# Lizzie Hexam — Our Mutual Friend character guide > Lizzie Hexam in Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens. **Role:** major **Also known as:** Liz, Lizzie Hexam, Hexam, the real Lizzie Hexam **First appearance:** 0001-i-on-the-look-out ## Snapshot A waterman's daughter who rows the Thames by night and works in the City by day, Lizzie Hexam draws two obsessive suitors while quietly refusing to be anyone's property. ## Who they are Lizzie belongs to the river's rough economy through her father Gaffer, yet her brother Charley is climbing out of it and resents her for not following his lead. Educated, watchful, and loyal past the point of safety, she becomes the fixed point around which the schoolmaster Bradley Headstone and the gentleman Eugene Wrayburn circle with very different hungers. Her choices in the early and middle chapters set the whole plot's machinery of pursuit, class, and sacrifice in motion. ## Relationships ### [Eugene Wrayburn](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/our_mutual_friend_se/characters/eugene_wrayburn) _romantic_ Eugene, a dissolute gentleman, falls in love with Lizzie Hexam, a working-class woman, and eventually marries her after a near-fatal attack. ### [Bella Wilfer](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/our_mutual_friend_se/characters/bella_wilfer) _friendship_ Bella and Lizzie form a genuine, supportive friendship across class lines, with Bella admiring Lizzie's strength and integrity. ### [Bella Wilfer](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/our_mutual_friend_se/characters/bella_wilfer) _friendship_ Bella and Lizzie form a genuine, supportive friendship across class lines, with Bella admiring Lizzie's strength and integrity. ### [Eugene Wrayburn](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/our_mutual_friend_se/characters/eugene_wrayburn) _romantic_ Eugene, a dissolute gentleman, falls in love with Lizzie Hexam, a working-class woman, and eventually marries her after a near-fatal attack. ### [Eugene Wrayburn](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/our_mutual_friend_se/characters/eugene_wrayburn) _romantic_ Eugene, a dissolute gentleman, falls in love with Lizzie Hexam, a working-class woman, and eventually marries her after a near-fatal attack. ### [Bella Wilfer](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/our_mutual_friend_se/characters/bella_wilfer) _friendship_ Bella and Lizzie form a genuine, supportive friendship across class lines, with Bella admiring Lizzie's strength and integrity. ## In the story ### [On the Look Out](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/our_mutual_friend_se/chapters/i-on-the-look-out) Gaffer's daughter, who rows the boat with dread and horror at their gruesome work. She is pale and shivers at the sight of a blood-like stain and the corpse in tow. ### [Another Man](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/our_mutual_friend_se/chapters/iii-another-man) Sister of Charley; engaged in needlework at the Hexam home, credited with teaching Charley to read. ### [Cut Adrift](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/our_mutual_friend_se/chapters/vi-cut-adrift) Prepares her brother Charley to leave home, defends her father against suspicion, and refuses Miss Abbey's offer to leave Gaffer. ### [The Sweat of an Honest Man's Brow](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/our_mutual_friend_se/chapters/xii-the-sweat-of-an-honest-man-s-brow) Mentioned as Hexam's daughter; Riderhood says she had no guilty knowledge. ### [I: Of an Educational Character](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/our_mutual_friend_se/chapters/i-of-an-educational-character) Charley's sister, not yet settled in her new home; she is described as having much thought and natural intelligence despite little formal teaching. ### [Still Educational](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/our_mutual_friend_se/chapters/ii-still-educational) Shares supper with Jenny Wren; troubled after seeing her brother; resists Eugene Wrayburn's offer of education but is moved by his argument. ### [Mercury Prompting](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/our_mutual_friend_se/chapters/v-mercury-prompting) Found on the rooftop with Jenny Wren, studying a book and working industriously. ### [XI: Some Affairs of the Heart](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/our_mutual_friend_se/chapters/xi-some-affairs-of-the-heart) Visits Jenny Wren, discusses a lady who loves a man deeply and is willing to sacrifice for him. ### [More Birds of Prey](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/our_mutual_friend_se/chapters/xii-more-birds-of-prey) Mentioned as Gaffer Hexam's daughter; the visitor seeks to protect her from stigma. ### [XV: The Whole Case So Far](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/our_mutual_friend_se/chapters/xv-the-whole-case-so-far) Rejects Bradley's proposal gently but firmly, and later endures her brother's accusations and abandonment. ### [A Respected Friend in a New Aspect](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/our_mutual_friend_se/chapters/ii-a-respected-friend-in-a-new-aspect) Mentioned as having left a paper with Riah and Jenny to deliver to Miss Abbey. ### [Somebody Becomes the Subject of a Prediction](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/our_mutual_friend_se/chapters/ix-somebody-becomes-the-subject-of-a-prediction) Describes how she found Betty Higden and arranged for her burial; she welcomes Bella to her humble room and later becomes the subject of Bella and Rokesmith's conversation about her stipulation of secrecy. ### [In the Dark](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/our_mutual_friend_se/chapters/xi-in-the-dark) The object of Bradley's obsessive jealousy; he seeks to track her through Riderhood. ### [I: Setting Traps](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/our_mutual_friend_se/chapters/i-setting-traps) Mentioned as the woman Eugene Wrayburn is going to meet; not directly present in the chapter. ### [A Cry for Help](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/our_mutual_friend_se/chapters/vi-a-cry-for-help) Rescues Eugene after the attack, carries him to the inn, and tends to his wounds; collapses from exhaustion and emotion. ### [Better to Be Abel Than Cain](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/our_mutual_friend_se/chapters/vii-better-to-be-abel-than-cain) Referenced by Charley as the subject of Bradley's obsession and the cause of conflict with Eugene Wrayburn. ### [A Few Grains of Pepper](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/our_mutual_friend_se/chapters/viii-a-few-grains-of-pepper) Mentioned as the 'handsome gal' whom Riah has hidden; Fledgeby seeks information about her. ### [X: The Dolls’ Dressmaker Discovers a Word](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/our_mutual_friend_se/chapters/x-the-dolls-dressmaker-discovers-a-word) Present in intervals of rest, caring for Eugene; her name is the word he repeats endlessly. ### [Effect Is Given to the Dolls’ Dressmaker’s Discovery](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/our_mutual_friend_se/chapters/xi-effect-is-given-to-the-dolls-dressmaker-s-discovery) Marries Eugene Wrayburn at his bedside; she nurses him and is devoted. ### [XV: What Was Caught in the Traps That Were Set](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/our_mutual_friend_se/chapters/xv-what-was-caught-in-the-traps-that-were-set) Referenced as Eugene's wife; her union with Eugene is a source of Bradley's torment. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/our_mutual_friend_se/characters/lizzie_hexam - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/our_mutual_friend_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/our_mutual_friend_se/characters