# Mrs. Wilfer — Our Mutual Friend character guide

> Mrs. Wilfer in Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Wilfer, the worthy Mrs. Wilfer, the discreet Mrs. Wilfer

**First appearance:** 0004-iv-the-r-wilfer-family

## Snapshot

Bella's mother, a monument of injured dignity who reads her own grievances aloud like an Act of Parliament and rations her approval accordingly.

## Who they are

Mrs. Wilfer presides over the crowded, threadbare Wilfer household with folded gloves and a monotone of wounded propriety, forever correcting her husband and extolling her own family's trials. Her specialty is gratifying her spleen by praising her children's sufferings, especially Bella's, as if grief were a title she alone could confer. She matters because her theatrical self-pity shapes Bella's hunger for a life beyond the family's pinched gentility.

## In the story

### [The R. Wilfer Family](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/our_mutual_friend_se/chapters/iv-the-r-wilfer-family)

The tall, angular wife who wears gloves indoors and ties her head in a pocket-handkerchief, often extolling her family's virtues.

### [Minders and Reminders](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/our_mutual_friend_se/chapters/xvi-minders-and-reminders)

Intervenes with pompous dignity, insisting on 'compliments' rather than 'love' and patronizing Rokesmith.

### [A Happy Return of the Day](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/our_mutual_friend_se/chapters/iv-a-happy-return-of-the-day)

Presides over the anniversary with majestic solemnity, suffering from a mysterious toothache, and delivers oratorical remarks about tallness.

### [The Feast of the Three Hobgoblins](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/our_mutual_friend_se/chapters/xvi-the-feast-of-the-three-hobgoblins)

Bella's mother, who expresses her disapproval of the Boffins through silent glares and later a verbal attack.

### [Concerning the Mendicant's Bride](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/our_mutual_friend_se/chapters/v-concerning-the-mendicant-s-bride)

Initially stern and disapproving of Bella's marriage, she is eventually disarmed by Bella's affectionate visit.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/our_mutual_friend_se/characters/mrs_wilfer
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/our_mutual_friend_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/our_mutual_friend_se/characters