--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It was all Mrs. Bumble. She would do it,\"…" description: "\"“It was all Mrs. Bumble. She would do it,\" urged Mr. Bumble; first looking round, to ascertain that his partner had left the room. That is no excuse,\" ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f4/charles-dickens-34_dominance_it-was-all-mrs-bumble-she-would-do-it-ur_621358.jpg" --- # It was all Mrs. Bumble. She would do it," urged Mr… ![“It was all Mrs. Bumble. She would do it," urged Mr. Bumble; first looking round, to ascertain that his partner had left the room. That is no excuse," returned Mr. Brownlow. "You were present on the occasion of the destruction of these trinkets, and, indeed, are the more guilty of the two, in the…” quote by Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f4/charles-dickens-34_dominance_it-was-all-mrs-bumble-she-would-do-it-ur_621358.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f4/charles-dickens-34_dominance_it-was-all-mrs-bumble-she-would-do-it-ur_621358.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f4/charles-dickens-34_dominance_it-was-all-mrs-bumble-she-would-do-it-ur_621358.jpg) > ““It was all Mrs. Bumble. She would do it," urged Mr. Bumble; first looking round, to ascertain that his partner had left the room. That is no excuse," returned Mr. Brownlow. "You were present on the occasion of the destruction of these trinkets, and, indeed, are the more guilty of the two, in the eye of the law; for the law supposes that your wife acts under your direction." If the law supposes that," said Mr. Bumble, squeezing his hat emphatically in both hands, "the law is a ass — a idiot. If that's the eye of the law, the law is a bachelor; and the worst I wish the law is, that his eye may be opened by experience — by experience.”” [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The law is portrayed as absurd and biased, highlighting its failure to protect the innocent. **In simple terms:** The law can be foolish and unjust. Key Takeaway Question authority and seek fairness. Themes justice law absurdity power critique Mood skeptical reflective Type satirical critical When to use this quote - courtroom - political debate - civil rights activism Key Concepts legal criticism social satire authority challenge Questions to Reflect On - When have you seen law fail the vulnerable? - How can we improve fairness? A Different Perspective Legal systems may lack nuance and empathy. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bumble Urged](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bumble-urged-5026746/) [Dominance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dominance/) [Funny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/funny/) [Husbands](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/husbands/) [Law](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/law/) [Law Supposes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/law-supposes-4478353/) [Marriage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marriage/) [Matrimony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/matrimony/) [Mr Bumble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mr-bumble-692914/) [Mrs Bumble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mrs-bumble-5026744/) [Responsibility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/responsibility/) [Supposes Wife](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/supposes-wife-5026745/) [Wives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wives/) [Woman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/woman/) ## Related quotes > [If the law supposes that,' said Mr Bumble...' the law is an ass - an idiot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/if-the-law-supposes-that-said-mr-bumble-the-law-is-an-ass-an-idiot/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [But tears were not the things to find their way to Mr. Bumble’s soul; his heart was waterproof. Like washable beaver hats that improve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/but-tears-were-not-the-things-to-find-their-way-to-mr-bumble-s-soul-2/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [But, tears were not the things to find their way to Mr. Bumble's soul; his heart was waterproof.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/but-tears-were-not-the-things-to-find-their-way-to-mr-bumble-s-soul/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [I think the first role I ever played was Mr. Bumble in a production of 'Oliver.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caitriona-balfe/i-think-the-first-role-i-ever-played-was-mr-bumble-in-a-production-of/) [Caitriona Balfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caitriona-balfe/) > [The first diabolical character who intruded himself on my peaceful youth (as I called to mind that day at Dullborough), was a certain Captain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/the-first-diabolical-character-who-intruded-himself-on-my-peaceful/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [Metellus Numidicus, the censor, acknowledged to the Roman people, in a public oration, that had kind nature allowed us to exist without the help…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/metellus-numidicus-the-censor-acknowledged-to-the-roman-people-in-a/) [Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/) > [Incompatibility. In matrimony a similarity of tastes, particularly the taste for domination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/incompatibility-in-matrimony-a-similarity-of-tastes-particularly-the/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [It seemed to me pretty plain, that they had more of love than matrimony in them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-goldsmith/it-seemed-to-me-pretty-plain-that-they-had-more-of-love-than/) [Oliver Goldsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-goldsmith/) > [I am determined that nothing but the deepest love could ever induce me into matrimony.