pellets of dirt on their heads as they enter.
Eugene seems to be thinking about Lizzie. The fact that he can’t admit his feelings to Mortimer shows how Eugene still feels a sense of shame about how Lizzie’s class differs from his own. Still, Eugene reveals some of his feelings when he throws dirt at Headstone (a rival for Lizzie’s affections). The geography of this passage, with Eugene above Headstone flicking dirt down, shows how Eugene thinks he’s above Headstone.
Themes
Charley and Headstone say they’ve been looking for Eugene and accuse him of bothering Lizzie by seeing her frequently. Charley believes that Lizzie has developed “romantic notions” about life after Gaffer’s death, and he fears that Eugene is encouraging her worst impulses, whereas Headstone is trying to teach her to be realistic about the world. Eugene is defiant, trying to rile up Charley and Headstone. He correctly guesses that Headstone may be romantically interested in Lizzie.
This passage pits Headstone and Eugene against each other, with Headstone as the realist (at least from his perspective) and Eugene as the romantic. Although there’s reason to be skeptical of Headstone’s claims about what’s realistic (since, conveniently, the “realistic” solution is for Lizzie to end up with Headstone), ultimately this distinction between the two men has some truth to it. Lizzie has had a tough life that has forced her to be very practical, and this might be why she prefers Eugene’s romantic ideas.
Themes
After Charley and Headstone leave, Eugene comments to Mortimer on how crazy they were. But Mortimer realizes the Eugene has indeed been sneaking out secretly to see Lizzie and curses himself for being blind to it. He asks if Eugene intends to pursue or even marry her, and Eugene denies it. Still, Eugene admits it’s true that he’s been seeing Lizzie. He claims that everything he does is only in the interest of his own “self-improvement.”
Although Eugene is often evasive or flippant in this passage, reluctant to reveal the truth to Mortimer, he does reveal important details about himself. Headstone just wants to possess Lizzie, seeing himself as being in charge of improving her. Eugene on the other hand is looking for “self-improvement.” For him, Lizzie offers an escape from the pressures of his family to be successful in all the traditional ways, making their potential relationship more egalitarian.
Themes
