Burial Rites

by

Hannah Kent

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on Burial Rites makes teaching easy.
Margrét is Jón's wife and Lauga and Steina's mother. Margrét is plagued by a cough caused by the mold in the house at Kornsá, which hinders her ability to work and occasionally causes her to cough up blood. Margrét begins by being harsh towards Agnes, but over time the two women develop an amiable relationship. Agnes makes Margrét a jelly for her cough and confides in Margrét extensively, ultimately telling Margrét her side of what happened the night of the murders.

Margrét Quotes in Burial Rites

The Burial Rites quotes below are all either spoken by Margrét or refer to Margrét. 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:
Truth and Liberation Theme Icon
).
Chapter 2 Quotes

What sort of woman kills men?
The only murderesses Margrét had known were the women in the sagas, and even then, it was with words that they had killed men; orders given to servants to slay lovers or avenge the death of kin. Those women murdered from a distance and kept their fingers clean. But these times are not saga times…This woman is not a saga woman.

Related Characters: Agnes Magnúsdottir, Margrét
Page Number: 52
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 11 Quotes

“Thórbjörg had an inkling of what Fridrik planned. She knew about some sheep Fridrik stole. She lied to the courtroom…Thórbjörg saved my life,” Agnes added after a moment’s pause. “She found me on her doorstep after Natan threw me out. I would have died had she not brought me inside and let me stay there.”
Margrét nodded. “No one is all bad.”

Related Characters: Agnes Magnúsdottir (speaker), Margrét (speaker), Fridrik Sigurdsson, Thórbjörg
Page Number: 259
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 13 Quotes

I am crying and my mouth is open and filled with something, it is choking me and I spit it out. On the ground is a stone, and I look back at Margrét, and see that she did not notice. “The stone was in my mouth,” I say.

Related Characters: Agnes Magnúsdottir (speaker), Margrét, Ingveldur Rafnsdóttir
Related Symbols: Agnes’s Mother’s Stone
Page Number: 307
Explanation and Analysis:
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Burial Rites PDF

Margrét Quotes in Burial Rites

The Burial Rites quotes below are all either spoken by Margrét or refer to Margrét. 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:
Truth and Liberation Theme Icon
).
Chapter 2 Quotes

What sort of woman kills men?
The only murderesses Margrét had known were the women in the sagas, and even then, it was with words that they had killed men; orders given to servants to slay lovers or avenge the death of kin. Those women murdered from a distance and kept their fingers clean. But these times are not saga times…This woman is not a saga woman.

Related Characters: Agnes Magnúsdottir, Margrét
Page Number: 52
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 11 Quotes

“Thórbjörg had an inkling of what Fridrik planned. She knew about some sheep Fridrik stole. She lied to the courtroom…Thórbjörg saved my life,” Agnes added after a moment’s pause. “She found me on her doorstep after Natan threw me out. I would have died had she not brought me inside and let me stay there.”
Margrét nodded. “No one is all bad.”

Related Characters: Agnes Magnúsdottir (speaker), Margrét (speaker), Fridrik Sigurdsson, Thórbjörg
Page Number: 259
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 13 Quotes

I am crying and my mouth is open and filled with something, it is choking me and I spit it out. On the ground is a stone, and I look back at Margrét, and see that she did not notice. “The stone was in my mouth,” I say.

Related Characters: Agnes Magnúsdottir (speaker), Margrét, Ingveldur Rafnsdóttir
Related Symbols: Agnes’s Mother’s Stone
Page Number: 307
Explanation and Analysis: