A white woman in her thirties. She is the daughter of Karl and Betsy, who moved out of Clybourne Park before Kathy was born. Kathy is working as a lawyer for Steve and Lindsey. Kathy is talkative, which is unfortunate as she is also clueless and frequently makes unintentionally offensive remarks. Unlike Tom, who is efficient and timely, she’s happy to let the conversation wander off track for minutes at a time. Kathy is played by the same actor who plays Bev in Act I.
Kathy Quotes in Clybourne Park
The Clybourne Park quotes below are all either spoken by Kathy or refer to Kathy. 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:
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Act 2
Quotes
Steve:… Are you “offended”? Kevin: Nope. Steve: Neither am I. Lindsey: You can’t be offended, you moron — Steve:…I can’t? Lindsey: — because you’ve never been politically marginalized, unlike the majority of people in the world — Steve: How can a majority be marginal? Lindsey: — and, by the way, all women, everywhere, and it’s your classic white male myopia that you’re blind to that basic fact. Lena: Why is a white woman like a tampon? Lindsey: Why is what? Lena: It’s a joke.
Related Characters:Steve (speaker), Lindsey (speaker), Lena (speaker), Kevin, Kathy, Francine, Bev Stoller, Karl Lindner
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
193
Explanation and Analysis:
Steve tells a racist joke after being encouraged by Lena and Kevin, who goad him into telling it after he complains that the world is too politically correct. Like Karl in Act 1, Steve likely believes himself to be a good, progressive person, but he has no awareness of how his actions or beliefs affect other people, and no sense of how other people’s experiences are different than his. Because he is not marginalized, and is therefore rarely attacked for his racial or sexual identity, he cannot imagine how it feels. Because he is rarely offended by jokes, he cannot Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a.
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The timeline below shows where the character Kathy appears in Clybourne Park. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Act 2
...six people sit in a circle: a white couple named Steve and Lindsey, and their lawyer, Kathy, and a black couple named Kevin and Lena, and their lawyer, Tom.
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Kathy stands up to take a phone call from Hector, the architect, and Lindsey and Steve...
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Kathy passes the phone to Lindsey, who wants to talk to Hector. Steve makes a comment...
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...their families have taken across Europe and Northern Africa—Morocco, Spain, Prague, and Switzerland. Kevin and Kathy do most of the talking. Eventually Lena tries to make an announcement, but Steve cuts...
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...included in the meeting. Steve asks Lindsey what the capital of Morocco is, and he, Kathy, and Lindsey continue to discuss geography. Steve has the most extensive knowledge of geography and...
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Lena tries again to make her announcement, but is again interrupted when Kathy asks to be reminded of Lena’s name, prompting everyone to reintroduce themselves. Before Lena can...
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...than average would require the volume of the house to be reduced in other places. Kathy becomes immediately defensive, and argues that there’s too much variation in existing house sizes to...
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Tom assumes the Landmarks Committee will pass the neighborhood petition to preserve the neighborhood, which Kathy again pushes back against. Tom doesn’t understand why she’s being so confrontational. Kathy feels it’s...
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...he wants to tell, but which Lindsey thinks is inappropriate. Lena interrupts again, more aggressively. Kathy, who has been checking her voicemails, and Tom, who was still on the phone, hang...
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Lena asks Lindsey to clarify, but before she can answer Steve and Kathy begin to talk about how the neighborhood was originally German and Irish. Steve brings up...
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...the edge. Returning to the document, Tom suggests reducing the height of the house, but Kathy snaps that it’s too late to redesign the house. She reminds Lindsey and Steve that...
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Tom disagrees with Kathy, and reminds her that the City Council has recognized the “historic status” of the neighborhood...
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...offends him. Steve tries to argue the joke isn’t about sex, it’s about rape, and Kathy adds that her sister was raped, and therefore she’s offended.
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...but she does—white women are like tampons “because they’re both stuck up cunts.” Lindsey and Kathy are both offended at the “hostile joke.” Kathy says she feels that she is intelligent,...
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Kathy begins to pack up to leave. Steve shares that one of the things that really...
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...into question.” Lena says she isn’t questioning Lindsey’s ethics, but instead her taste. Tom and Kathy leave, making plans to talk about the house early next week. Lindsey, genuinely offended, asks...
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