Line #38 Main/KindlyHousekeeper


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15	[[quoteright:299:[[WesternAnimation/DuckTales1987 https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mrs_beakley.png]]]]
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17	You know this [[AlwaysFemale lady]]. She's portly or HollywoodPudgy, [[PerpetualSmiler perpetually smiling]] and always ready to do what you need her to do--she's always there should you need someone to take out the trash, [[TextileWorkIsFeminine do the laundry]], or just simply be a shoulder to cry on. She'll always have [[FeminineWomenCanCook a nice breakfast]] for you ready in the morning, and will take your coat for you once you come back home. She's the [[TitleDrop Kindly Housekeeper]].
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19	Such ladies can be not just a nanny but also a ParentalSubstitute to the children in the household (if there are any) to substitute for the DisappearedDad (if the housekeeper happens to be a man) or the MissingMom--usually the latter since housekeepers are [[AlwaysFemale traditionally women]] and it's usually TheJeeves who would act as a fatherly figure to the potential children. She will also often play TeamMom to the other servants (assuming she's not the only servant employed). Can be a SupremeChef considering that [[ThinkNothingOfIt it's all part of the job]], or an ApronMatron. In the latter case, she may also be a ServileSnarker to verbally whip others.
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21	Probably not an OldRetainer, since she usually doesn't have a high regard for doing things the [[GoodOldWays Proper Way]]. If she's younger and employed by a single father, she [[MarryTheNanny might also be a love interest]] for him.
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23	Compare {{Mammy}}. Contrast CreepyHousekeeper.
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26	!!Examples:
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28	[[foldercontrol]]
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30	[[folder:Comic Books]]
31	* ''ComicBook/Robin1993'': Mrs. [=McIlvaine=] is the Drake's housekeeper and acts as a strict but caring and matronly figure for Tim. While she has a tendency to side with Tim's father--who is her irrational and hotheaded employer--during arguments, Jack is rarely home and Tim's mother is deceased by this point so for about a year she was Tim's most consistent parental figure.
32	* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'': While the woman was actually Diana's landlady when Di first moved out of the Kapatelis' home she rented a room with an eccentric but kind old lady who did her best to make the living situation ideal for her renters.
33	[[/folder]]
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35	[[folder:Comic Strips]]
36	* The title character in the comic strip ''ComicStrip/{{Hazel}}'', as well as the Shirley Booth [[Series/{{Hazel}} sitcom]] adapted from it, is a tough-talking but sweet housekeeper.
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39	[[folder:Fan Works]]
40	* Evetta from ''Fanfic/TheNightUnfurls'' manages to be one that overlaps with the [[CreepyHousekeeper contrary archetype]]. She is the caretaker of the Hunter's Dream who tends to the Workshop, the gravestones, and her Good Hunter. Her serene and kindhearted nature as a maternal figure, however, is overshadowed by the fact that she is, well, a [[AnimateInanimateObject living]] [[ArtificialHuman doll]]. Unlike most examples who are [[HollywoodPudgy portly]] [[PerpetualSmiler Perpetual Smilers]], she's really, really tall.
41	[[/folder]]
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43	[[folder:Film -- Animation]]
44	* CompositeCharacter Nanny (a stand-in for [[Literature/TheHundredAndOneDalmatians the novel]]'s Nanny Cook and Nanny Butler) in Disney's ''WesternAnimation/OneHundredAndOneDalmatians''. She's Roger and Anita's sweet cook and housekeeper who loves her employers and their dogs dearly. (This carries over into the [[Film/OneHundredAndOneDalmatians1996 live-action adaptation]].)
45	* Mrs. Potts in ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast'' is a motherly middle-aged woman who looks out for and worries after her master, fellow servants, and son. She's technically the head of the castle kitchens, not a housekeeper, but the trope still applies.
46	[[/folder]]
47
48	[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
49	* ''Film/CriesAndWhispers'': The maid Anna is much more willing to comfort Agnes in her terminal illness, both physically and emotionally. It stands in contrast to Agnes' distant and troubled sisters (who are all wealthy aristocrats).
50	* ''Film/DoctorInDistress1963'': Sir Lancelot has the caring Mrs. Clapper to do the cooking and cleaning.
51	* Annie in ''Film/ItsAWonderfulLife''. Sure, she snarks, especially with the younger Baileys, but it's clearly based on affection (which is equally clearly reciprocated).