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-ehle/i-am-determined-that-nothing-but-the-deepest-love-could-ever-induce/) [Jennifer Ehle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-ehle/) > [The sum of all that makes a just man happy Consists in the well choosing of his wife: And there, well to discharge it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-massinger/the-sum-of-all-that-makes-a-just-man-happy-consists-in-the-well/) [Philip Massinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-massinger/) > [Love is a blazing, crackling, green-wood flame, as much smoke as flame; friendship, married friendship particularly, is a steady,intense, comfortable fire. Love, in courtship,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-richardson/love-is-a-blazing-crackling-green-wood-flame-as-much-smoke-as-flame/) [Samuel Richardson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-richardson/) > [As the husband is the wife is; thou art mated with a clown, As the grossness of his nature will have weight to drag…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-lord-tennyson/as-the-husband-is-the-wife-is-thou-art-mated-with-a-clown-as-the/) [Alfred Lord Tennyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-lord-tennyson/) > [There is no road to wealth so easy and respectable as that of matrimony.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-trollope/there-is-no-road-to-wealth-so-easy-and-respectable-as-that-of/) [Anthony Trollope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-trollope/) > [True it is, as society is instituted, marriage becomes somewhat of a lottery, for all its votaries are either the victims of Cupid or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-frederick-saunders/true-it-is-as-society-is-instituted-marriage-becomes-somewhat-of-a/) [Arthur Frederick Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-frederick-saunders/) > [Our eyes met in the math class. How were we to know that trigonometry would lead to matrimony?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-kinsella/our-eyes-met-in-the-math-class-how-were-we-to-know-that-trigonometry/) [Sophie Kinsella](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-kinsella/) ## More by Charles Dickens > [“All other swindlers upon earth are nothing to the self-swindlers, and with such pretences did I cheat myself. Surely a curious thing. That I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/all-other-swindlers-upon-earth-are-nothing-to-the-self-swindlers-and/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [... Arthur Gride, whose bleared eyes gloated only over the outward beauties, and were blind to the spirit which reigned within, evinced - a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/arthur-gride-whose-bleared-eyes-gloated-only-over-the-outward/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [There can be no disparity in marriage like unsuitability of mind and purpose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/there-can-be-no-disparity-in-marriage-like-unsuitability-of-mind-and/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [I have tried to resign myself, and to console myself; and that, I hope, I may have done imperfectly; but what I cannot firmly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/i-have-tried-to-resign-myself-and-to-console-myself-and-that-i-hope-i/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [A new heart for a New Year, always!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/a-new-heart-for-a-new-year-always/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [“The suspense: the fearful, acute suspense: of standing idly by while the life of one we dearly love, is trembling in the balance; the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/the-suspense-the-fearful-acute-suspense-of-standing-idly-by-while-the/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [“Mrs. Joe was a very clean housekeeper, but had an exquisite art of making her cleanliness more uncomfortable and unacceptable than dirt itself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/mrs-joe-was-a-very-clean-housekeeper-but-had-an-exquisite-art-of/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [There seems a magic in the very name of Christmas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/there-seems-a-magic-in-the-very-name-of-christmas/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [“evening, they began to think that although he could never hope to be an Englishman, still it would be hard to visit that affliction…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/evening-they-began-to-think-that-although-he-could-never-hope-to-be/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [“Besides which, all that I could have said of the Story to any purpose, I had endeavoured to say in it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/besides-which-all-that-i-could-have-said-of-the-story-to-any-purpose/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [“The wheels rolled on, and rolled down by the Monument, and by the Tower; and by the Docks; down by Ratcliffe, and by Rotherhithe;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/the-wheels-rolled-on-and-rolled-down-by-the-monument-and-by-the-tower/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [“The three customers pulled off their hats to Madame Defarge, with three flourishes. She acknowledged their homage by bending her head, and giving them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/the-three-customers-pulled-off-their-hats-to-madame-defarge-with/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [“What a situation!' cried Miss Squeers; '...What is the reason that men fall in love with me, whether I like it or not, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/what-a-situation-cried-miss-squeers-what-is-the-reason-that-men-fall/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [I admire machinery as much is any man, and am as thankful to it as any man can be for what it does for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/i-admire-machinery-as-much-is-any-man-and-am-as-thankful-to-it-as-any/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [“Mr. Pickwick was a philosopher, but philosophers are only men in armour, after all.