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Book 4, 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
Bella is doing needlework at her new home when all of a sudden, Mortimer comes rushing to the door. He invites Bella to be there for the wedding of Eugene and Lizzie, and Bella says she’ll ask Rokesmith if he wants to come too. But Rokesmith doesn’t want to even go into the other room to see Mortimer (who would recognize him as Julius Handford). Bella keeps insisting, but he refuses, so at last she gets packed and tells Mortimer that Rokesmith is sick with a swollen face. Mortimer thinks it’s odd that in all this time, he’s never actually seen Rokesmith.
Although John’s marriage to Bella has made both of them happy, his inability to finally reveal his true identity is still a source of friction, as his excuses for staying away from people like Mortimer become increasingly hard for Bella to believe. This stops John from getting to fully enjoy life, like going to the joyous occasion of Eugene and Lizzie’s wedding. Bella’s comment that Rokesmith has a swollen face is humorously appropriate because John’s problem actually is his face—and his fear that Mortimer will recognize it.
Themes
Mortimer and Bella go to find Reverend Milvey, who is busy dealing with a parishioner who always wants his attention at the worst times. He and Mrs. Milvey eventually join Mortimer and Bella to go perform the wedding. At the train station, while Mortimer is out checking on the train, Mrs. Milvey notices Headstone, who had been trying not to be noticed and spying on them after hearing Lizzie’s name by chance. When Headstone learns that Lizzie is about to be married to Eugene, he begins to look ill, and when the reverend and his wife leave, they send a train attendant over to check on him.
The irony of Headstone’s actions is that by trying to kill Eugene to have Lizzie for himself, he has only given them an excuse to marry, where previously Lizzie was reluctant to accept Eugene. As the novel nears its ending, characters begin to face the consequences of their actions, with selfish characters like Headstone learning that he might be able to get the drop on Eugene in the short term, but in the long term, his obsession with Lizzie will never make him happy.
Themes
Bella arrives at Eugene’s bed and greets Lizzie. Mortimer, Reverend Milvey, and Mrs. Milvey have also arrived. Eugene becomes a little lucid and asks for Lizzie to open the window so that he can see what it looks like on their wedding day. He says it would take more than a lifetime to repay all the kindness Lizzie has shown him, so Lizzie begs him to try to live as long as possible.
Eugene’s request to open the window is his way of finally opening up to the world. He wants to be seen with Lizzie in broad daylight rather than having to sneak around in secret to see her, and his appreciation for the sun shows how, as his death is potentially close, he realizes cares more about natural things and relationships than material possessions.
Themes
