Middlemarch · Character

Peter Featherstone

A cunning, dying miser who keeps his keys and his tin box in bed beside him, and who toys with his greedy relations by threatening to burn one of his two wills.

supporting

Also known as Mr. Featherstone, Featherstone, old Featherstone, Peter Featherstone, old Mr. Featherstone

First appearance: ix

As a supporting figure in Middlemarch, Peter Featherstone is not background color—the story leans on what they do once the chapter opens.

Featherstone is present during the visit, teasing Fred and praising Rosamond's singing, and is revealed to have invented the story about Bulstrode to torment Fred.

In the storyXIIOpen this moment free

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Old Featherstone lies in bed counting his relations as they come peeping and casting up, delighting in the fools who wait on his death. At three in the morning he orders Mary Garth to fetch a will from his iron chest so he can burn it, and when she refuses he tries to bribe her with notes and gold. His hoarded power over his family, and Mary's quiet refusal to be soiled by it, set the terms of the inheritance contest that will unsettle Stone Court and the Vincys alike.

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See Peter Featherstone in ix

Character Web

37 connections

A slice of how Peter Featherstone sits in the book — open the reader for the full interactive map.

Relationship types

Other

Character groups

Middlemarch social and professional network
Minor townspeople, relatives, and servants
Local gossips and matrons
Artistic and scholarly outsiders

+32 more in the full Character Web

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Narrative arc

Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Exposition.

Setup
Escalation
Breaking point
Aftermath
Closing

In this scene, the emotional and psychological peak occurs when Dorothea, having just endured the humiliation…

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In the story

Peter Featherstone appears across 10 companion beats. Open any chapter in the free preview to see the notes beside the text.

XII
Featherstone is present during the visit, teasing Fred and praising Rosamond's singing, and is revealed to have invented the story about Bulstrode to torment Fred.
XIII
Mentioned as having taken Lydgate into favor and as likely to leave land to Fred.
XIV
Manipulative and miserly, he tests Fred by giving him less money than expected and enjoys asserting his power over both Fred and Mary Garth.
Book III: Waiting for Death
Lying on his deathbed, surrounded by greedy relatives awaiting his will.
XXIII
Uncle Featherstone's potential inheritance looms over Fred's actions and the perceptions of others in Middlemarch.
XXV
Mentioned as Fred's uncle; Fred hopes he might advance money, but Mary refuses to beg.
XXXII
Bedridden and irritable, he uses his gold-headed stick to ward off unwanted relatives and insists Fred and Mrs. Vincy stay.
XXXIII
On his deathbed, tries to manipulate Mary into helping him burn a will and take money; dies with keys and money in hand.
XXXV
Deceased; his will is read, leaving his estate to Joshua Rigg and disappointing his relatives.
XLI
Deceased former owner of Stone Court; his property and legacy are central to the chapter's events.

Chapter companion notes

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See Peter Featherstone in ix

See Peter Featherstone in XII