Posted by greg on June 01, 1997 at 12:38:55:
In reply to Re: ages -- Miss & Mrs Bates posted by kathleen (elder) on June 01, 1997 at 07:50:01
] ] ] By the reference from Mr. Knightley that when Emma was young it was an honor to be noticed by Miss Bates, I would guess that Miss Bates would have been in her early 20's when Emma was young. I would think that she would be 15-20 years older than Emma, or 36-41.
] ] ] I don't think Thompson was too old. Because actresses so often play roles that are younger than they are--the other Thompson comes to mind--I think we have a tendency to think of actresses as younger than they really are. When we see an actress playing their age, we have been conditioned to think they are too old for the part. A sad state of affairs.
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] ] i don't have bio of sophie t at hand, so i just checked the imdb. it just said she was "the younger sister of emma t". i know emma turned 38 in april, so it's a safe bet that sophie is thirtysomething, which means her age would be close to miss bates, w/ miss bates being maybe a tad bit older.
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] If Miss Bates was in her late 30's to early 40's, then it seems that Mrs Bates shouldn't necessarily be much past the age of 65. The adaptations seem to portray her as 80-ish -- especially when they show her as constantly confused.
kathleen-good point; i offer 2 counterpoints:first, we can't use the adaptations to establish the original intent of ja re mrs. bates' age; second, remember that in 1815, a 60 year-old was the physical equivalent of an 80 year-old now - miss b could easily be 35, be thought of as a pitiable old maid, and have a rickity old mother in her 50's who's also hard of hearing._