Miss Bates
in 's keeps up a constant stream of conversation, and this drives Emma
crazy. The novel doesn't specifically explain why Miss Bates talks all the time, but it does
give us strong clues.
Miss Bates is an unmarried older woman (probably in her
early 40s, but that would have been considered old at the time) living with her widowed mother.
They are poor ladies who have "fallen" from a higher social position in life, for Mrs.
Bates was once the vicar's wife, and Miss Bates, the vicar's daughter. As we know from the
current Highbury vicar, Mr. Elton, this is a high-status position which comes with a house and a
comfortable income.
But the Church has made no provision for the widows of
vicars. The Bates family has apparently saved very little moneypossibly they needed all their
incomeand so after Mr. Bates's death, the widow and daughter are forced to live in
"reduced" circumstances in two rooms over a shop. They have no carriage and are
dependent on the kindness...
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