The Letters from Tabitha to the Housekeeper

    In her letters to Mrs. Gwyllim, the house-keeper at Brambleton-hall, Tabitha Bramble simultaneously shows her lack of education and her desire to assert herself in a powerful position.  "When this cums to hand, be sure to pack up in the trunk male that stands in my closet," Tabitha says, ignorant of the crude language she has used (Smollett 34).  Though Mrs. Gwyllim does not respond to her requests, Tabitha continues her correspondence, and, later in the novel "desire[s] [Mrs. Gwyllim] redouble your care and circumflexion" (Smollett 189).  Tabitha uses her position as the woman of the house to reside over Mrs. Gwyllim, while refusing the realities that the housekeeper surely sees of Tabitha's inadequacies. 

Tabitha sees herself as the manager of the estate, and uses her letters to manifest this belief.  However, her writing style and misuses of language clearly give her away as having a less than controlling position regarding the daily affairs of the Bramble household.  Though she may believe herself to be in charge, the reader quickly recognizes her incapabilities within her letter writing.