52	%%* The 2011 movie adaptation of ''Film/{{Jane Eyre\|2011}}'' portrays Mrs. Fairfax this way.
53	* In ''Film/LianeJungleGoddess'', Theo Amelongen's housekeeper Alma is a kindly woman who welcomes Liane into the household, ensures her comfort, and generally acts as a mother figure for her.
54	%%* ''Film/MaryPoppins'' had one.
55	* Mrs. Higgins, from ''Film/TheMiracleWoman'', is the epitome of this trope: kind and willing to help John Carson in any endeavour.
56	* ''Film/{{The Parent Trap\|1998}}'': Chessy is the Parkers' housekeeper. While she is quite snarky, she genuinely loves the Parkers and almost treats the twins like they're her own children, to the point of being driven to tears of joy when she realizes Annie, who she hasn't seen since she was a baby and is supposed to be in England with her mother, is actually standing right in front of her.
57	* ''Film/{{Roma}}'': Cleo is generally pleasant and genuinely loves the children she works for. [[spoiler:Despite not knowing how to swim, she even goes into the ocean to rescue two of them.]]
58	[[/folder]]
59
60	[[folder:Literature]]
61	* Jack from ''Literature/AlexRider''. Although she's younger than most of the examples, she still serves as a ParentalSubstitute for Alex.
62	* ''Literature/AllTheLightWeCannotSee'': The kind and cheery Madame Manec is cook, maid, and companion to Uncle Etienne and a maternal figure to Marie-Laure.
63	* ''Literature/AnimalInn'': Mrs. Racer, the visiting housekeeper who's been helping out the Taylors since Mrs. Taylor died, and Mrs. Wilson, the live-in housekeeper for the Sparks family.
64	* "Brownie" (Mrs. Brown, first name unknown) from Mary Grant Bruce's series of books (the ''[[Literature/ALittleBushMaid Billabong Books]]'') about the fictional Australian cattle station (ranch, in Americanese) named Billabong. After David Linton's wife died, Mrs. Brown, their cook/housekeeper took on the role of surrogate mother to his two very young children with the approval of her employer. She is depicted as kindly but firm, able to induce obedience through sheer love.
65	* Mrs. [=McGregor=] from ''Literature/TheBoxcarChildren'': She works for Henry, Jessie, Violet and Benny's paternal grandfather, James Henry Alden, as a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Housekeeper_(domestic_worker)#Today.27s_cook-housekeeper housekeeper/cook]], but they see her more as a member of the family than a servant.
66	%%* Ida Jungmann in Thomas Mann's ''Literature/{{Buddenbrooks}}''.
67	%%* Subverted in Creator/SusanCooper's ''Literature/TheDarkIsRising series'' book ''Literature/OverSeaUnderStone'' (1965). Mrs. Palk appears to be one of these, but turns out to be TheMole, an agent of the Dark who sabotages the protagonists.
68	* Peggotty from ''Literature/DavidCopperfield'', David's nurse and his mother's housekeeper, is a nice older woman. She is characterized by her loyalty, since she looks out for him even as his family situation goes south.
69	* ''Literature/TheGirlWhoChasedTheMoon'' features one. She helped raise the male lead and [[ShipperOnDeck approved of his budding romance]].
70	%%* Nanny Cook and Nanny Butler in ''Literature/TheHundredAndOneDalmatians''.
71	* Mrs. Mullins from ''Jig-Saw'' plays with this. She devoted forty years of service to Taylsea Court and "has a heart of gold, [[SugarAndIcePersonality but only one person in a hundred discovers it under the gruff exterior]]." This is especially true for the protagonist, Mona, whom "Mullie" briefly considered a feminine rival.
72	* In tthe ''Literature/MelendyQuartet'', Creator/ElizabethEnright gives us Evangeline Cuthbert-Stanley, a/k/a Cuffy, cook/housekeeper to Prof. Martin Melendy and substitute mother to his four chilren by his late wife, and later also to his adopted son Mark.
73	* ''Literature/NancyDrew'': Hannah Gruen, the live-in housekeeper/cook to the Drew family. She's been working for the family for years, and took it upon herself to act as a maternal figure to Nancy after her mother died (age-10 in the original series but age-3 in the revised series). Nancy and her father, Carson, see Hannah more of as a member of the family than a servant.
74	%%* Mrs. Bird from the ''Literature/PaddingtonBear'' stories.
