Miss Bates
Miss Bates is a central minor character in Emma, a woman whose life is defined by her poverty, her ceaseless talk, and her extraordinary capacity for goodwill. She is the unmarried daughter of Mrs. Bates, the widow of a former vicar of Highbury, and the devoted aunt of Jane Fairfax. Living with her elderly mother in very modest circumstances, Miss Bates occupies a precarious social position: she is respected for her goodness but often pitied or dismissed because of her lack of fortune, beauty, and cleverness. Her character serves as a crucial foil to Emma Woodhouse, and her treatment at Emma's hands becomes the catalyst for the novel's most important moral lesson.
Identity and Background
Miss Bates is introduced as a woman who "enjoyed a most uncommon degree of popularity for a woman neither young, handsome, rich, nor married" . She stands "in the very worst predicament in the world for having much of the public favour" , possessing no intellectual superiority, beauty, or wealth to recommend her. Her youth passed without distinction, and her middle life is devoted to the care of her failing mother and the struggle to make a small income go as far as possible . Despite these disadvantages, she is a happy woman, and "a woman whom no one named without good-will" . Her secret is her "universal good-will and contented temper" : she loves everybody, is interested in everybody's happiness, and thinks herself a most fortunate creature surrounded by blessings . She is "a great talker upon little matters" , a trait that exactly suits Mr. Woodhouse, who enjoys her harmless gossip. Her family history is one of loss: her sister, Jane Fairfax's mother, died young after marrying Lieutenant Fairfax, who died in action abroad . Jane Fairfax, an orphan, became the charge of Miss Bates and her mother, though she was later raised by Colonel Campbell .
Life and Character
Miss Bates's life is one of cheerful poverty. She and her mother occupy the drawing-room floor of a house belonging to people in business , and their apartment is "very moderate-sized" . She is perpetually grateful for any attention shown to her, and her conversation is a torrent of trivial details, digressions, and effusive thanks. She talks about everything: her mother's health, the rivet in her mother's spectacles, baked apples, the kindness of neighbours, and the contents of Jane Fairfax's letters (E00895–E00924, E01323–E01334). Her speech is so rapid and overflowing that it often overwhelms her listeners, yet it is always good-natured. Emma Woodhouse, who finds Miss Bates tiresome, describes her as "so silly—so satisfied—so smiling—so prosing—so undistinguishing and unfastidious—and so apt to tell every thing relative to every body about me" . Yet Emma also acknowledges that Miss Bates is "only too good natured and too silly to suit me" , and that "Poverty certainly has not contracted her mind" . Miss Bates's poverty is real: she and her mother live on a very small income, and she is acutely aware of every kindness shown to them, from a hind-quarter of pork sent by Mr. Woodhouse (E00969–E00971) to a basket of apples from Mr. Knightley (E01331–E01334).
Relationships and Conflict
Miss Bates's most important relationship is with her niece, Jane Fairfax, whom she adores and talks about incessantly. Every letter from Jane is read aloud and discussed at length (E00895–E00924). Miss Bates is also a frequent visitor at Hartfield, where she is always welcome because her talk suits Mr. Woodhouse . She is deeply grateful to Mrs. Elton for her attentions to Jane , though Emma sees through Mrs. Elton's patronizing manner. The central conflict involving Miss Bates occurs at the Box Hill picnic, where Emma, in a moment of thoughtless wit, makes a cruel joke at her expense. When Frank Churchill proposes that each person must say something clever, Miss Bates cheerfully declares that she will be sure to say "three dull things" . Emma responds, "Ah! ma'am, but there may be a difficulty. Pardon me—but you will be limited as to number—only three at once" . The remark is a public humiliation, and Miss Bates, though she blushes, tries to pass it off with good humour (E02098–E02099). Mr. Knightley later reproaches Emma severely, telling her that Miss Bates is poor, has sunk from the comforts she was born to, and that her situation should secure Emma's compassion . This rebuke is a turning point for Emma, who feels deep shame and resolves to be kinder in future (E02138–E02139).
Change and Ending
Miss Bates's character does not undergo a dramatic transformation; she remains the same talkative, grateful, good-natured woman throughout the novel. However, her role in the plot changes significantly. After the Box Hill incident, Emma makes a sincere effort to befriend Jane Fairfax and to show kindness to Miss Bates. She visits the Bates home the morning after the picnic, determined to make amends (E02140–E02141). She finds Jane ill and distressed, and learns that Jane has accepted a governess position with Mrs. Smallridge (E02146–E02153). Miss Bates is overjoyed at the match, though she is also sad to part with her niece . Later, when Frank Churchill and Jane Fairfax's secret engagement is revealed, Miss Bates is delighted, and her happiness is described as "rapturous" . She and her mother are "so truly respectable in their happiness, so disinterested in every sensation" . In the end, Miss Bates remains in Highbury, her life unchanged except for the loss of Jane, who marries and moves away. Her final appearance in the novel is at the wedding of Emma and Mr. Knightley, where she is presumably among the well-wishers.
Narrative Role and Thematic Significance
Miss Bates functions as a moral barometer in the novel. Her poverty and her uncomplaining cheerfulness make her a test of the other characters' goodness. Emma's cruelty towards her exposes Emma's vanity and lack of empathy, and Mr. Knightley's rebuke forces Emma to confront her own failings. Miss Bates also embodies the theme of contentment in the face of adversity. She is a "standing lesson of how to be happy" , as Mr. Weston observes. Her endless talk, while often ridiculous, is also a sign of her generous spirit: she is interested in everyone and grateful for everything. In a novel concerned with social rank and the dangers of pride, Miss Bates represents the virtues of humility, gratitude, and kindness that Emma must learn to value. She is, in Forster's terms, a flat character—built around a single idea of cheerful goodness—but she is a memorable and essential one, whose presence shapes the moral arc of the heroine.
