Lizzie in The Dictionary of Lost Words: Character Analysis

Overview

Lizzie Lester is the Murrays' household maid and, across the novel's span, Esme Nicoll's closest friend and confidante. She first appears in May 1887, when Esme is about five, and remains a constant presence through Esme's childhood, young adulthood, marriage, and into the First World War. Lizzie is roughly eight years older than Esme—Esme notes this in September 1907—and has been in service since she was eleven, a fact Esme reflects on with a mixture of pity and admiration. She is defined by her work: cleaning, cooking, setting fires, and tending to the Murray household. Yet the novel repeatedly shows that her servant role does not limit her emotional importance to Esme. She becomes the keeper of Esme's secret trunk of discarded word slips, the person who explains bodily changes and grief, and the one who helps Esme collect and preserve the women's words that the Oxford English Dictionary leaves out.

Plot Role

Lizzie functions as Esme's anchor throughout the novel. She is present at nearly every turning point in Esme's life:

She receives the first bondmaid slip that Esme finds under the sorting table in 1887 and keeps it in her trunk.
She comforts Esme when schoolmates tease her about her scarred fingers in 1891.
She forgives Esme for bending her late mother's hat pin in 1893.
She explains menstruation to Esme in 1896.
She finds Esme crying over Ditte's absence in 1897 and insists she return stolen proofs.
She tells Esme she is pregnant in December 1906 and supports her through the decision to give the baby to Sarah and Philip Brooks.
She accompanies Esme to Shropshire in autumn 1907 and helps her recover from depression.
She reveals that Mabel O'Shaughnessy lives in the Workhouse Infirmary in 1908.
She helps Esme sort slips for the dictionary of women's words from 1909 onward.
She stays with Esme after Harry Nicoll's death in 1913.
She dresses Esme for her wedding to Gareth in 1915 and prepares the bridal bed.
She boxes slips with Esme when the Scriptorium is dismantled in September 1915 and finds seven bondmaid slips.

Lizzie is also the person who grounds Esme in the working-class world that the Dictionary ignores. Through Lizzie, Esme gains access to the Covered Market, to Mabel O'Shaughnessy's stall, and to words like knackered, bostin, and mairt that never appear in the OED.

Motivations and Traits Shown Through Actions

Lizzie's motivations are shown primarily through her actions rather than her stated desires. She rarely speaks about herself directly, but her behavior reveals several consistent traits.

Loyalty. Lizzie keeps Esme's secrets without question. She stores the trunk of word slips under her bed for years, never betraying its existence to the Murrays or to Esme's father. When Esme returns from Scotland in 1897 and hides a slip defining hurry as harassment, Lizzie insists she return the papers but does not expose her.

Self-effacement. Lizzie repeatedly downplays her own needs. When Esme takes her to the theatre in 1906, Lizzie says it is not her place to approve of Esme's new friends. She tells Da she was too tired the next day to enjoy the outing properly, because the fires still needed to be set and breakfast made.

A desire for permanence. In April 1891, Lizzie explains to Esme why she does needlework: everything she does as a servant—cleaning, cooking, setting fires—gets eaten, dirtied, or burned, leaving no proof she has been there at all. Her needlework, by contrast, will always be there. She describes feeling like a dandelion just before the wind blows when she is not engaged in something lasting.

Faith. Lizzie wears a cross beneath her clothes and speaks openly about God. In Shropshire she tells Esme that God is in the hills, stripped of the markers of class and accent, and that she has never loved him as much as she should, but there she does. She adds that she reckons it is the first time he has noticed her.

Practical care. Lizzie's care for Esme is expressed through physical acts: holding her, stroking her hair, tying her boots, making porridge, insisting on daily walks. In Shropshire she refuses to let Esme turn back from the hill climb, saying it is the kind of pain that achieves something.

Growth. The novel shows Lizzie becoming more confident over time. In Shropshire, away from the Murrays' authority, she seems taller and straighter, and Esme observes that she takes on an air of assurance rarely seen in her. She befriends Mrs. Lloyd (Natasha), learns local words, and begins to speak her opinions without looking down.

Chronological Arc

Lizzie's arc is one of gradual expansion beyond her servant role. In 1887 she is a thirteen-year-old maid who is no more than a child herself, scared of Esme's father, and hiding her trunk under her bed. By 1907, in Shropshire, she manages a household, befriends a farmer's wife, and tells Esme that only she can forgive herself. By 1915 she dresses Esme for her wedding and prepares the bridal bed at Da's house. The novel does not give Lizzie a dramatic transformation—she remains a servant throughout—but it shows her gaining a sense of self-worth and friendship that her position had denied her.

Relationships

With Esme. Lizzie is Esme's closest friend and, in many ways, a surrogate mother. Lizzie calls Esme Essymay and me little cabbage. She is the person Esme turns to at moments of physical and emotional crisis: menstruation, pregnancy, grief, and the aftermath of her father's death. Esme reflects in Shropshire that she had never once seen Lizzie with a friend before Mrs. Lloyd.

With the Murrays. Lizzie is subordinate to the Murray household, directed by Mrs. Ballard, the cook, and by Mrs. Murray. Esme notes that Lizzie blushes when Mr. Lloyd speaks to her, as if it were the first time a man had gone out of his way for her.

