 Ruth K. MacDonald of the New Mexico State University writes in Beatrix Potter ( 1986 ) that the tale is about housekeeping and dealing with insect pests in the home , and points out that it reflects Potter 's pride and pleasure in keeping her house at Hill Top tidy . Tales about humanised mice came easily to Potter , but , unlike the urban mice in The Tailor of Gloucester and The Tale of Two Bad Mice , Mrs. Tittlemouse is a country mouse living beneath a hedge somewhere near Potter 's Sawrey . With its narrow passages , small rooms , low ceilings , and well @-@ stocked storerooms , Mrs. Tittlemouse 's dwelling is similar to Potter 's own at Hill Top . The author 's obvious approval of Mrs. Tittlemouse 's fastidious housekeeping has its source in her own pleasure in keeping her farmhouse neat , and ( like Mrs. Tittlemouse ) in being the mistress of her domain . Mrs. Tittlemouse 's abhorrence of insect pests reflects Potter 's own , but the artist in Potter preserves their beauty in the illustrations – she does not censor their antennae or their groping limbs . Potter thought girls would like the tale best , and would experience the same sort of reaction to insect pests she did – to wit , complete horror and disgust . 
