Ruth K. MacDonald, English and children's literature professor at New Mexico State University, agrees, writing in "Beatrix Potter" that "Miss Moppet" demonstrates Potter's ability to pare text and illustrations to essentials noting that she worked best with more complicated plots, more complicated characters, and stories with specific settings rather than generalized backgrounds. "Miss Moppet" is a vignette, she indicates, rather than the typical Potter tale of causality, extended plot, and variety of character, and depends upon the archetypal animosity between cat and mouse with the cat being the dominant character.