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Mrs. Phelps is the librarian in the village. Though she’s in awe of Matilda’s apparent genius, Mrs. Phelps never says anything to make Matilda feel odd or uncomfortable. Instead, Mrs. Phelps supports Matilda as she reads the library’s entire children section, and then works through many English-language classics such as novels by Charles Dickens, Ernest Hemingway, and Jane Austen. She encourages Matilda to keep reading and enjoying books, even when Matilda doesn’t entirely understand what she’s reading. She’s also concerned somewhat for Matilda’s welfare, since she knows that the Wormwoods don’t like books and don’t care about their daughter at all. But Mrs. Phelps believes that it never ends well to get involved with other people’s children, so she settles for supporting Matilda as best she can while Matilda is at the library.
Mrs. Phelps Quotes in Matilda
The Matilda quotes below are all either spoken by Mrs. Phelps or refer to Mrs. Phelps. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 1
Quotes
“My mother goes to Aylesbury every afternoon to play bingo,” Matilda had said. “She doesn’t know I come here.”
“But that’s surely not right,” Mrs Phelps said. “I think you’d better ask her.”
“I’d rather not,” Matilda said. “She doesn’t encourage reading books. Nor does my father.”
“But what do they expect you to do every afternoon in an empty house?”
“Just mooch around and watch the telly.”
“I see.”
“She doesn’t really care what I do,” Matilda said a little sadly.
Mrs Phelps was concerned about the child’s safety on the walk through the fairly busy village High Street and crossing the road, but she decided not to interfere.
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Mrs. Phelps Quotes in Matilda
The Matilda quotes below are all either spoken by Mrs. Phelps or refer to Mrs. Phelps. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 1
Quotes
“My mother goes to Aylesbury every afternoon to play bingo,” Matilda had said. “She doesn’t know I come here.”
“But that’s surely not right,” Mrs Phelps said. “I think you’d better ask her.”
“I’d rather not,” Matilda said. “She doesn’t encourage reading books. Nor does my father.”
“But what do they expect you to do every afternoon in an empty house?”
“Just mooch around and watch the telly.”
“I see.”
“She doesn’t really care what I do,” Matilda said a little sadly.
Mrs Phelps was concerned about the child’s safety on the walk through the fairly busy village High Street and crossing the road, but she decided not to interfere.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Unlock explanations and citation info for this and every other Matilda quote.
Plus so much more...
Get LitCharts A+
