Previous
Dr. Magnus Honey/Miss Honey’s Father
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.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Matilda, now four years old, has been visiting the local library for several weeks. The librarian, Mrs. Phelps, is concerned for Matilda’s safety, since Matilda walks to the library on her own. Mrs. Phelps goes into this conversation believing that, as the narrator noted in the novel’s opening, parents should—and do—think highly of their children and care about them. It’s inconceivable to Mrs. Phelps when Matilda shares that her parents aren’t at all what, per the novel, they should be; rather, they don’t care about her or where she goes. Mrs. Phelps recognizes that in some ways, this puts little Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciatis. Ut minima autem. Modi omnis iu
Get the entire Matilda LitChart as a printable PDF.
"My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." -Graham S.
Mrs. Phelps Character Timeline in Matilda
The timeline below shows where the character Mrs. Phelps appears in Matilda. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1. The Reader of Books
...Matilda walks alone to the little library in her village. There, she introduces herself to Mrs. Phelps , the librarian, and asks to sit with a book. Though Mrs. Phelps is shocked...
(full context)
Mrs. Phelps has been watching Matilda for weeks. Now, as she sees Matilda perusing the shelves, she...
(full context)
Though Mrs. Phelps figures this is ridiculous, she spends the next week watching Matilda rest the heavy book...
(full context)
...finishes the book and announces she loved Great Expectations—did Mr. Dickens write other books? With Mrs. Phelps ’s help, Matilda works through many classics, such as Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen,...
(full context)
Matilda especially loves Hemingway, though she admits she doesn’t understand everything he says. Mrs. Phelps assures her that’s okay and shares that libraries allow people to borrow books to take...
(full context)
