A kindly old widow whom Jude hires to take care of Aunt Drusilla when the latter falls ill. She becomes a close friend of Jude and Sue. These three characters—Jude and Sue's aunt Drusilla, the widow Mrs. Edlin, and Phillotson's friend Gillingham—are all on hand to give helpful advice. But the people they are advising—Jude, Sue, and Phillotson—never seem actually to take this advice. As it happens usually, elders make recommendation; youth thinks they are too smart for this. As a result, elders are often right.
Mrs. Edlin in the Essays
Author: Noah Kennedy