Mrs. Wix

Character Analysis

Thank Goodness for This Governess

Mrs. Wix isn't like other fictional governesses: she's not Mary Poppins magical, and she's not destined for a Jane Eyre-style romantic ending. But Mrs. Wix is a more realistic character and, ultimately, a better governess and caretaker because of this. After all, Mary Poppins could be kind of, well, bizarre, and Jane Eyre's pupil/ward ended up being a footnote to the lessons in love (and, um, creepily locking up your ex-wife) that Jane Eyre learned from Mr. Rochester.

Though she's far from glamorous, Mrs. Wix has inner beauty to spare. This becomes increasingly clear to the reader as What Maisie Knew continues, and Mrs. Wix manages—thankfully—to talk moral sense into James's heroine. She also sees Maisie through her hardest trials.

More Than Meets the Eye

But there's more to Mrs. Wix than a quick glance at her timeline at first shows. James includes her backstory to hint at her complexity. Sometimes he pokes a little fun at her, through winking descriptions of her odd clothes and passion for reading romance novels or her relaxed attitude toward traditional curriculum:

They dealt, the governess and her pupil, in "subjects," but there were many the governess put off from week to week and that they never got to at all: she only used to say "We'll take that in its proper order." Her order was a circle as vast as the untravelled globe. She had not the spirit of adventure—the child could perfectly see how many subjects she was afraid of. She took refuge on the firm ground of fiction, through which indeed there curled the blue river of truth. She knew swarms of stories, mostly those of the novels she had read; relating them with a memory that never faltered and a wealth of detail that was Maisie's delight. (IV.3)

Yeah, Mrs. Wix isn't the best teacher (she's "afraid" of certain subjects), but she does know how to delight and comfort Maisie with stories, which makes her the best mother.

The novelist hints at the depth that lies beneath Mrs. Wix's wackily lovable surface. Turns out, she had a daughter, Clara Matilda, who died suddenly at a very, very young age. This is heartbreaking, but it's not just meant to produce sympathy for Mrs. Wix; it also accounts for her special bond with Maisie, who represents a replacement daughter.

Still, it's important to note that if this bond begins as close, it only gets closer as the novel progresses. This is because, like Maisie, Mrs. Wix grows and changes. James wants to show us that Maisie is not only a learner but a teacher as well. And Mrs. Wix is the character who gives Maisie the most credit for having taught her.

Taught her what, you ask? Well, to begin with, Maisie show Mrs. Wix what young people are capable of. But beyond that, her little pupil teaches this governess what true love can do: see people through when times get tough, even unbelievably tough.

So Mrs. Wix doesn't cross a stormy English Channel twice to make sure Maisie is safe for nothing. She does it, just as Maisie does everything, for love. Aww, shucks. Maybe love is all we need.