Little Dorrit, Chapter 26 summary
Chapter 26 of 70 · Book 1: Poverty · 21 min to read the chapter
In Chapter 26, Arthur Clennam tries to treat Henry Gowan fairly despite his own feelings for Pet and Daniel Doyce’s distrust of her suitor. At Hampton Court, Mrs Gowan insists that the Meagles family schemes to secure her son, leaving Clennam defending his friends and struggling against suspicions about Henry’s motives.
What happens
- Doyce reports Gowan’s presence at Twickenham and fears that his courtship brings distress to Meagles and unhappiness to Pet.
- Clennam resolves not to disparage Gowan, while the narrator indirectly reveals the pain beneath his claimed detachment.
- Gowan visits Clennam, mocks Doyce through apparent praise, defends the Barnacles, and invites him to meet his mother.
- At Hampton Court, Clennam hears dinner guests discuss national affairs as matters concerning only privileged families.
- Mrs Gowan calls the Meagles family calculating, and she interprets Clennam’s account of Meagles’s opposition as further evidence of their cunning.
- On the drive home, Clennam suspects Henry deliberately exposes him to humiliation, then reproaches himself for jealousy.
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In this chapter
What to notice
Clennam makes fairness a personal duty. His effort to honor that duty clashes with both his jealousy and the conduct he witnesses.
Quick check
How does Mrs Gowan interpret Mr Meagles’s opposition to Henry’s courtship?
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