# Charity Pecksniff — Martin Chuzzlewit character guide

> Charity Pecksniff in Martin Chuzzlewit by Charles Dickens.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Miss Pecksniff, the youngest Miss Pecksniff, Miss Charity, Cherry, Miss Charity Pecksniff, Miss Cherry, Charity Pecksniff, the fair Miss Pecksniff, The gentle Cherry

**First appearance:** 0003-i

## Snapshot

The elder Pecksniff daughter, all stately grievance and sharpened tongue, who cannot forgive the sister preferred over her and will not stay quietly at home.

## Who they are

Charity Pecksniff presides over her father's hypocritical household with a spinster's brittle dignity, forever sharpening her tongue on her prettier sister Mercy. When Jonas Chuzzlewit repudiates her for the younger sister, her wounded vanity curdles into open war, and she demands to be placed at Mrs. Todgers's on an independent footing. Her grim negotiations with her father expose how much of the family's piety is performance, and her jealousy becomes one of the household's most reliable engines of trouble.

## In the story

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

Echoes her father's sentiments and shows disdain for Tom Pinch and John Westlock.

### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/martin_chuzzlewit_se/chapters/iv)

Charity, along with her sister Mercy, engages in an acrimonious retort during the family quarrel, defending herself against implied slights.

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

Charity sets out the leftover food for Tom and Martin before leaving with her father and sister.

### [VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/martin_chuzzlewit_se/chapters/viii)

Travels with her father and sister; reacts with dismay to her father's coarse metaphors.

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

Accompanies her father on the visit, is indignant at the treatment they receive, and scolds Mrs. Todgers on the way back.

### [Containing Strange Matter](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/martin_chuzzlewit_se/chapters/x)

Charity, along with Mercy, listens at the door and later reacts with indignation upon learning of young Martin's secret marriage plans.

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

Makes tea and acts like the lady of the house, receiving Jonas's admiring whispers; shows jealousy toward her sister Mercy.

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

Furious that Jonas proposed to Mercy instead of her; later found keeping household accounts.

### [Mr. Pecksniff's Design](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/martin_chuzzlewit_se/chapters/xxx)

Plans to leave for London, hinting at a secret; parts amicably with Tom Pinch.

### [XXXII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/martin_chuzzlewit_se/chapters/xxxii)

Returns to Mrs. Todgers's boarding house and confides about her father's intended remarriage. She begins to encourage Mr. Moddle's attentions and ultimately accepts his proposal.

### [Tom Pinch, going astray, finds that he is not the only person in that predicament. He retaliates upon a fallen foe.](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/martin_chuzzlewit_se/chapters/xxxvii)

Charity encounters Tom near the Monument and invites him to Todgers's.

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

Mentioned as having a sweetheart and sticking close to the vinegar-bottle.

### [XLVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/martin_chuzzlewit_se/chapters/xlvi)

Charity is engaged to Augustus Moddle and is seen furniture shopping; she is cordial to Tom and Ruth, and later leads them to Merry's house.

### [LIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/martin_chuzzlewit_se/chapters/liv)

The bride-to-be, full of clemency and forgiveness, invites her estranged relatives to her wedding.

## Links

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