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Book 3, Chapter 3
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. Wilfer and Mrs. Wilfer have been married over 25 years, and their anniversaries aren’t a big occasion. They’re often awkward and joyless, especially for Bella (who has come over from the Boffins’ for the day) and Lavinia. Mrs. Wilfer speaks sentimentally about the past, including about her father. George Sampson is present and clearly still likes Bella, which Lavinia teases him about. At one point during the party, Bella is overcome with the curiosity to look at Rokesmith’s room while he’s away. She’s surprised to see that he has saved a newspaper clipping about the death of John Harmon.
The anniversary of Mr. and Mrs. Wilfer contrasts with the one-year anniversary of the Lammles. Although the Lammle anniversary breakfast seemed like a joyous occasion on the surface, something darker lurked beneath, with Sophronia ultimately giving up on her and Alfred’s scheme to get Georgiana’s money. By contrast, the Wilfer anniversary is not a very exciting event on the surface, but the fact that they’ve been married for so many years suggests that they have been successful in managing their relationship.
Themes
Bella tells Mr. Wilfer she has some secrets to tell him. She mentions how Mr. Rokesmith made an offer to marry her, but she refused it. Bella says she suspects she could also convince Mortimer to propose to her, but she won’t because she doesn’t like him. Bella also tells her father that Henerietty has promised to give her a generous sum if she ever does get engaged to be married. Mr. Wilfer asks if Bella has any other suitors, and she says no. She mentions again how she is always thinking about money.
Bella knows that her father doesn’t care about her marrying into money, and yet she continues to tell him about it. The more time Bella spends with wealth, the harder it becomes for her to let it go. In fact, she wants more, with Henerietty’s promise of a generous sum still not being enough for her. That said, Bella’s ability to recognize how her greed is controlling her makes her very different from a character like Fledgeby or Wegg, who each follow their greed without even thinking of themselves as greedy.
Themes
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