# Mr. Meagles — Little Dorrit character guide > Mr. Meagles in Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens. **Role:** supporting **Also known as:** Meagles, honest Mr. Meagles **First appearance:** 0004-ii-fellow-travellers ## Snapshot A retired businessman with a warm heart and a blind spot, whose kindness to strangers cannot quite reach the daughter he keeps. ## Who they are Mr. Meagles is the novel's most generous spirit, a man who befriends Arthur Clennam without calculation and opens his cottage to the lonely. Yet his affection for his daughter Pet is so possessive that it distorts her choices, and his treatment of the adopted Tattycoram reveals the limits of his benevolence. He embodies the novel's tension between genuine goodness and the unconscious cruelties of even the kindest English household. ## Relationships ### [Arthur Clennam](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/little_dorrit_se/characters/arthur_clennam) _friendship_ Mr. Meagles is a genial, practical friend and father figure to Arthur, sharing business and personal concerns. ### [Little Dorrit](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/little_dorrit_se/characters/little_dorrit) _friendship_ Mr. Meagles treats Little Dorrit with paternal kindness and admiration, becoming a supportive friend to her. ### [Arthur Clennam](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/little_dorrit_se/characters/arthur_clennam) _friendship_ Mr. Meagles is a genial, practical friend and father figure to Arthur, sharing business and personal concerns. ### [Little Dorrit](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/little_dorrit_se/characters/little_dorrit) _friendship_ Mr. Meagles treats Little Dorrit with paternal kindness and admiration, becoming a supportive friend to her. ### [Arthur Clennam](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/little_dorrit_se/characters/arthur_clennam) _friendship_ Mr. Meagles is a genial, practical friend and father figure to Arthur, sharing business and personal concerns. ### [Little Dorrit](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/little_dorrit_se/characters/little_dorrit) _friendship_ Mr. Meagles treats Little Dorrit with paternal kindness and admiration, becoming a supportive friend to her. ## In the story ### [Fellow Travellers](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/little_dorrit_se/chapters/ii-fellow-travellers) Cheerful and practical, he advises Arthur and shares his family's travels. ### [Containing the Whole Science of Government](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/little_dorrit_se/chapters/x-containing-the-whole-science-of-government) Encountered by Arthur outside the Circumlocution Office, visibly angry and collaring a short man after his own frustrating experience. ### [Bleeding Heart Yard](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/little_dorrit_se/chapters/xii-bleeding-heart-yard) Accompanies Arthur and Daniel Doyce to Bleeding Heart Yard and later arranges another meeting with Arthur. ### [Nobody's Weakness](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/little_dorrit_se/chapters/xvi-nobody-s-weakness) Welcomes Arthur and Daniel Doyce; shows off his old bank scales and scoop; expresses concern about Tattycoram's temperament. ### [Nobody's Rival](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/little_dorrit_se/chapters/xvii-nobody-s-rival) Visibly distressed by Gowan's presence and his daughter's attachment to him. ### [Machinery in Motion](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/little_dorrit_se/chapters/xxiii-machinery-in-motion) Facilitates the negotiation between Clennam and Doyce, reporting Doyce's cautious but honorable response to the partnership proposal. ### [Nobody's State of Mind](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/little_dorrit_se/chapters/xxvi-nobody-s-state-of-mind) Referenced as being clouded by concern over Gowan's relationship with Pet. ### [Five-and-Twenty](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/little_dorrit_se/chapters/xxvii-five-and-twenty) Distraught over Tattycoram's disappearance; explains the events leading to her flight and seeks Arthur's help in finding Miss Wade. ### [Nobody's Disappearance](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/little_dorrit_se/chapters/xxviii-nobody-s-disappearance) Persistently tries to recover Tattycoram through letters, a personal visit by his wife, and an advertisement, but is ultimately forced to give up. ### [Mrs. Merdle's Complaint](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/little_dorrit_se/chapters/xxxiii-mrs-merdle-s-complaint) Mentioned as having yielded his consent to the marriage, which was the sole obstacle. ### [A Shoal of Barnacles](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/little_dorrit_se/chapters/xxxiv-a-shoal-of-barnacles) The father of the bride, overwhelmed by the Barnacle company and not himself during the festivities. ### [The Dowager Mrs. Gowan Is Reminded That "It Never Does"](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/little_dorrit_se/chapters/viii-the-dowager-mrs-gowan-is-reminded-that-it-never-does) Visited by the Dowager Mrs. Gowan; shows a lingering sadness over his daughter Pet's marriage and is defensive against Mrs. Gowan's condescension. ### [Appearance and Disappearance](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/little_dorrit_se/chapters/ix-appearance-and-disappearance) Decides to travel to Italy to see his daughter Pet, concerned about her health and Gowan's debts. ### [Introduces the Next](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/little_dorrit_se/chapters/xx-introduces-the-next) Inquired about by Tattycoram; mentioned as not being at home. ### [Going!](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/little_dorrit_se/chapters/xxxiii-going) Travels abroad to trace Rigaud's papers, enduring comic language barriers and false accusations; returns to give Little Dorrit a box. ### [Gone](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/little_dorrit_se/chapters/xxxiv-gone) Visits Arthur in the Marshalsea with Little Dorrit, appearing sun-browned and jolly. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/little_dorrit_se/characters/mr_meagles - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/little_dorrit_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/little_dorrit_se/characters