The Dictionary of Lost Words

Lizzie, Dr. Murray’s maidservant and Esme’s friend, is the only true constant of Esme’s life. Literally unable to have her own purpose, agency, or direction in life because of her position in the Murrays’ household and her social class, Lizzie becomes instead Esme’s unconditional ally. The novel makes out of this character a quasi-maternal figure for Esme, someone who forgives any wrongdoing and gladly steps in to nurse Esme back to health without expecting anything in return When Esme breaks the only memento Lizzie has of her actual mother, Lizzie is only briefly sad. Though Lizzie is deeply Christian, she is never so self-righteous as to hold Esme’s out-of-wedlock pregnancy against her.

Because Lizzie exists on Esme’s periphery, her character is revealed through inference from Esme’s impressions. Lizzie is actually quite a keen political mind: She is suspicious of the revolution the suffragettes demand not because she is averse to progress, but from her deep-seated belief that this progress will never apply to her—an astute analysis. Her views often contain wisdom, such as the fact that the violent actions of Tilda and Mrs. Pankhurt’s organization only damage their cause. Through Lizzie, Williams challenges stereotypes about the correlation between education and intelligence.

Esme’s father is one of the novel’s kindest and most sympathetic characters. He exhibits a deep and unrestrained love for his daughter, indulging and encouraging her curiosity. Harry does not prioritize societal convention over the well-being of his daughter. Although he is careful to avoid direct conflict and has no ability to help her navigate growing up a woman (for instance, when she gets her period), he is not afraid to step up when needed—as seen in his contention with Ditte as he withdraws Esme from her abusive boarding school. Similarly when she becomes pregnant out of wedlock, he takes the news without rancor, and it does not damage their relationship.

However well-meaning, Harry represents the insidious and damaging nature of the pervasive misogyny of the time period when Esme grows up. Despite his private education of his daughter, he never sticks up for her within the Scriptorium, instead bending to the whims of other Dictionary men like the clearly odious Mr. Crane. At the same time, Harry is the origin of Esme’s love of words and language—his fascination with the process of compiling words for the Dictionary informs much of her later project to collect Women’s Words.

Esme’s eventual husband, Gareth is a compositor at Oxford University Press. Gareth’s work with the Dictionary is more physical than Esme’s. She starts out convinced that his job is simplistic, but is when she learns the amount of skill involved in layout out type, she is forced to reckon with her internalized prejudices about class and education. Gareth has several characteristics in common with Harry, such as his kindness and support of Esme. Unlike other men in Esme’s life, like the obvious antagonists Mr. Crane and Mr. Dankworth, or more benign sexists like Dr. Murray, Gareth believes in Esme’s intellectual capabilities. His wooing of Esme turns on compositing an edition of Women’s Words and leaving the type trays so that more copies could be printed. Gareth’s unconditional love turns around Esme’s initial aversion towards marriage, showing her that being loved does not have to mean being owned—still a radical idea in her lifetime.