Our Mutual Friend Marriage Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #1

[Their] horses were new, their pictures were new, they themselves were new, they were as newly married as was lawfully compatible with their having a brand-new baby. (1.2.1)

Dickens likes to make fun of the Veneerings as a husband and wife who are new to British high society. Everything about them is super new, from their house to their baby to their marriage itself. It's like they decided to check everything off life's to-do list in a single stroke.

Quote #2

—Except that the son's inheritance is made conditional on his marrying a girl, who at the date of the will, was a child of four or five years old, and who is now a marriageable young woman. (1.2.72)

It looks like John Harmon can only claim his inheritance if Harmon marries a young woman named Bella Wilfer. This is a weird thing to have in a will, since John has never met this girl and Old Man Harmon saw her for only a second before he died.

Quote #3

"Our friends, Alfred and Sophronia […] you will be glad to hear, my dear fellows, are going to be married. As my wife and I make it a family affair, the entire direction of which we take upon ourselves, of course our first step is to communicate the fact to our family friends." (3.7.10)

It looks like Alfred and Sophronia are getting married. The funny thing is that it seems as though Mr. Veneering has decided this fact more than either Alfred or Sophronia. But then again, people are pretty meddling in British high society.