MBTI Type: ISTJ

Mrs. Clennam, like a lot of Dickens characters, is firmly entrenched in traditional beliefs, and allows them to make most of her decisions for her. She does things out of obligation and duty, because they are expected. She was a decent administrator of the family business until she lost her legs, and has let the house fall to wrack and ruin around her, while she rules it with an iron fist. In so doing, she has made a lot of decisions that lack emotions behind them – cutting her husband out of her life, ignoring her “son” Arthur and refusing to tell him anything about his father’s last words, keeping secrets from her staff, and even arranging for her butler to marry her maid, to keep things sensible and proper around the place. (Never mind that the butler is abusive and cannot be trusted.) Her lack of intuition is her downfall. She is caught up in her own subjective views and fails to read the truth into situations – because of this, and because she trusts her crooked keeper, her personal secrets wind up in the hands of a notorious murderer, who tries to blackmail her for his silence. It’s only after she’s threatened by exposure that Mrs Clennam does right by Amy and allows her to read the letter that concerns her fate and fortune, and the truth about Arthur. She at least clears her conscience, and then has done “right” by them both. Alas, she dies of a heart attack upon seeing her house collapse, and can never make amends beyond that. Most ISTJs are not this rigid or unfeeling, but Dickens likes to use harsh caricatures and this one suits her well, of a matter-of-fact, businesslike woman, biting and sharp-tongued, but whose heart is somewhat crusty with her piety.

Enneagram: 1w9

Mrs. Clennam is a very unhealthy 1, in that she brought up Arthur as her own son despite him being her husband’s bastard, but she sought to punish them both for their sins by being strict and unloving. So she did her “duty,” but without any trace of warmth or kindness. She sees Arthur as a constant reminder of her husband’s “weak flesh” and despises him for it. She has cut off her own heart so much that it pains her to admit to herself that Arthur means anything to her. She is curt with people and secretive, but also tries to do what is “right” by Amy Dorrit in a small way – to hire her unnecessarily as a seamstress and companion to make up for the guilt she feels in not giving her any of the money her husband left to her in his last will and testament. She has had no problem living as a recluse since she lost the use of her legs, showing her tendency to remove herself from others and push them out of her life, rather than moving toward them (unlike a 2 wing would). She is self-sufficient and quite certain she can handle things on her own, as a withdrawn wing type. And she hates any kind of fuss or emotions.

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