# Mrs. O'Dowd — Vanity Fair character guide

> Mrs. O'Dowd in Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray.

**Role:** minor

**Also known as:** Mrs. Major O'Dowd, Peggy, the excellent Mrs. O'Dowd

**First appearance:** 0027-xxvii-in-which-amelia-joins-her-regiment

## Who they are

Major O'Dowd's formidable, talkative Irish wife who mothers the young officers.

## In the story

### [XIII: Sentimental and Otherwise](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/vanity_fair_se/chapters/xiii-sentimental-and-otherwise)

Writes to her sister about George's engagement; hosts a party where she toasts George.

### [In Which Amelia Joins Her Regiment](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/vanity_fair_se/chapters/xxvii-in-which-amelia-joins-her-regiment)

Welcomes Amelia with enthusiasm, introduces her to regimental life, and hosts a party in her honor.

### [In Which Amelia Invades the Low Countries](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/vanity_fair_se/chapters/xxviii-in-which-amelia-invades-the-low-countries)

Travels with Amelia and Jos; boasts about her family's estate in Ireland.

### [Brussels](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/vanity_fair_se/chapters/xxix-brussels)

Joins the drives and the opera, admires the Duke, and insists on accompanying the young friends, much to George's annoyance.

### [The Girl I Left Behind Me](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/vanity_fair_se/chapters/xxx-the-girl-i-left-behind-me)

Packs the Major's valise, brushes his cloak, and prepares coffee; reads her uncle's sermons after his departure.

### [In Which Jos Sedley Takes Care of His Sister](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/vanity_fair_se/chapters/xxxi-in-which-jos-sedley-takes-care-of-his-sister)

Visits Amelia to comfort her, dines with Jos, and reacts to the sound of cannon fire.

### [In Which Jos Takes Flight, and the War Is Brought to a Close](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/vanity_fair_se/chapters/xxxii-in-which-jos-takes-flight-and-the-war-is-brought-to-a-close)

Assists Amelia in nursing Stubble and provides comfort, while also praising Dobbin's character.

### [How to Live Well on Nothing a Year](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/vanity_fair_se/chapters/xxxvi-how-to-live-well-on-nothing-a-year)

Engages in a loud fracas with Mrs. Crawley at the Café de Paris, calling Rawdon a 'blackleg.'

### [In Which the Reader Has to Double the Cape](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/vanity_fair_se/chapters/xliii-in-which-the-reader-has-to-double-the-cape)

Now Lady O'Dowd, as domineering and kind as ever, a tyrant over her husband and a mother to the young men, determined to see Glorvina marry Dobbin.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/mrs_odowd
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/vanity_fair_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters