Our Mutual Friend · Chapter
XI: Some Affairs of the Heart explained
Miss Peecher, a schoolteacher, secretly loves Bradley Headstone and observes his preoccupation.
What happens
Miss Peecher, a schoolteacher, secretly loves Bradley Headstone and observes his preoccupation. Bradley visits her to leave his key, then heads to Lizzie Hexam's home. There, Lizzie and Jenny Wren discuss a lady who loves a man deeply, willing to sacrifice everything for him.
Themes in this chapter
Love and Marriage
Explores unrequited love (Miss Peecher for Bradley) and passionate love (Lizzie's story of a lady's devotion).
Identity and Disguise
Lizzie's story about a lady who is rich and beautiful contrasts with her own reality, hinting at hidden identities.
Characters to notice
- Miss Peecher
Observes Bradley Headstone with secret affection, questions Mary Anne about Lizzie Hexam.
- Bradley Headstone
Preoccupied and brooding, visits Miss Peecher to leave his key, then heads to Lizzie Hexam's home.
- Lizzie Hexam
Visits Jenny Wren, discusses a lady who loves a man deeply and is willing to sacrifice for him.
- Jenny Wren
The dolls' dressmaker, listens to Lizzie's story and expresses concern for her.
- Mary Anne
Miss Peecher's student, provides information about Lizzie Hexam.
- Charley Hexam
Mentioned as having gone to get books and as being displeased with his sister Lizzie.
Key passages
“Love, though said to be afflicted with blindness, is a vigilant watchman, and Miss Peecher kept him on double duty over Mr. Bradley Headstone.”
Despite the saying that love is blind, Miss Peecher was very watchful of Bradley Headstone.
Highlights Miss Peecher's secret and observant affection.
“Love at first sight is a trite expression quite sufficiently discussed; enough that in certain smouldering natures like this man's, that passion leaps into a blaze, and makes such head as fire does in a rage of wind, when other passions, but for its mastery, could be held in chains.”
Love at first sight is a cliché, but for someone like Bradley, it ignites uncontrollably, overpowering all other emotions.
Describes Bradley's intense and sudden passion for Lizzie.