In Roald Dahl's Matilda, the cruel way that the aunt treats Ms. Honey denotes pent-up anger and frustration likely stemming from jealousy and envy. She is probably jealous to see Ms. Honey blossoming into a young woman with potential and a promising future. Ms. Honey has a hardworking father who will leave his daughter an inheritance that will secure her a good life. Those were opportunities that someone like Ms. Honey's aunt could not aspire to have because she was already past her marrying age: she is the definition of a "spinster." In past centuries, and even during a good part of the early twentieth century, women who did not have money or could not make good marriages were considered nuisances, and "someone" had to come take care of them.

Archetypal characters, like the spinster aunt, are described as older women with no opportunities for social advancement, other than depending on the kindness of well-established family members to be able to have a home of some kind. This is likely the source of Ms. Honey's aunt's anger and jealousy.

Ms. Honey's aunt forces Ms. Honey to relinquish anything that could set the young woman free, both financially and socially. She takes Ms. Honey's home, her money, her time, her freedom, and her skills. She makes a slave out of Ms. Honey, and she steals everything that duly belongs to the young woman.

The aunt's behavior shows that she was always a greedy person who simply could not get away with it before because she was relegated to the role of the spinster aunt.