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The State
Willa Mae is a young, pretty Black woman who took care of Lyle Britten’s ailing father. Lyle became sexually infatuated with her and raped her. Subsequently, according to Lyle, they began a consensual affair. When Willa Mae’s older husband confronted Lyle about the affair, Lyle murdered him and then claimed it was self-defense. Afterward, Willa Mae left town.
Willa Mae Quotes in Blues for Mister Charlie
The Blues for Mister Charlie quotes below are all either spoken by Willa Mae or refer to Willa Mae . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Act 1 Quotes
Ken: How much does your wife charge?
Meridian: Now you got it. You really got it now. That’s them. Keep walking, Arthur. Keep walking!
Tom: You get your ass off these streets from around here, boy, or we going to do us some cutting—we’re going to cut that big, black thing off of you, you hear?
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
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Willa Mae Character Timeline in Blues for Mister Charlie
The timeline below shows where the character Willa Mae appears in Blues for Mister Charlie. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Act 2
...that way about Pearl, maybe Lyle could have felt that way about Old Bill’s wife Willa Mae . And if he killed Old Bill over Willa Mae, not in self-defense, then he...
(full context)
Lyle admits that something about Richard coming to town made him think about Willa Mae . Lyle believes that Old Bill was far too old for her—but Lyle still “had...
(full context)
...asks why Papa D would do that, Lyle suggests that Papa D was jealous over Willa Mae . Then Lyle pauses and says he still recalls how “he” looked entering the store....
(full context)
Act 3
...witness stand. In a flashback, Lyle demands to know why Joel told Old Bill about Willa Mae —especially since Willa Mae isn’t the first girl that Joel has brought to Lyle’s place....
(full context)
...“hug” him. Then, in another flashback, Lyle is reminiscing to Papa D about how sexy Willa Mae was and how she told him he was better at sex than any Black man—before...
(full context)
