American Toby Jug Museum 

Mrs. Micawber character jug modeled by Peter Dunn and produced by Kingston Pottery of Hull, England, circa 1980. Emma Micawber is Mr. Micawber’s wife. She is perpetually stressed and overworked, both because of her husband's financial difficulties and because the couple has a large (and growing) number of children. Nevertheless, she is a devoted wife who goes out of her way to make her husband's life easier—for instance, by pawning various possessions in an effort to pay off his debts. She also insists repeatedly that she will "never desert Mr. Micawber," although in this case, there is probably an element of self-reassurance at work: she often brings up the possibility of leaving when no one else has done so. Generally, however, the Micawbers seem to be well-matched, with Mrs. Micawber sharing her husband's tendency for dramatic, exaggerated words and gestures.