75	* Mrs. Hudson in ''Literature/SherlockHolmes''. She was actually Holmes' landlady, and didn't really clean up after him too often, but she did prepare his meals and admit clients in to see him. She even assisted directly in one of his cases, for which he complimented her as being "indispensable."
76	* Calpurnia from ''Literature/ToKillAMockingbird''. She stays home while Atticus is at work, providing protection, discipline, and love. She essentially also fills the maternal role for Jem and Scout after their mother's death.
77	* In the ''Literature/VillageTales'' series, the Duke of Taunton's housekeepers (especially at his primary seat, Wolfdown House), are these to a woman; and not a patch on his retired staff member, Rose James, who is now the housekeeper at the Rectory (the Rector is embarrassed to have one; the Duke insists; Rose James simply leaps at the chance to ''mother'' the Rector).
78	[[/folder]]
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80	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
81	* ''Series/CinderellaAndTheFourKnights'': In contrast to the late teens/early twenties cast, their housekeeper Ms. Beolgyo is middle-aged. She warms quickly to the houseguest Ha-won and helps her achieve her missions.
82	%%* Alice from ''Series/TheBradyBunch'' is portrayed this way.
83	%%* Mrs. Garrett, Edna, and Pearl from ''Series/DiffrentStrokes''.
84	%%* In the ''Series/DoctorWho'' serial ''Ghost Light'', the kindly housekeeper leaves at sunset, and once she and the day staff have left the CreepyHousekeeper appears. Guess when the TARDIS arrives.
85	* ''Series/DowntonAbbey'': Downton's housekeeper, Mrs. Hughes. Even though she can be stern in her duties, she is more easygoing than her male counterpart (Mr. Carson) is. She is shown to be open to the changing times and has shown great kindness to her fellow servants.
86	%%* The Baxters' housemaid ''Series/{{Hazel}}'' Burke, played by Shirley Booth.
87	* Carla, the Drapers' black "girl" on ''Series/MadMen'', who is widely criticized for being confined to this trope and SatelliteCharacter status in a show that has plenty of time to examine the problems of comparatively much more privileged (read: white) people in TheSixties. The only time she broke out of the role at all was during the scene when she was [[PutOnABus being fired]]. It's worse with Betty's childhood nanny/maid Viola, who is downright Mammy-like.
88	%%* Leona from the ''Series/MyThreeSons'' episode "Domestic Trouble".
89	* As noted in the Literature section, Mrs. Hudson. The Granada television adaptation of the ''Series/SherlockHolmes'' canon puts her even more squarely into this trope than the novels themselves, as it illustrates the mother-son type of attachment she shares with her eccentric boarder. This is most clearly seen in the episode in which Holmes returns after being believed dead for three years - he ''hugs'' her.
90	** The [[Series/{{Sherlock}} BBC adaptation]] puts her in the same position, with John and Sherlock both very protective of their landlady (not their housekeeper). For the offence of laying hands on Mrs. Hudson, Sherlock throws a CIA agent out of a window, and at the end of series 2 [[spoiler:Moriarty correctly identifies her as one of the three true friends in his life]].
91	* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' has Mila, Tain's gentle and kind housekeeper of thirty years, and [[SubvertedTrope may or may not have been his mistress.]]
92	* Mrs. Bridges is the Kindly Queen of Kitchen in ''Series/UpstairsDownstairs''. She does have something of a temper but is a caring motherly figure to the servant folks.
93	[[/folder]]
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95	[[folder:Web Comics]]
96	* ''Webcomic/StandStillStaySilent'': [[TheMedic Mikkel]] pulls double duty as this, being the oldest of the team, being both the TeamChef and the TeamMom, and keeping himself busy with making sure the tank and its contents stay clean when not needed for his prime duty.
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99	[[folder:Western Animation]]
100	* ''WesternAnimation/DoctorSnuggles'' had Miss Nettles, an elderly ApronMatron who maintained the titular doctor's abode while he built his inventions.
101	* Scrooge's motherly housekeeper Mrs. Beakly from ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales1987'', who puts up with him despite his miserly attitude and looks out for the boys.
102	* Rosie from ''WesternAnimation/TheJetsons'' combines this with RobotMaid--she's very close to George, Jane, Judy and Elroy, who all consider her to be a member of the family and love her far too much to trade her in for a newer model (as Rosie's technically outdated).
103	[[/folder]]

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