The Invisible Woman (2013) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Dickens noticed Nelly during a performance at London's Haymarket Theatre in 1857 and was immediately captivated. At that point, he had been married to Catherine for over twenty years but felt emotionally disconnected from her, she was busy caring for their ten children and did not share his literary passion. Nelly, young and fascinated by his fame and ideas, represented a new beginning and intellectual companionship that his marriage no longer provided.

Foreshadowing: Dickens's earlier dissatisfaction with his domestic life is hinted at when the summary notes he 'no longer has feelings for his wife' before meeting Nelly.

• charles dickens
• nelly ternan
• attraction
• marriage
• catherine dickens

Nelly faced limited options as a young woman in Victorian England. While she was angered and confused when she overheard her mother's plans for her to become a mistress, she ultimately accepted the arrangement. Wilkie Collins encouraged her to 'break conventions,' and Nelly herself noted that only men have the freedom to choose. Her mother also believed Dickens could provide financial stability that Nelly would never find on stage.

Foreshadowing: Mrs. Ternan's calculation that Nelly 'is not as talented as her sisters' foreshadows the economic pressure that drives Nelly's decision.

• nelly ternan
• mistress
• victorian women
• social constraints
• marriage

Dickens gave Nelly a gemstone bracelet, but it was mistakenly delivered to his wife Catherine instead. Dickens ordered Catherine to bring the bracelet to Nelly, treating his wife as a messenger in his affair. Catherine warned Nelly about the pain of being involved with Dickens, revealing both her awareness of the relationship and her compassion for the young woman who would suffer from it.

Foreshadowing: The bracelet incident demonstrates Dickens's willingness to prioritize his desires over his family's feelings, foreshadowing his later public separation from Catherine.

• gemstone bracelet
• catherine dickens
• affair
• warning

Dickens completed Great Expectations around 1860-1861, during his affair with Nelly. When Nelly visited him, he excitedly revealed the completed manuscript to her. Notably, Nelly approved of the ending, which does not bring Estella and Pip together, suggesting she understood and accepted the story's melancholic tone. Shortly after this meeting, they became lovers.

Foreshadowing: The story's ending, which denies Pip and Estella a happy union, mirrors the secret and ultimately unfulfilled nature of Dickens and Nelly's relationship.

• great expectations
• novel
• ending
• estella
• pip
• connection

Nelly became pregnant by Dickens, and the couple faced anxious gossip spreading across cities about their affair. Their child was stillborn. Dickens saved a lock of the baby's hair as a memento and signed the death certificate with the false name 'M. Charles Tringham', a name that still included his own initials, suggesting his need to maintain a private connection despite the secrecy.

Foreshadowing: The tragedy of the stillborn child casts a shadow over their relationship and represents the personal cost of their secret affair.

• pregnancy
• stillborn
• death certificate
• tragedy
• secret

Dickens signed the stillborn baby's death certificate with the name 'M. Charles Tringham' to protect both Nelly's reputation and his own public image. As a famous author and public figure, any scandal could destroy his career and legacy. The false name allowed him to acknowledge the birth privately while maintaining public deniability about the affair.

Foreshadowing: This act of deception anticipates Dickens's similar behavior during the Staplehurst rail disaster, when he again prioritized protecting the secret of his relationship.

• false name
• tringham
• scandal
• reputation
• deception

In spring 1865, Dickens and Nelly were returning from France and boarded a train at Folkestone for London. Near Staplehurst in Kent, the train derailed. While Nelly was uninjured, Dickens was asked to help with wounded passengers. He pretended he was traveling alone to avoid public scandal about their affair, then walked away to assist others. Nelly watched him retrieve a page from a work in progress from the wreckage.

Foreshadowing: The disaster occurred while they were returning from France, a trip that would have been scandalous if their relationship had been exposed.

• staplehurst
• train derailment
• rail disaster
• 1865
• accident

Dickens hid Nelly's presence because he feared the public scandal of being discovered with his young mistress. Although he was uninjured and could have simply acknowledged Nelly, he told workers he was traveling alone. This preserved his public reputation as a family man and respected author, even though it left Nelly alone and vulnerable during the chaos.

Foreshadowing: This moment reveals the fundamental imbalance of their relationship, Dickens protected his public image while Nelly remained his hidden secret.

• scandal
• reputation
• hide
• secret
• public image

After Dickens's death in 1870, Nelly remained his secret mistress until the end. Dickens had installed her at a country house and promised to visit twice weekly, though he acknowledged his family had a claim on his time. In 1876, Nelly married Oxford graduate George Wharton-Robinson, who was twelve years her junior and had no knowledge of her past affair. They had a son together, and only Reverend Benham knew about her true history with Dickens.

Foreshadowing: Nelly's marriage to someone unaware of her past represents her final attempt to leave the scandal of her youth behind her.

• marriage
• george wharton's robinson
• 1876
• secret
• afterlife

Nelly kept her past with Dickens hidden because the affair would have been deeply shameful in Victorian society. A young woman marrying an older man who had been her married lover's secret mistress would have faced severe social stigma. By 1876, Dickens was dead, and Nelly likely wanted a clean start and a respectable life with someone who would never judge her for her youth.

Foreshadowing: Her silence about Dickens represents the lasting impact of the secrecy that defined her relationship with him, secrecy that continued to shape her life long after his death.

• marriage secret
• victorian society
• shame
• disclosure
• wharton robinson

The Frozen Deep, a play by Wilkie Collins, was the setting where Dickens first spotted Nelly in 1857, he cast her and her family in the production. The play's title carries thematic weight, as the story explores themes of love, sacrifice, and moral duty. Nelly's final memory in 1883, recalling the lines she spoke in The Frozen Deep while watching her son perform in a school play, brings the narrative full circle, connecting her youth to her present life.

Foreshadowing: The play served as the literal starting point of the affair, and its final echo suggests Dickens and Nelly's story was always destined to be one of hidden depths and unfulfilled longing.

• the frozen deep
• play
• wilkie collins
• symbolism
• beginning
• ending