The Moonstone

The Moonstone

by

Wilkie Collins

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Mrs. Merridew Character Analysis

Rachel Verinder’s widowed aunt on her father’s side, with whom she goes to live after her mother Julia’s death. When it is time for Rachel to attend Ezra Jennings’s “experiment” with Franklin Blake, Mrs. Merridew insists on coming along, because she finds it inappropriate for the 19-year-old Rachel to travel alone without a “chaperone.” When she arrives at the Verinder estate with Rachel, she is overcome with anxiety because she is convinced the Jennings’s science must involve an explosion. The other guests lie that the explosion will be the next morning, and she spends that morning waiting and searching for it, only to be astonished that this alleged explosion (which, of course, never happened) was too quiet for her to notice. As a character foil who contrasts with the young, intelligent, independent-minded Rachel, Mrs. Merridew’s character demonstrates the absurdity in the Victorian assumptions about gender that suggest someone like Rachel needs a guardian or husband’s “protection.” Mrs. Merridew’s comical fixation on the nonexistent “explosion” also allows Collins to ridicule many of his contemporaries’ anxieties and misunderstandings about science and technology.

Mrs. Merridew Quotes in The Moonstone

The The Moonstone quotes below are all either spoken by Mrs. Merridew or refer to Mrs. Merridew. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Detective Methods and Genre Standards Theme Icon
).
The Discovery of the Truth 4 Quotes

“If Mr. Jennings will permit me,” pursued the old lady, “I should like to ask a favour. Mr. Jennings is about to try a scientific experiment to-night. I used to attend scientific experiments when I was a girl at school. They invariably ended in an explosion. If Mr. Jennings will be so very kind, I should like to be warned of the explosion this time. With a view to getting it over, if possible, before I go to bed.”

Related Characters: Mrs. Merridew (speaker), Ezra Jennings
Page Number: 416
Explanation and Analysis:
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Mrs. Merridew Quotes in The Moonstone

The The Moonstone quotes below are all either spoken by Mrs. Merridew or refer to Mrs. Merridew. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Detective Methods and Genre Standards Theme Icon
).
The Discovery of the Truth 4 Quotes

“If Mr. Jennings will permit me,” pursued the old lady, “I should like to ask a favour. Mr. Jennings is about to try a scientific experiment to-night. I used to attend scientific experiments when I was a girl at school. They invariably ended in an explosion. If Mr. Jennings will be so very kind, I should like to be warned of the explosion this time. With a view to getting it over, if possible, before I go to bed.”

Related Characters: Mrs. Merridew (speaker), Ezra Jennings
Page Number: 416
Explanation and Analysis: