Ditte (Edith) in The Dictionary of Lost Words: Character Analysis

Overview: The Scholar Behind the Scenes

Ditte—born Edith, and renamed by a young Esme who could not pronounce her name—is the novel's quiet engine of female intellectual life. She is not Esme's biological aunt; that aunt lives in Scotland with many children. Instead, Ditte is Esme's godmother, a learned woman who lives in Bath with her sister Beth, corresponds weekly with the Oxford English Dictionary's editor, and writes her own history of England. She is a prolific volunteer contributor to the dictionary, sending words, quotations, and copy for upcoming sections. Her defining conviction, stated at the Sunnyside garden party in 1888, is that lexicographers should chronicle language rather than judge it—a principle that sets her apart from the more conservative men in the Scriptorium.

Ditte's role in Esme's life is layered: she is storyteller, educator, advocate, and ultimately rescuer. She tells Esme the annual story of how her parents met, gives her scientific and literary gifts, arranges her schooling, and later orchestrates a discreet plan to hide Esme's pregnancy. She is also the keeper of family secrets, including the truth about what happened at Cauldshiels. Her arc moves from a somewhat distant, letter-writing presence to an active, hands-on protector who sacrifices her own comfort to safeguard Esme's future.

Plot Role: From Correspondent to Co-Conspirator

Ditte first appears in person at the April 1888 celebration of the dictionary's A and B volume, arriving late and immediately engaging with the Scriptorium's work. She delivers a letter to Dr. Murray arguing for the inclusion of a controversial word, and when a man objects that the word is unpleasant and should be discouraged, she replies that their job is to chronicle, not judge. This moment establishes her as a principled intellectual who believes in the dictionary's mission even when it conflicts with propriety.

Her plot role expands in 1896 when she proposes that Esme attend Cauldshiels School for Young Ladies in Scotland, a school run by her old friend Fiona McKinnon. This decision has profound consequences: Esme is unhappy there, and the novel strongly implies she experiences some form of abuse or trauma, though the details remain deliberately vague. Ditte later admits she should have visited and that she told Esme's father to give the school another year.

The most significant turn comes in December 1906, when Esme discovers she is pregnant and does not want to marry the father, Bill. Esme writes to Ditte, who responds with a detailed plan: Ditte will come to Oxford, meet Esme at a coffee house far from their usual haunts, and propose that Esme become her research assistant while living with her and Beth in Bath. This cover story allows Esme to leave Oxford without scandal, gives her a legitimate reason for her absence, and ultimately leads to the adoption of her daughter by Sarah and Philip Brooks.

Motivations and Traits Shown Through Actions

Ditte's motivations are consistent: she wants Esme to have opportunities that convention would deny her, and she believes education and intellectual work are the keys to a meaningful life. She demonstrates this through concrete actions rather than declarations.

She champions women's words. When the dictionary excludes the word literately—used by a female novelist—Ditte sends the slip to Esme, saying they might keep it alive together. She also notes the irony that Coleridge's coined word literata, referring to a literary lady, is assured inclusion while the women's word is not.

She is pragmatic in crisis. When Esme reveals her pregnancy, Ditte does not moralize or panic. She writes a letter full of practical arrangements: the coffee house meeting, the research assistant cover, the letter to Dr. Murray, and the careful handling of Esme's father. She even uses the word nag as her excuse to visit Harry, noting wryly that the dictionary's quotations record women as the only perpetrators of that form of harassment.

She admits her mistakes. In her July 1898 letter, Ditte acknowledges that she failed to notice what was missing in Esme's letters from Cauldshiels. She writes that the absence of words was the clue, and that she should have paid more attention. This self-awareness is rare among the novel's adult characters.

She values discretion and reputation. Her plan for Esme's pregnancy is built on lies and half-truths, which Esme observes her scripting at the coffee house. Ditte understands that a woman's reputation is a fragile thing and that protecting it requires strategic deception.

Chronological Arc

1888: Ditte arrives late to the Sunnyside party, defends the inclusion of a controversial word, gives Esme a copy of On the Origin of Species, and tells the story of how Esme's parents met over cucumber-and-watercress soup. She promises to always take Esme's side.

