# Flora Casby — Little Dorrit character guide

> Flora Casby in Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Flora, poor Flora

**First appearance:** 0015-xiii-patriarchal

## Snapshot

Arthur Clennam's former sweetheart, now a widow whose torrential, looping chatter buries old romance under an avalanche of good-natured nonsense.

## Who they are

Flora was once the young woman Arthur loved; now she is a sentimental, garrulous widow who greets him with floods of reminiscence and half-finished sentences. Her kindness is real, but her inability to stop talking makes every reunion a comic ordeal, and her old flame flickers somewhere beneath the deluge. She matters because she shows Arthur what time has done to his past, and because her warmth keeps a thread of tenderness running through his return to London.

## Relationships

### [Arthur Clennam](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/little_dorrit_se/characters/arthur_clennam)

_social_

Arthur is courteous but awkward with Flora, his former sweetheart who now rambles sentimentally and embarrasses him.

### [Arthur Clennam](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/little_dorrit_se/characters/arthur_clennam)

_social_

Arthur is courteous but awkward with Flora, his former sweetheart who now rambles sentimentally and embarrasses him.

### [Arthur Clennam](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/little_dorrit_se/characters/arthur_clennam)

_social_

Arthur is courteous but awkward with Flora, his former sweetheart who now rambles sentimentally and embarrasses him.

## In the story

### [Home](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/little_dorrit_se/chapters/iii-home)

Mentioned as Arthur's former sweetheart, now a widow and well-to-do, with Affery suggesting he might renew the acquaintance.

### [Patriarchal](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/little_dorrit_se/chapters/xiii-patriarchal)

Now broad, short of breath, diffuse, and silly; she combines sentiment with a hearty appetite and tries to maintain a girlish manner.

### [Machinery in Motion](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/little_dorrit_se/chapters/xxiii-machinery-in-motion)

Visits the Patriarch's office with Mr. F.'s Aunt, mentions employing the young needlewoman recommended by Clennam, and tries to manage her aunt's outbursts.

### [Fortune-Telling](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/little_dorrit_se/chapters/xxiv-fortune-telling)

Invites Little Dorrit to her home, rambles about her past engagement to Arthur Clennam and her marriage to Mr. F., and offers Little Dorrit work.

### [What Was Behind Mr. Pancks on Little Dorrit's Hand](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/little_dorrit_se/chapters/xxxv-what-was-behind-mr-pancks-on-little-dorrit-s-hand)

Is surprised by Arthur's early visit and mentions that Little Dorrit is with her for a dress fitting.

### [Missing](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/little_dorrit_se/chapters/xvii-missing)

Flora Finching visits Mr. Dorrit to plead with him to search for the missing Blandois.

### [Mistress Affery Makes a Conditional Promise, Respecting Her Dreams](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/little_dorrit_se/chapters/xxiii-mistress-affery-makes-a-conditional-promise-respecting-her-dreams)

Obligingly suggests the house tour, misinterpreting Arthur's motive as romantic interest.

### [Gone](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/little_dorrit_se/chapters/xxxiv-gone)

Meets Little Dorrit in a pie-shop to offer her blessing on the engagement and explain her own past with Arthur, expressing goodwill.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/little_dorrit_se/characters/flora_casby
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/little_dorrit_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/little_dorrit_se/characters