Martin Chuzzlewit

by Charles Dickens

Martin Chuzzlewit has been raised by his grandfather and namesake. Years before Martin senior took the precaution of raising an orphaned girl, Mary Graham, to be his nursemaid, with the understanding that she will be well cared for only as long as Martin senior lives. She thus has a strong motive to promote his well-being, in contrast to his relatives, who want to inherit his money. However, his grandson Martin falls in love with Mary and wishes to marry her, ruining Martin senior's plans. When Martin refuses to give up the engagement his grandfather disinherits him.

Martin becomes an apprentice to Seth Pecksniff, a greedy architect. Instead of teaching his students he lives off their tuition fees and has them do draughting work that he passes off as his own. He has two spoiled daughters, Charity and Mercy, nicknamed Cherry and Merry. Unbeknown to Martin, Pecksniff has taken him on in order to establish closer ties with his wealthy grandfather.

{{multiple image | align = left | direction = horizontal | header = | header_align = left/right/center | header_background = | footer | footer_align = left/right/center | footer_background = | width = | image1 = Martin Chuzzlewit illus15.jpg| | width1 = 130 | caption1 = Old Martin and Mary | alt1 = | image2 = Jonas Chuzzlewit 89.jpg | width2 = 150 | caption2 = A Game of Love | alt2 = }} Young Martin befriends Tom Pinch, a kind-hearted soul whose late grandmother gave Pecksniff all she had in the belief that Pecksniff would make an architect and a gentleman of him. Pinch is incapable of believing any of the bad things others tell him of Pecksniff, and always defends him vociferously. Pinch works for exploitatively low wages while believing that he is the unworthy recipient of Pecksniff's charity.

When Martin senior hears of his grandson's new life he demands that Pecksniff kick young Martin out. Then Martin senior moves in and falls under Pecksniff's control. During this time Pinch falls in love with Mary, but does not declare his feelings, knowing of her attachment to young Martin.

One of Martin senior's greedy relatives is his brother, Anthony Chuzzlewit, who is in business with his son, Jonas. Despite their considerable wealth, they live miserly, cruel lives. Jonas, eager for the old man to die so that he can inherit, constantly berates his father. Anthony dies abruptly and under suspicious circumstances, leaving his wealth to Jonas. Jonas then woos Cherry, while arguing constantly with Merry. He then abruptly declares to Pecksniff that he wants to marry Merry and jilts Cherry, not without demanding an additional £1,000 on top of the £4,000 that Pecksniff has promised him as Cherry's dowry, with the argument that Cherry has better chances for matchmaking.

Jonas, meanwhile, becomes entangled with the unscrupulous Montague Tigg, formerly a petty thief and hanger-on of a Chuzzlewit relative, Chevy Slyme, and joins in Tigg's crooked insurance business. Tigg cheats young Martin out of a valuable pocket watch and uses the funds to transform himself into a seemingly fine man, calling himself "Tigg Montague". This convinces investors that he must be an important businessman from whom they may greatly profit. Jonas eventually ends up murdering Tigg, who has acquired embarrassing information about him.

At this time Tom Pinch sees his employer's true character, goes to London to seek new employment, and rescues his sister Ruth from mistreatment by the family that employs her as a governess. Pinch quickly receives an ideal job from a mysterious employer with the help of an equally mysterious Mr Fips.

{{multiple image | align = left | direction = horizontal | header = | header_align = left/right/center | header_background = | footer | footer_align = left/right/center | footer_background = | width = | image1 = Frontispiece of Martin Chuzzlewit by Phiz.jpg | width1 = 130 | caption1 = Tom Pinch at the Organ.

| alt1 = | image2 = Ruth-visitor.jpg | width2 = 130 | caption2 = John Westlock and Ruth Pinch | alt2 = }} Young Martin, meanwhile, has encountered Mark Tapley, who is always cheerful, which he decides does not reflect well on him because it shows no strength of character to be happy when one has good fortune. Mark decides that he must test his cheerfulness by seeing if he can maintain it in the worst possible circumstances. To this end he accompanies young Martin when he goes to the United States to seek his fortune. The two men attempt to start new lives in a swampy, disease-filled settlement named Eden, but both nearly die of malaria. Mark finally finds himself in a situation in which it can be considered a virtue to remain in good spirits. The grim experience, and Mark's nursing of Martin back to health, change Martin's selfish and proud character, and the men return to England, where Martin seeks reconciliation with his grandfather. By this time, however, his grandfather is under Pecksniff's control and rejects him.

Martin is then reunited with Tom Pinch. They discover that Tom's mysterious benefactor is old Martin Chuzzlewit, who has been pretending to be in thrall to Pecksniff. Together the group confront Pecksniff with their knowledge of his true character. They also discover that Jonas has murdered Tigg to prevent him from revealing that he had planned to murder Anthony.

Martin senior reveals that he was angry at his grandson for becoming engaged to Mary because he had planned to arrange that particular match himself, and felt that his glory had been thwarted by their action. Martin and his grandfather are reconciled, and Martin and Mary are married, as are Ruth Pinch and John Westlock, another former student of Pecksniff's. Tom Pinch remains in unrequited love with Mary for the rest of his life, never marrying, and always being a warm companion to Mary, Martin, Ruth and John.