# Mattie Farnham — The Homemaker character guide

> Mattie Farnham in The Homemaker by Dorothy Canfield Fisher.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Aunt Mattie, Mattie, Mrs. Farnham

**First appearance:** 0000-part-i-i

## Snapshot

A well-meaning neighbor who arrives to pity Lester for doing housework and leaves bewildered, her comfortable assumptions about women's work thoroughly scrambled.

## Who they are

Mattie Farnham comes to the Knapp house armed with sympathy and formulas about the nobility of homemaking, only to find Lester darning stockings and discoursing on cream sauce with unsettling authority. Her shock when he points out that pity implies contempt exposes the very prejudice she thought she opposed. She is the reader's proxy, a decent woman whose unexamined beliefs are gently and irreversibly challenged.

## Relationships

### [Lester Knapp](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_homemaker_se/characters/lester_knapp)

_romantic_

Lester and Mattie share a deep, emotionally charged connection that transcends friendship, marked by intense mutual understanding and unspoken longing.

### [Stephen Knapp](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_homemaker_se/characters/stephen_knapp)

_friendship_

Mattie is a kind and attentive caregiver to Stephen, forming a gentle, affectionate bond with him.

### [Evangeline Knapp](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_homemaker_se/characters/evangeline_knapp)

_professional_

Evangeline employs Mattie as a household helper, but their interactions are marked by Evangeline's condescension and Mattie's quiet dignity.

### [The Doctor](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_homemaker_se/characters/the_doctor)

_professional_

Mattie consults The Doctor regarding Lester's health, showing her concern and reliance on medical authority.

### [Helen Knapp](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_homemaker_se/characters/helen_knapp)

_friendship_

Helen and Mattie become close allies, united by their concern for Lester and Stephen's well-being.

### [Lester Knapp](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_homemaker_se/characters/lester_knapp)

_romantic_

Lester and Mattie share a deep, emotionally charged connection that transcends friendship, marked by intense mutual understanding and unspoken longing.

### [Stephen Knapp](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_homemaker_se/characters/stephen_knapp)

_friendship_

Mattie is a kind and attentive caregiver to Stephen, forming a gentle, affectionate bond with him.

### [Lester Knapp](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_homemaker_se/characters/lester_knapp)

_romantic_

Lester and Mattie share a deep, emotionally charged connection that transcends friendship, marked by intense mutual understanding and unspoken longing.

### [Evangeline Knapp](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_homemaker_se/characters/evangeline_knapp)

_professional_

Evangeline employs Mattie as a household helper, but their interactions are marked by Evangeline's condescension and Mattie's quiet dignity.

### [Evangeline Knapp](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_homemaker_se/characters/evangeline_knapp)

_professional_

Evangeline employs Mattie as a household helper, but their interactions are marked by Evangeline's condescension and Mattie's quiet dignity.

### [The Doctor](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_homemaker_se/characters/the_doctor)

_professional_

Mattie consults The Doctor regarding Lester's health, showing her concern and reliance on medical authority.

### [Helen Knapp](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_homemaker_se/characters/helen_knapp)

_friendship_

Helen and Mattie become close allies, united by their concern for Lester and Stephen's well-being.

## In the story

### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_homemaker_se/chapters/part-i-i)

Calls Evangeline on the telephone, inviting her for an outing.

### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_homemaker_se/chapters/part-i-ii)

Encountered at the delicatessen; cheerfully praises Evangeline's skills and contrasts her own relaxed homemaking.

### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_homemaker_se/chapters/part-i-iii)

Defends Lester Knapp, mentions his past academic promise, and is posted to give alarm of Evangeline's arrival.

### [VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_homemaker_se/chapters/part-ii-viii)

Mattie Farnham takes the Knapp children away to keep them until the funeral, as mentioned by a neighbor.

### [X](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_homemaker_se/chapters/part-ii-x)

Lent the conundrum book to Henry, suggested Stephen might outgrow naughty spells.

### [XII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_homemaker_se/chapters/part-iii-xii)

Returns from Maine after a relative's death; expresses concern and confusion about the Knapp household arrangements.

### [XIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_homemaker_se/chapters/part-iii-xiv)

Visits the Knapp household, initially shocked by Lester's domestic role, but eventually admires Stephen's sandbox creation.

### [XIX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_homemaker_se/chapters/part-iv-xix)

Struggles to cut out a dress while caring for her children; has a sudden epiphany about the Knapps; visits Lester and Evangeline; later consults Dr. Merritt about Lester's condition.

### [XXII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_homemaker_se/chapters/part-iv-xxii)

Present and crying softly into her handkerchief after the doctor's announcement.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_homemaker_se/characters/mattie_farnham
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_homemaker_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_homemaker_se/characters