Martha is Lidenbrock’s housekeeper. She is a dutiful servant, but she often worries about her employer’s eccentricities. At the beginning of the novel, she and Axel face Lidenbrock’s confusing behavior together, acting as the sensible counterpart to the eccentric professor. However, they respond differently to his more outlandish behavior. While Axel resigns himself to yielding to his uncle’s whims, Martha entreats Axel to make Lidenbrock see reason. He fails, and Lidenbrock locks himself, Axel, and Martha inside the house, refusing to let Martha visit the market to buy food. When Axel grows homesick over the course of the novel, he thinks of Martha as a fixture of his uncle’s house in Hamburg, and he misses her greatly.
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Martha Character Timeline in Journey to the Center of the Earth
The timeline below shows where the character Martha appears in Journey to the Center of the Earth. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
...24, 1863, Professor Otto Lidenbrock returns home early to his house in Hamburg. His servant, Martha, worries that Lidenbrock will expect dinner to be served even though he’s home early, and...
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...house and, Axel notes, all of its residents. Lidenbrock’s house is home to the servant Martha, a 17-year-old girl named Gräuben, and Axel, Lidenbrock’s orphaned nephew who serves as his assistant....
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Chapter 2
...the runes. Axel takes some pleasure at seeing his uncle as mystified as he is. Martha tells the men that dinner is ready, but Lidenbrock sends Axel to dine alone. Axel...
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Chapter 5
When Martha tries to go to market, she finds that Lidenbrock has locked the household inside. Axel...
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Chapter 6
...maintain his composure. He knows that Lidenbrock will only listen to “scientific arguments.” Lidenbrock allows Martha to go to market, and after the men eat the meal she prepares, they return...
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Chapter 43
...to their own thoughts. Axel dwells on his memories of Germany, including of Gräuben and Martha. Lidenbrock, meanwhile, examines the rock formation of the chimney. He insists that despite the increasing...
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Chapter 46
...story. He describes the men’s journey back to Hamburg, which they reach on September 9th. Martha and Gräuben meet them, relieved. No one in Hamburg believes that Lidenbrock traveled to the...
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