# Mrs. MacStinger — Dombey and Son character guide

> Mrs. MacStinger in Dombey and Son by Charles Dickens.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Mrs. MacStinger, MacStinger, the dreadful Mrs. MacStinger

**First appearance:** 0020-xvii-captain-cuttle-does-a-little-business-for-the-young-people

## Snapshot

A landlady of volcanic temper and unshakable respectability, she rules her household with such ferocity that even a sea captain flees rather than face her.

## Who they are

Mrs. MacStinger presides over her lodgings as a petty tyrant, her respectability a weapon she wields against anyone who threatens her order. Captain Cuttle, who has faced storms at sea, lives in mortal dread of her tongue and her umbrella, and his terror is one of the novel's richest comedies. She matters because she embodies the domestic power that humbles the masculine bluster around her, and because her pursuit of the Captain drives some of the book's most delightful scenes.

## In the story

### [Preface of 1867](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dombey_and_son_se/chapters/preface-of-1867)

Referenced as the person from whom Captain Cuttle is imagined to be secluding himself.

### [XV: Amazing Artfulness of Captain Cuttle, and a New Pursuit for Walter Gay](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dombey_and_son_se/chapters/xv-amazing-artfulness-of-captain-cuttle-and-a-new-pursuit-for-walter-gay)

Mentioned as attending the Reverend Melchisedech Howler's services on Sundays.

### [Strange News of Uncle Sol](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dombey_and_son_se/chapters/xxv-strange-news-of-uncle-sol)

Captain Cuttle's landlady, from whom he plans to secretly flee.

### [XXXIX: Further Adventures of Captain Edward Cuttle, Mariner](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dombey_and_son_se/chapters/xxxix-further-adventures-of-captain-edward-cuttle-mariner)

Confronts Captain Cuttle at the Midshipman, demanding he return home. She is eventually pacified and led away by Captain Bunsby.

### [LX: Chiefly Matrimonial](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dombey_and_son_se/chapters/lx-chiefly-matrimonial)

Leads the wedding procession, having married Bunsby; wears his watch and appendages.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dombey_and_son_se/characters/mrs_macstinger
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dombey_and_son_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dombey_and_son_se/characters