# XXIV: Miserrimus Dexter—First View explained — The Law and the Lady

> Chapter companion for The Law and the Lady by Wilkie Collins.

## What happens

Valeria and Mrs. Macallan travel to Miserrimus Dexter's eccentric, isolated house, which stands amid new building developments. They are met by Dexter's idiot cousin, who warns them that Dexter is in a state of mental excitement and cannot be disturbed. Ignoring the warning, they ascend to his room, where Valeria witnesses Dexter's shocking physical deformity and his frantic reaction upon learning she is Eustace Macallan's second wife.

## Themes in this chapter

### Madness and Rationality

Dexter's bizarre behavior and his written notice about his 'immense imagination' highlight the theme of madness versus rationality.

### Secrets and Deception

Valeria's hidden purpose in visiting Dexter and the mysterious circumstances surrounding Eustace's past.

## Character check-ins

### Valeria

Narrator; accompanies Mrs. Macallan to visit Miserrimus Dexter, determined to seek his advice.

### Mrs. Macallan

Eustace's mother; guides Valeria to Dexter's house, provides sardonic commentary on Dexter's eccentricities.

### Miserrimus Dexter

The eccentric and physically deformed man Valeria seeks; reacts with horror upon learning she is Eustace's second wife.

### Ariel

Dexter's cousin, described as an idiot, who wears a man's hat and speaks in a hoarse whisper.

## Key lines

> My immense imagination is at work. Visions of heroes unroll themselves before me. I reanimate in myself the spirits of the departed great. My brains are boiling in my head. Any persons who disturb me, under existing circumstances, will do it at the peril of their lives.

Dexter claims his creative powers are so intense that he is reliving the lives of historical heroes, and warns that anyone who interrupts him risks being killed.

_Dexter's written notice exemplifies his grandiose self-perception and unstable mental state._

> The man in the chair sprang out of it with a shrill cry of horror, as if she had shot him. For one moment we saw a head and body in the air, absolutely deprived of the lower limbs. The moment after, the terrible creature touched the floor as lightly as a monkey, on his hands.

When Valeria is introduced as Eustace's second wife, Dexter leaps from his chair in terror, revealing that he has no legs and moves by hopping on his hands.

_Valeria's first shocking view of Dexter's physical condition and his extreme reaction to her identity._

## Links

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- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_law_and_the_lady_se
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