# Mr. Outhouse — He Knew He Was Right character guide

> Mr. Outhouse in He Knew He Was Right by Anthony Trollope.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** To Mr. Outhouse, Outhouse

**First appearance:** 0028-xxix-mr-and-mrs-outhouse

## Snapshot

A poor East-end clergyman who distrusts fashion and titles, he must decide whether to shelter his niece when her fashionable marriage collapses.

## Who they are

Mr. Outhouse is the rector of St. Diddulph's, a man so suspicious of West-end clubs and fashionable connections that he refused even to dine at his niece Emily's house in Curzon Street. When the Trevelyan marriage breaks down, he offers her the parsonage but couples the offer with St. Paul's injunction that wives obey their husbands, and Emily storms out, refusing to be treated as a disgraced woman. His struggle between Christian duty and moral disapproval of a wife who will not submit makes him a quiet test of how the novel weighs obedience against self-respect.

## In the story

### [The Clock House at Nuncombe Putney](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/he_knew_he_was_right_se/chapters/xiv-the-clock-house-at-nuncombe-putney)

Declines to host the sisters due to his prejudice against fashionable society and Sir Marmaduke's title.

### [XXXII: The “Full Moon” at St. Diddulph’s](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/he_knew_he_was_right_se/chapters/xxxii-the-full-moon-at-st-diddulph-s)

Receives the nieces reluctantly, worried about the financial burden and the marital dispute, but offers shelter.

### [Showing What Took Place at St. Diddulph's](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/he_knew_he_was_right_se/chapters/xli-showing-what-took-place-at-st-diddulph-s)

Receives Colonel Osborne coldly and refuses to allow him to see the sisters.

### [Another Struggle](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/he_knew_he_was_right_se/chapters/lx-another-struggle)

Refuses to see Trevelyan and instructs his wife to tell him to leave the house.

### [Sir Marmaduke at His Club](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/he_knew_he_was_right_se/chapters/lxiv-sir-marmaduke-at-his-club)

Quarreled with Sir Marmaduke, accusing Colonel Osborne of injuring Emily and advising severe measures; dismissed by Osborne as an 'ass'.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/he_knew_he_was_right_se/characters/mr_outhouse
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/he_knew_he_was_right_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/he_knew_he_was_right_se/characters