Miss Maudie
Introduction
Well-respected and outspoken woman
Strong connection with Jem and Scout, enjoys spending time with them.
Straightforward and honest character - no time for the hypocrisy and prejudice
Represents the same values as Atticus - tolerance, courage and responsibility
First Impressions and Gender Prejudice
Becomes an integral part of Scout’s life when she is excluded by the boys due to her gender: “pain
of her being a g-irl.” Scout is hurt by the assumption that she cannot enjoy the freedom of the boys
because she is expected to behave like a domesticated “lady”. Miss Maudie helps to ease Scout’s
isolation by showing her that women can be liberated in their own right. She becomes a sort of role
model to Scout, who learns many skills from her, primarily revolving around the outside.
Scout describes her as a “chameleon lady”, which implies that she has the power to adapt to any
situation, including doing physical, manual labour as well as any male as she is comfortable in
“men’s coveralls”. The juxtaposition of beauty and strength in: “reign over the street in magisterial
beauty” represents her strength and liberated character. The adjective “magisterial” links her to
Atticus, and they both are open and honest in the way that they speak to the children, and refuse
to tolerate ignorance.
Miss Maudie’s declaration that she ‘loved everything that grew in God’s earth, even the weeds’ is
symbolic of her unprejudiced attitude to life. She believes that everyone is equal and that everyone
should be treated with kindness and respect in the eyes of God.
Honesty and Sin
Miss Maude is an honest, religious character, but her refusal to be bullied by the “foot-washing
Baptists” conveys her dismissive attitude towards those who do not support equality, because in
the 1930s the Baptists faith diminished a woman’s significance: “Man was not made for woman,
but the woman for the man.” She tells Scout that: “Footwashers think women are a sin by
definition”. She is critical of them and refuses to allow them to shame her for enjoying a free life as
a “widow”.
Scout recognises that although Miss Maudie does not make a performance of the good she does,
unlike others in the community, she does not possess moralistic flaws, and does not pry into their
business but acts as their “friends” with whom they can openly and honestly converse.
It is Miss Maudie who teaches Scout and Jem about the danger of gossip, by revealing Stephanie
Crawford’s lack of humanity in the way she has callously spoken about the Radleys, feeding the
societal discrimination that is targeted at Boo, something that Miss Maudie refuses to do. She
sympathises with Boo because he is the victim of his father’s religious bigotry.
Reaction to the Fire
Miss Maudie’s continuing love of her garden and nature reaches its pinnacle in Chapter 8, when her
house is consumed by a blaze that she lit to keep her potted plants warm. The fire is presented as
uncontrolled; the verb “spewing” creates a heightened sense of danger and threat, but even the
panic and desperation emphasised by the sensory description of sirens wailing and “screaming”
cannot shake Miss Maudie’s calm nature. She accepts the loss of her home without hysteria, and
her lack of anguish over material possessions shows how she values the important things.
• Her joyful exclamation at how a smaller house will give: “more room for my azaleas now!” reveals
her hopeful approach to life, as she chooses to seek out the positive factors of life.
• Miss Maudie’s unrelenting “cordial”, Christian spirit is shown in her overriding concern for the
neighbourhood over her own possessions: “Only thing I was worried about last night was all the
danger and commotion it caused.” This reinforces her selfless nature, and how she genuinely cares
for each individual, despite their flaws. Harper Lee is raising questions about the true nature of
Introduction
Well-respected and outspoken woman
Strong connection with Jem and Scout, enjoys spending time with them.
Straightforward and honest character - no time for the hypocrisy and prejudice
Represents the same values as Atticus - tolerance, courage and responsibility
First Impressions and Gender Prejudice
Becomes an integral part of Scout’s life when she is excluded by the boys due to her gender: “pain
of her being a g-irl.” Scout is hurt by the assumption that she cannot enjoy the freedom of the boys
because she is expected to behave like a domesticated “lady”. Miss Maudie helps to ease Scout’s
isolation by showing her that women can be liberated in their own right. She becomes a sort of role
model to Scout, who learns many skills from her, primarily revolving around the outside.
Scout describes her as a “chameleon lady”, which implies that she has the power to adapt to any
situation, including doing physical, manual labour as well as any male as she is comfortable in
“men’s coveralls”. The juxtaposition of beauty and strength in: “reign over the street in magisterial
beauty” represents her strength and liberated character. The adjective “magisterial” links her to
Atticus, and they both are open and honest in the way that they speak to the children, and refuse
to tolerate ignorance.
Miss Maudie’s declaration that she ‘loved everything that grew in God’s earth, even the weeds’ is
symbolic of her unprejudiced attitude to life. She believes that everyone is equal and that everyone
should be treated with kindness and respect in the eyes of God.
Honesty and Sin
Miss Maude is an honest, religious character, but her refusal to be bullied by the “foot-washing
Baptists” conveys her dismissive attitude towards those who do not support equality, because in
the 1930s the Baptists faith diminished a woman’s significance: “Man was not made for woman,
but the woman for the man.” She tells Scout that: “Footwashers think women are a sin by
definition”. She is critical of them and refuses to allow them to shame her for enjoying a free life as
a “widow”.
Scout recognises that although Miss Maudie does not make a performance of the good she does,
unlike others in the community, she does not possess moralistic flaws, and does not pry into their
business but acts as their “friends” with whom they can openly and honestly converse.
It is Miss Maudie who teaches Scout and Jem about the danger of gossip, by revealing Stephanie
Crawford’s lack of humanity in the way she has callously spoken about the Radleys, feeding the
societal discrimination that is targeted at Boo, something that Miss Maudie refuses to do. She
sympathises with Boo because he is the victim of his father’s religious bigotry.
Reaction to the Fire
Miss Maudie’s continuing love of her garden and nature reaches its pinnacle in Chapter 8, when her
house is consumed by a blaze that she lit to keep her potted plants warm. The fire is presented as
uncontrolled; the verb “spewing” creates a heightened sense of danger and threat, but even the
panic and desperation emphasised by the sensory description of sirens wailing and “screaming”
cannot shake Miss Maudie’s calm nature. She accepts the loss of her home without hysteria, and
her lack of anguish over material possessions shows how she values the important things.
• Her joyful exclamation at how a smaller house will give: “more room for my azaleas now!” reveals
her hopeful approach to life, as she chooses to seek out the positive factors of life.
• Miss Maudie’s unrelenting “cordial”, Christian spirit is shown in her overriding concern for the
neighbourhood over her own possessions: “Only thing I was worried about last night was all the
danger and commotion it caused.” This reinforces her selfless nature, and how she genuinely cares
for each individual, despite their flaws. Harper Lee is raising questions about the true nature of
