The Way We Live Now · Character

Ezekiel Brehgert

A Jewish banker whose proposal to Georgiana Longestaffe drags her family's genteel prejudices into the open, and whose quiet decency shames the Christians around him.

supporting

Also known as Brehgert, Mr. Brehgert, Herr Brehgert

First appearance: Miss Longestaffe's Lover

As a supporting figure in The Way We Live Now, Ezekiel Brehgert is not background color—the story leans on what they do once the chapter opens.

Mentioned as having met with Melmotte about the Moldavian loan.

In the storyXL: “Unanimity Is the Very Soul of These Things.”Open this moment free

See Ezekiel Brehgert in XL: “Unanimity Is the Very Soul of These Things.”Book page

Free preview opens at this moment — character cards, Character Web, and themes sit beside the text as you read.

Brehgert moves through the City with the wealth and credit that Melmotte only pretends to possess, and when he offers marriage to the impoverished Georgiana, her parents recoil not from his character but from his faith and his trade. He is, by Melmotte's own reckoning, the most good-natured man alive — a quality that makes his handling of the forged documents all the more startling. His courtship forces the Longestaffes, and the reader, to weigh what English society claims to value against what it actually does.

Continue beside the text

The fuller portrait of Ezekiel Brehgert sits in Reading Lens — open the free preview to keep reading with notes on the page.

See Ezekiel Brehgert in Miss Longestaffe's Lover

Character Web

38 connections

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

Relationship types

Other

Character groups

Central plot drivers
Minor and background figures

+33 more in the full Character Web

Open in reader

Narrative arc

Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Rising action.

Setup
Escalation
Breaking point
Aftermath
Closing

This excerpt marks the dramatic climax because it reveals the central emotional and psychological crisis: Hett…

Full beat labels and climax notes unlock in the reader.

Follow the arc while reading

In the story

Ezekiel Brehgert appears across 6 companion beats. Open any chapter in the free preview to see the notes beside the text.

XL: “Unanimity Is the Very Soul of These Things.”
Mentioned as having met with Melmotte about the Moldavian loan.
Miss Longestaffe's Lover
A wealthy Jewish widower and partner in Todd, Brehgert, and Goldsheiner; has proposed to Georgiana and been accepted.
Miss Longestaffe Writes Home
Arrives elegantly dressed at Lady Monogram's party, but is ignored and leaves after learning Georgiana has been taken away by her father.
Miss Longestaffe Again at Caversham
The Jewish financier to whom Georgiana is engaged; his intentions are uncertain after Mr. Longestaffe's intervention.
The Brehgert Correspondence
Writes to Georgiana explaining his position on her father's objections and later breaks off the engagement after her conditional reply.
The Inquest
Manages Melmotte's affairs with honesty and energy, forms a friendship with Mr. Longestaffe, and discusses his past engagement to Georgiana, explaining his financial losses.

Chapter companion notes

Spoil-light check-ins for Ezekiel Brehgert unlock in the free preview.

See Ezekiel Brehgert in Miss Longestaffe's Lover

See Ezekiel Brehgert in XL: “Unanimity Is the Very Soul of These Things.”