Question : Essay-type
Comment on the character of Miss Bates in Jane Austen’s novel ‘Emma’.
Introduction
Miss Bates is a minor character, but has a significant role to play in the novel ‘Emma’. The comic element is provided by Jane Austen in the character of Miss Bates. But behind the seemingly incoherent and trivial talks Miss Bates is used as a vehicle to create realism and bring Highbury alive to the reader. Miss Bates is described as ‘a woman neither young, handsome, rich, nor married’. Her youth has passed without distinction and her middle life was devoted to the care of an aged mother. She is poor, yet a happy woman and bears good will towards all.
Her simplicity and cheerfulness
In spite of her poverty, she is always cheerful and happy, simple, guileless and genuinely humble. She suffers from no false pride in accepting things from those she regards as friends and is grateful for any kindness. She is profuse in her thanks to Mr Knightley for sending cooking apples and is similarly grateful to Mr Woodhouse for the excellent piece of pork he had sent over to them.
Kindhearted and genuinely bears goodwill towards everyone
She loved everybody and noticed only their good qualities. To her Colonel Campbell is quite an angel, Mr Dixon is a charming young man, the Coles are such nice people, there is never a better couple than Mr and Mrs Perry, Mr Elton is the best young man, Mrs Elton is so kind, and Frank Churchill is so obliging. Even when Emma is unforgivably rude to her at the Box Hill picnic, she only blames herself–“I must make myself very disagreeable, or she would not have said such a thing to an old friend.” She warmly welcomes Emma when she visits her next day and does not bear any grudge or ill feelings towards Emma.
Her garrulity
The most striking characteristic of Miss Bates is her excessive talkativeness. She is forever full of trivial communication and harmless gossip. The author describes her as ‘a great talker upon little matters’. Her rambles are quite informative. There is hardly anybody of her acquaintances to whom she does not refer in the course of her conversation on various occasions. In the course of one brief speech, for instance, she refers to Mr Perry, Miss Hawkins, Colonel Campbell, Mr Dixon, the Coles and concluding the speech with a reference to her own mother. From her incessant chatter we may like Emma be tempted to judge Miss Bates as a silly woman. She is unable to keep a secret, but in her all talk she never says anything even remotely bordering on the unkind.
Her role in the novel
Miss Bates is an excellent example of Jane Austen’s use of minor characters. She rambles on almost in stream of consciousness fashion. Her excessive talk makes her comical. Austen uses Miss Bates’ garrulity to reveal characters as well as to throw light on the happenings in Highbury. For example, she talks about Frank taking a long time to fix the rivet of her mother’s spectacles and this information gathers significance when we learn of Frank Churchill’s secret engagement to Jane Fairfax. It is through her talk that we are given much information about Jane Fairfax, the Dixons, the Campbells and later Jane’s acceptance of the post of governess. She brings the news of Elton’s engagement to Augusta Hawkins. Miss Bates is thus important in providing a sense of realism to Highbury.
Conclusion
Due to her garrulity Miss Bates is so genuinely full of good will and praise for everyone, so totally lacking in guile or cruelty, so cheerful in her poverty and grateful to her neighbours and friends that it is impossible to dislike her. Even Emma seems to admit this when she says, “Poverty certainly has not contracted her mind: I really believe, if she had only a shilling in the world, she would be very likely to give away sixpence of it;” The reader has to agree with Mr Weston that Miss Bates is a ‘standing lesson of how to be happy’. Miss Bates then is ridiculous only on the outside. In reality she is depicted by Jane Austen with great understanding and sympathy.
So we find that Miss Bates is intended to be a comic character. She certainly amuses us a good deal by her garrulity. We must admit that her talk often becomes boring. In fact there is indeed a talk from Miss Bates. Frunk Churchill remarks, “She is a woman that one may, that one must laugh at; but that one would not wish to slight.”
