Little Dorrit Characters

The youngest member of the Dorrit family, Amy is a 20-something woman who looks like an adolescent. She lives her life in totally unacknowledged service to her deluded and hapless family. Her mai...

At first called "The Father of the Marshalsea," Dorrit is the oldest prisoner in the debtor's jail, living on selfish pretensions of former grandeur. After he is discovered to be heir to a huge fo...

A cold and bitter woman, Mrs. Clennam has forced herself to live the life of a reclusive, wheelchair-bound woman as payment for her sins. Her stubborn iron will arguably makes her the novel's most...

An intelligent, hard-working inventor and engineer, Doyce is stymied by the slow, annoying ways of the Circumlocution Office. Doyce is a pretty straightforward shout-out to one of Dickens's many p...

Flora, Arthur Clennam's ex-fiancée, and Mr. F's Aunt, Flora's aunt-in-law, are another great set of paired characters, in the Pet and Tattycoram mold. Sure, at first glance Flora is a woman past...

Initially Mrs. Clennam's servant, Flintwinch becomes a partner in Clennam & Co. He knows Mrs. Clennam's horrible secrets and uses them to gain power over her and the business.Dickens tends to...

Henry Gowan has a devastating case of too-coolitis. He's hot, he's popular, and he's just wealthy enough not to need to work for a living. That gives him the kind of swagger that silly girls like...

Twins are huge in this novel, which is why we're analyzing Pet and her jealous maid, Tattycoram, together. Actual twins, doubles, shadows – they're all there, lurking around corners being sinist...

It's impossible to know what to make of Meagles. The possibilities are so different that there's not even a happy middle ground to safely hug. Instead, we'll just throw out both options and you c...

A master financier who makes everything he touches turn to metaphorical gold, Merdle turns out to be only a hollow shell of the man he is thought to be. His crash is shocking, spectacular, and has...

The big bad villain of the novel. Or is he? Blandois is a spy, an acquitted murderer, a blackmailer, and a man whose main goal in life is to constantly act like a gentleman. He is never shown to b...

Alone by choice, Miss Wade is a confusing and rebellious character. Is she gay? Is she just threatening to society because she refuses to accept a traditionally female role? Mostly, she is a stu...