1896: Ditte writes to Harry proposing Cauldshiels School, enclosing the word literately for Esme. Esme secretly reads the letter and learns of the plan.

1897: Ditte declines Esme's request to be tutored in Bath, explaining that she and Beth cannot cover the natural sciences and mathematics. Esme is furious and pins dictionary slips for abandon and alone to Ditte's letter.

1898: Ditte visits Oxford after noticing bruises on Esme's hands and arranges for her to attend Oxford High School for Girls. She writes weekly letters that Esme refuses to open. Her July letter includes a news clipping about a teacher dismissed from Cauldshiels following a student's hospitalization, confirming that something was wrong.

1906–1907: Ditte orchestrates Esme's escape to Bath, installs her as a research assistant, and arranges for Sarah and Philip Brooks to adopt the baby. After the birth, she writes to Harry about Esme's grief and arranges for Esme to spend October at a cottage in Shropshire.

1907 onward: Ditte remains a presence in Esme's life, though the novel's later chapters focus more on Esme's return to the Scriptorium and her growing independence.

Relationships

With Esme: The central relationship. Ditte is godmother, mentor, and protector. Their bond is tested by the Cauldshiels disaster and Ditte's refusal to tutor Esme, but it endures. Esme's anger at Ditte in 1897–98 is real, yet Ditte's persistence—writing weekly, sending gifts, admitting fault—eventually wins Esme back.

With Harry (Esme's father): Ditte is his sister-in-law and trusted correspondent. He keeps her letters private, and she writes to him about Esme's welfare. In the pregnancy crisis, Ditte coordinates with Harry, telling Esme he is a good man who will need time to process the news.

With Beth: Ditte's sister and housemate. Beth is described as Ditte's opposite—taller, slimmer, more fashionable—yet they function as a unit. Beth helps host the afternoon teas that establish Esme's cover story, and the two sisters together propose the adoption plan.

With Dr. Murray: Ditte is a valued volunteer contributor. He thanks her publicly at the 1888 celebration, and she corresponds with him regularly. Her relationship with him is professional and respectful, though she is not afraid to argue for controversial words.

Key Decisions and Consequences

Arranging Cauldshiels (1896): This decision, made with good intentions, leads to Esme's unhappiness and possible trauma. Ditte later admits she should have visited and that she dismissed Harry's concerns. The consequence is a deep rift between Ditte and Esme that takes years to heal.

Declining to tutor Esme (1897): Ditte's refusal, though reasoned, feels like betrayal to Esme. Ditte explains she is taking the side of an older Esme, hoping Esme will one day agree. The consequence is temporary estrangement, but also Esme's continued education at Oxford High School.

Rescuing Esme during pregnancy (1907): This is Ditte's most consequential decision. She provides a cover story, a home, and a path forward. The consequence is that Esme avoids the fate of many unmarried pregnant women of her era, and the baby is adopted by Sarah and Philip, who emigrate to South Australia.

Arranging Cobblers Dingle (1907): After the baby's death, Ditte arranges for Esme to recover at a cottage in Shropshire with Lizzie. The consequence is Esme's gradual return to health and her eventual return to the Scriptorium.

Theme and Symbol Connections

Ditte embodies several of the novel's central themes. Her advocacy for the word literately connects to the theme of the gendered exclusion of women's words: she recognizes that the dictionary's choices reflect and reinforce social hierarchies. Her insistence that lexicographers should chronicle rather than judge speaks to the authority of written versus oral language, and her willingness to use strategic deception—the nag excuse—shows how language can be a means of social control and resistance.

Her failure to notice what was missing in Esme's letters from Cauldshiels connects to the theme of the inadequacy of language for trauma: the absence of words was the clue, but she did not see it. And her gift of the literately slip, along with her promise that words are tools of resurrection, ties directly to the theme of preserving lost words as legacy.

Ditte is also a symbol of the unmarried intellectual woman—a figure the novel suggests was both essential to the dictionary's creation and systematically erased from its history. The Author's Note confirms that Edith Thompson was a real contributor to the OED, and the novel gives her a fictional life that honors that legacy.

Questions and Answers

1. Why does Esme call her Ditte instead of Edith?

As a small child, Esme struggled to pronounce