# Betsey Prig — Martin Chuzzlewit character guide

> Betsey Prig in Martin Chuzzlewit by Charles Dickens.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Mrs. Betsey Prig, Mrs. Prig, Betsy Prig, Betsey, The worthy Mrs. Prig

**First appearance:** 0025-xxiii

## Snapshot

A nurse of the old school, Mrs. Gamp's bosom friend and eventual sparring partner, whose tongue is as rough as her professional bedside manner.

## Who they are

Betsey Prig belongs to that grimy London sisterhood of hired nurses who drink gin, trade gossip, and divide the sick-room between them like territory. Her intimacy with Mrs. Gamp is a volatile alliance of shared bottles and mutual flattery, forever threatening to curdle into open war. Dickens uses her to expose the callous comedy of Victorian nursing-for-hire, and the quarrel that severs the pair becomes one of the novel's most savoured scenes.

## In the story

### [XXV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/martin_chuzzlewit_se/chapters/xxv)

The day-nurse at the inn, hands over duties to Mrs. Gamp and provides a report on the patient.

### [Chapter XXIX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/martin_chuzzlewit_se/chapters/xxix)

Dresses Lewsome and complains about his difficult behavior; bids Mrs. Gamp farewell.

### [XLIX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/martin_chuzzlewit_se/chapters/xlix)

Her quarrel with Mrs. Gamp over Mrs. Harris leads to a permanent split, exposing her unreliability.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/martin_chuzzlewit_se/characters/betsey_prig
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/martin_chuzzlewit_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/martin_chuzzlewit_se/characters