# Mr. Glegg — The Mill on the Floss character guide

> Mr. Glegg in The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** good Mr. Glegg, uncle Glegg, Glegg

**First appearance:** 0006-vi-the-aunts-and-uncles-are-coming

## Snapshot

A retired wool-stapler who escaped business only to be worked harder by his garden and his wife, Mr. Glegg finds his chief dissipation in hard labour.

## Who they are

Mr. Glegg has retired from trade expecting ease and instead spends his days among flowers and vegetables, doing the work of two gardeners while his wife counts the wages saved. Mild, uxorious, and quietly content, he embodies the Dodson prosperity without its sharper edge. His placid presence in family councils offers a soft counterpoint to Mrs. Glegg's judgments and helps keep the Tulliver quarrels from becoming permanent ruptures.

## Relationships

### [Tom Tulliver](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_mill_on_the_floss_se/characters/tom_tulliver)

_family_

Uncle and nephew, with Mr. Glegg's stern, money-minded advice influencing Tom's decisions.

### [Tom Tulliver](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_mill_on_the_floss_se/characters/tom_tulliver)

_family_

Uncle and nephew, with Mr. Glegg's stern, money-minded advice influencing Tom's decisions.

### [Tom Tulliver](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_mill_on_the_floss_se/characters/tom_tulliver)

_family_

Uncle and nephew, with Mr. Glegg's stern, money-minded advice influencing Tom's decisions.

## In the story

### [Mr. and Mrs. Glegg at Home](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_mill_on_the_floss_se/chapters/xii-mr-and-mrs-glegg-at-home)

Kind-hearted but not meek; he tries to avoid conflict but eventually defends himself, and reflects on his wife's temperament.

### [The Family Council](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_mill_on_the_floss_se/chapters/iii-the-family-council)

More sympathetic than his wife, he engages with Tom's proposal and draws him out, but is careful not to overstep his wife's authority. He also warns Mrs. Moss about the legal implications of the note.

### [A Vanishing Gleam](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_mill_on_the_floss_se/chapters/iv-a-vanishing-gleam)

Helps search the chest and speaks soothingly to Mr. Tulliver about his condition.

### [Aunt Glegg Learns the Breadth of Bob's Thumb](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_mill_on_the_floss_se/chapters/ii-aunt-glegg-learns-the-breadth-of-bob-s-thumb)

Mr. Glegg supports Tom's plan and makes inquiries about the trading opportunity.

### [A Family Party](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_mill_on_the_floss_se/chapters/xii-a-family-party)

Good-naturedly jokes with Maggie about sweethearts; is rebuked by his wife.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_mill_on_the_floss_se/characters/mr_glegg
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_mill_on_the_floss_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_mill_on_the_floss_se/characters