The Charles Dickens Page

The Wisdom of Mr F's Aunt

Mr F's Aunt: Another Gem from the Imagination of Charles Dickens

Among the bizarre cast of characters to issue forth from the imagination of Charles Dickens, a few stand out as particularly curious and wonderfully hilarious. One of these strokes of genius is an old woman awarded as a legacy to Flora Finching by her husband, the late Mr Finching, and known simply as Mr F.'s Aunt.

Mr F's Aunt after an illustration by Henry Furniss 1910

An amazing little old woman, with a face like a staring wooden doll too cheap for expression, and a stiff yellow wig perched unevenly on the top of her head, as if the child who owned the doll had driven a tack through it anywhere, so that it only got fastened on. Another remarkable thing in this little old woman was, that the same child seemed to have damaged her face in two or three places with some blunt instrument in the nature of a spoon; her countenance, and particularly the tip of her nose, presenting the phenomena of several dints, generally answering to the bowl of that article. A further remarkable thing in this little old woman was, that she had no name but Mr F.'s Aunt.

The major characteristics discoverable by the stranger in Mr F.'s Aunt, were extreme severity and grim taciturnity; sometimes interrupted by a propensity to offer remarks in a deep warning voice, which, being totally uncalled for by anything said by anybody, and traceable to no association of ideas, confounded and terrified the Mind (Little Dorrit, p. 157).

Some examples of Mr F.'s Aunt's extraordinary and unexpected outbursts:

'When we lived at Henley, Barnes's gander was stole by tinkers.' (Little Dorrit, p. 158)

'The Monument near London Bridge was put up arter the Great Fire of London; and the Great Fire of London was not the fire in which your uncle George's workshops was burned down.' (Little Dorrit, p. 159)

'I hate a fool!' (Little Dorrit, p. 159)

'There's mile-stones on the Dover road!' (Little Dorrit, p. 268)

'You can't make a head and brains out of a brass knob with nothing in it. You couldn't do it when your Uncle George was living; much less when he's dead.' (Little Dorrit, p. 273)

Much of her invective was reserved for Arthur Clennam, for whom she held a vindictive and inexplicable hatred:

'It'll be long enough, I expect, afore he'll give up any of his own money!' (Little Dorrit, p. 416)

'Drat him, if he an't come back again!' (Little Dorrit, p. 534)

'None of your eyes at me,' said Mr F.'s Aunt, shivering with hostility. 'Take that.' (Little Dorrit, p. 537)

'Give him a meal of chaff, I tell you,' said Mr F.'s Aunt, glaring round Flora on her enemy. 'It's the only thing for a proud stomach. Let him eat up every morsel. Drat him, give him a meal of chaff!' (Little Dorrit, p. 537)

'Bring him for'ard, and I'll chuck him out o' winder!' (Little Dorrit, p. 820)

Award winning 2008 BBC/PBS production of Little Dorrit

Annette Crosbie and Matthew Macfadyen as Mr F's Aunt and Arthur Clennam in the 2008 BBC/PBS production of Little Dorrit

This outstanding production, directed by Andrew Davies of Bleak House (2005) fame, won seven Emmy Awards including Outstanding Miniseries.

It stars Claire Foy as Amy Dorrit and Matthew Macfadyen as Arthur Clennam. Tom Courtenay (William Dorrit) and Andy Serkis (Rigaud) won Emmys as Outstanding Supporting Actors.

A standout for me personally, in addition to Annette Crosbie as Mr F's Aunt, is Eddie Marsan as Pancks, one of my favorite characters from the book.