Answer:
While Miss Stephanie seemed to feed on the gossip and her approach to the blacks seemed the same like the majority of Maycomb's residents, Miss Maudie seemed disinterested in the case. And even if she is interested, she seems to not show it. Rather, she'd prefer to stay at home and observe it. Moreover, she feels it's unfair to enjoy seeing a man fighting for his life, terming it to be akin to <em>"a Roman Carnival"</em>.
Explanation:
Harper Lee's <em>To Kill A Mockingbird</em> deals with the lives of the American South, with special focus on the racially charged Tom Robinson's trial. Miss Maudie is also one character of the story who seemed minor but provides lots of meaning to the many events in the story.
In chapter 16, when the townspeople were all eager to go to court to observe the ongoing trial of ra pe accused Tom Robinson against the Ewells. But Miss Maudie did not go or seemed interested in it, rather claiming that <em>"it's morbid, watching a poor devil on trial for his life"</em> and termed it <em>"a Roman carnival"</em>.
On the other hand, Miss Stephanie Crawford was all dressed up in her finery, with <em>"hat and gloves"</em> to be a part of <em>"the gala occasion"</em> as Scout put it. She claims that she's going to the court <em>"to see what Atticus’s up to"</em> but at the same time, considering her gossipy nature, she most likely went to learn and feed her curiosity. Moreover, she is like the other whites around Maycomb who were too conscious of the racial difference while Miss Maudie seemed more supportive of Atticus' support of defending a black man.
Miss Maudie supports Atticus' cause of defending Tom, admitting that even though he lost the case, it was still a work in progress. In chapter 22, she told the children that <em>"we’re making a step—it’s just a baby-step, but it’s a step"</em>, seemingly signifying to the changes that are to come in the future.
