# Maggy — Little Dorrit character guide

> Maggy in Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Maggy, the staring Maggy

**First appearance:** 0011-ix-little-mother

## Snapshot

A childlike young woman with a disordered mind, she follows Little Dorrit everywhere and calls her 'Little Mother,' offering the novel its purest image of devotion.

## Who they are

Maggy's mind stalled at girlhood after a long illness, but her heart kept growing, and she attaches herself to Little Dorrit with a loyalty no hardship can shake. She falls asleep mid-sentence, wakes to announce that a theatre is almost as good as a hospital, and provides comic relief that is also genuine tenderness. Her dependence sharpens our sense of how much weight Little Dorrit carries — and how little she asks in return.

## In the story

### [Little Mother](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/little_dorrit_se/chapters/ix-little-mother)

A woman of about twenty-eight with the mind of a ten-year-old; she is devoted to Little Dorrit and recounts her fever and hospital stay.

### [Little Dorrit's Party](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/little_dorrit_se/chapters/xiv-little-dorrit-s-party)

Accompanies Little Dorrit; falls asleep and wakes intermittently; enjoys the food and wine offered by Clennam.

### [A Puzzle](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/little_dorrit_se/chapters/xxii-a-puzzle)

Commissioned by the Dorrit family to deliver letters to Clennam; given a shilling by Clennam.

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

Summons Little Dorrit to see Arthur Clennam, but Little Dorrit sends her back with a message.

### [Spirit](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/little_dorrit_se/chapters/xxxi-spirit)

Assists Little Dorrit in setting up tea for the group in the Marshalsea.

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

Present in the room, she interjects with a confused reference to a fairy tale about a princess and a secret.

### [A Letter from Little Dorrit](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/little_dorrit_se/chapters/iv-a-letter-from-little-dorrit)

Little Dorrit sends her love to Maggy and asks Arthur to tell her she has been missed.

### [The Progress of an Epidemic](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/little_dorrit_se/chapters/xiii-the-progress-of-an-epidemic)

Maggy is present in the background, still wearing her monstrous cap, watching with open mouth and eyes.

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

Overjoyed at the engagement, she runs downstairs to share the news and meets Flora and Mr. F.'s Aunt.

## Links

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