With Mrs. Lloyd (Natasha). In Shropshire, Lizzie forms her first real friendship. Mrs. Lloyd visits for afternoon tea, and the two women's banter goes back and forth like a game of badminton. Lizzie learns the words bostin (lovely) and mairt (friend) from her, and Mrs. Lloyd calls Lizzie my bostin mairt.

With Mabel O'Shaughnessy. Lizzie takes Esme to Mabel's stall at the Covered Market. Mabel describes Lizzie as prone to the morbs, a passing sadness, calling it a woman's lot. Lizzie reveals that Mabel lives in the Workhouse Infirmary, showing her knowledge of the working-class world that Esme is only beginning to understand.

With Da (Harry Nicoll). Lizzie is respectful and slightly fearful of Esme's father. She stands still and nods when he speaks to her. But she also defies him indirectly by keeping Esme's secrets.

Key Decisions and Consequences

Lizzie makes several decisions that shape the novel's outcome:

Keeping Esme's trunk. By agreeing to store the bondmaid slip and later the growing collection of word slips, Lizzie enables the preservation of women's words that eventually become the book Women's Words and Their Meanings.
Insisting on daily walks in Shropshire. Lizzie's refusal to let Esme turn back from the hill climbs is directly credited by Esme with helping her recover from depression. Esme reflects that she might have thrown herself into the Cherwell without the walks.
Telling Esme only she can forgive herself. On the final evening in Shropshire, Lizzie tells Esme that it is not God's place to forgive her—it is no one's but hers. This statement helps Esme begin to accept her decision to give up her daughter.
Supporting Esme's choice not to marry Bill. When Esme says she does not love Bill and does not want to be married, Lizzie initially protests that every woman wants to be married, but then asks what Esme wants—a question that allows Esme to articulate her own desires.

Theme and Symbol Connections

Lizzie embodies several of the novel's central themes, explored further in the themes on the gendered exclusion of women's words and the authority of written versus oral language:

The gendered exclusion of women's words. Lizzie's vocabulary—knackered, bostin, mairt—is oral and domestic, the kind of language the Dictionary's editors ignore because it lacks written sources. Her words are preserved only because Esme writes them down.
The authority of written versus oral language. Lizzie's knowledge is transmitted orally, through conversation and storytelling, rather than through the written record that the Dictionary requires. The novel suggests that this oral knowledge is as valuable as the written word.
Language as a means of social control and resistance. Lizzie's position as a servant shapes her language and her sense of self. Her needlework is a form of resistance against invisibility—a way of proving she exists.
The inadequacy of language for trauma and grief. Lizzie's role in Esme's recovery from depression and grief shows that care and presence can do what words cannot.
The preservation of lost words as legacy. Lizzie's trunk, her willingness to store Esme's slips, and her help in sorting them are essential to the creation of Women's Words and Their Meanings, the book that becomes Esme's legacy to her daughter Megan.

Questions and Answers

1. Why does Lizzie keep Esme's trunk of word slips under her bed?

Lizzie keeps the trunk because Esme asks her to, and because she understands the value of preservation. When Esme first shows her the bondmaid slip in 1887, Lizzie suggests she find more treasures to keep it company. She never questions why Esme collects discarded words, and she stores the trunk for decades without betraying its existence. Her own explanation for needlework—that it proves she exists—suggests she understands the importance of leaving a record.

2. How does Lizzie change over the course of the novel?

Lizzie changes from a timid, self-effacing servant to a more confident woman. In Shropshire in 1907, away from the Murrays' authority, she manages the cottage, befriends Mrs. Lloyd, and speaks her opinions without looking down. Esme observes that she had never once seen Lizzie with a friend before Mrs. Lloyd. By 1915, Lizzie dresses Esme for her wedding and prepares the bridal bed, acting with assurance and care.

3. What does Lizzie's needlework reveal about her character?

Lizzie's needlework reveals her desire for permanence and recognition. She tells Esme that everything she does as a servant—cleaning, cooking, setting fires—gets eaten, dirtied, or burned, leaving no proof she existed. Her needlework, by contrast, will always be there. This explanation connects to the novel's theme of preservation: Lizzie values things that last, which is why she is willing to keep Esme's word slips.

4. Why does Lizzie tell Esme that only she can forgive herself?

Lizzie tells Esme this on the final evening in Shropshire, after Esme has been recovering from the grief of giving up her daughter. Esme asks whether God will forgive her, and Lizzie responds that it is not God's place to forgive her—it is no one's but hers. This statement reflects Lizzie's faith (she believes God cares for people regardless of their social position) and her understanding that Esme must come to terms with her own choices.

5. How does Lizzie contribute to the creation of Women's Words and Their Meanings?

Lizzie contributes in several ways. She keeps the trunk of word slips that forms the core of the collection. She provides words herself, such as knackered, which Esme records in 1902. She learns bostin and mairt in Shropshire and teaches them to Esme. She helps Esme sort slips for the dictionary of women's words from 1909 onward. And in September 1915, when the Scriptorium is dismantled, she finds seven bondmaid slips that Esme uses to write a new definition of the word.

For more on how Lizzie's story connects to the novel's larger questions, see the ending explained and the questions and answers pages.