# Mrs. Tabitha — Short Fiction character guide

> Mrs. Tabitha in Short Fiction by Beatrix Potter.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Tabitha Twitchit, Mrs. Tabitha Twitchit, Tabitha

**First appearance:** 0010-the-tale-of-tom-kitten

## Snapshot

A mother cat preparing for company who finds her freshly dressed kittens stripped bare on the garden wall.

## Who they are

Tabitha Twitchit has invited friends to tea and has dressed Tom Kitten and Mittens in their best, only to discover them naked on the wall after the Puddle-ducks make off with the clothes. Affronted and out of time, she smacks them, sends them upstairs, and tells her guests they are in bed with the measles—a lie the noises overhead keep threatening to expose. Her brittle dignity under domestic pressure anchors the tale's comedy of manners.

## In the story

### [The Tale of Tom Kitten](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_7_se/chapters/the-tale-of-tom-kitten)

The mother cat who dresses her kittens and later punishes them for getting dirty.

### [The Tale of Samuel Whiskers](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_7_se/chapters/the-tale-of-samuel-whiskers)

An anxious mother cat who loses her son Tom Kitten and searches the house frantically.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_7_se/characters/mrs_tabitha
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_7_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_7_se/characters