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/mr-pickwick-was-a-philosopher-but-philosophers-are-only-men-in-armour/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) [Explore all 2,309 Charles Dickens quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) ## More Dominance quotes > [I believe Saddam Hussein's strategic objective was, and remains, to assert dominance over the Gulf region.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandy-berger/i-believe-saddam-hussein-s-strategic-objective-was-and-remains-to/) [Sandy Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandy-berger/) > [Check your testosterone levels. Every study on evolutionary psychology has correlated testosterone levels with dominance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-cernovich/check-your-testosterone-levels-every-study-on-evolutionary-psychology/) [Mike Cernovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-cernovich/) > [“I’m not going to deny that I want to fuck you. I can’t promise a future or that I’ll be some sniveling boyfriend who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-l-hess/i-m-not-going-to-deny-that-i-want-to-fuck-you-i-can-t-promise-a/) [D.L. Hess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-l-hess/) > [Naval dominance of European waters was the largest, longest, most complex and expensive project ever undertaken by the British state and society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-rodger/naval-dominance-of-european-waters-was-the-largest-longest-most/) [Nicholas Rodger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-rodger/) > [I sometimes try to imagine what would have happened if we’d known the bonobo first and the chimpanzee only later—or not at all. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frans-de-waal/i-sometimes-try-to-imagine-what-would-have-happened-if-we-d-known-the/) [Frans de Waal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frans-de-waal/) > [I think that the global consciousness concerning all those elements that produce tension, fractions of societies, is changing in the sense that we all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilberto-gil/i-think-that-the-global-consciousness-concerning-all-those-elements/) [Gilberto Gil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilberto-gil/) > [It is way less certain to be a wonderful business in the future. The threat is alternative mediums of information. Every newspaper is scrambling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/it-is-way-less-certain-to-be-a-wonderful-business-in-the-future-the/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) > [Control over a woman is the only form of dominance most men possess, for most men are merely subjects of more powerful men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn-french/control-over-a-woman-is-the-only-form-of-dominance-most-men-possess/) [Marilyn French](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilyn-french/) > [Unlike all other founders of a religious faith, Christ had no selfishness, no desire of dominance; and His system, unlike all other systems of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-william-howitt/unlike-all-other-founders-of-a-religious-faith-christ-had-no/) [Alfred William Howitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-william-howitt/) > [“That was the way of things. He had heard of philosophers who claimed that it was possible to belong to neither group, that all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-cameron-cooke/that-was-the-way-of-things-he-had-heard-of-philosophers-who-claimed/) [R. Cameron Cooke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-cameron-cooke/) > [“His gentleness was uncompromising; because he would not compete for dominance, he was indomitable.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/his-gentleness-was-uncompromising-because-he-would-not-compete-for/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [Well, within my business, visual art, the intake is 75 per cent female and yet you look at who has showed their work and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grayson-perry/well-within-my-business-visual-art-the-intake-is-75-per-cent-female/) [Grayson Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grayson-perry/) > [In its purest sense, nicknaming is an elitist ritual practiced by those who cherish hierarchy. For preppies it's a smoke signal that allows Bunny…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/florence-king/in-its-purest-sense-nicknaming-is-an-elitist-ritual-practiced-by/) [Florence King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/florence-king/) > [“You can come round to my flat." Toreth's voice changed, sliding subtly into something hard-edged but seductive. "I don't need chains to make you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manna-francis/you-can-come-round-to-my-flat-toreth-s-voice-changed-sliding-subtly/) [Manna Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manna-francis/) > [“Beauty” is a currency system like the gold standard. Like any economy, it is determined by politics, and in the modern age in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-wolf/beauty-is-a-currency-system-like-the-gold-standard-like-any-economy/) [Naomi Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-wolf/) [Browse all 288 Dominance quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dominance/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It was all Mrs. Bumble. She would do it,\" urged Mr. Bumble; first looking round, to ascertain that his partner had left the room. That is no excuse,\" returned Mr. Brownlow. \"You were present on the occasion of the destruction of these trinkets, and, indeed, are the more guilty of the two, in the eye of the law; for the law supposes that your wife acts under your direction.\" If the law supposes that,\" said Mr. Bumble, squeezing his hat emphatically in both hands, \"the law is a ass — a idiot. 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