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As Mr. Bounderby’s housekeeper, Mrs. Sparsit has ample opportunity to get involved in the novel’s action, and she primarily does so in order to further her own interests. She first appears in the novel as a quietly judgmental woman, but as the plot advances, she becomes increasingly manipulative and vengeful. Much of this development stems from the fact that Mrs. Sparsit was once a member of the aristocracy, a status which strongly influences her view of the world. In some respects, she is a victim of hard times like many of the novel’s characters. Her husband died not long after they had gotten married, and she had little choice but to become an employee in the Bounderby house. While Mrs. Sparsit does get to benefit from Bounderby’s wealth as his housekeeper, the fact that he continually brags about having someone of her aristocratic lineage working for him serves as a painful reminder of her socioeconomic downfall. This dynamic alone informs some of the tension that exists between them, although Bounderby’s growing interest in Louisa certainly exacerbates it. From the moment he begins referencing her, Mrs. Sparsit becomes extremely skeptical, showing her displeasure through secret facial expressions. The continued references to her “Coriolanian” features as she makes these faces emphasizes the role that her aristocratic sense of superiority plays in shaping her opinions.
Mrs. Sparsit’s unpleasant character only grows more extreme as Louisa enters the Bounderby household. Between the fact that she had to move into an apartment at the bank and loses status within the home, she is more than ready to find excuses to seek revenge. Dickens highlights the harmful effects of jealousy through Mrs. Sparsit’s character development, and he ultimately suggests that acting on such feelings is absurd and foolish. She begins sowing doubt in Bounderby’s mind by implying that Louisa is unfaithful, taking advantage of Harthouse’s arrival in Coketown in order to do so. Mrs. Sparsit goes on to become so obsessed with the idea that Louisa is headed down “a mighty Staircase” with “ruin at the bottom” that she resorts to spying on her and Harthouse at night in the pouring rain. At this point in the novel, Mrs. Sparsit’s search for revenge becomes more comical than cruel. Every accusation she makes is wrong, and she ends up in an even worse social position as a result of her manipulative behavior.
