Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Intimate Apparel, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Intimacy and Friendship
Race, Class, and Exploitation
Gender and Expectations
The American Dream
Summary
Analysis
In George and Esther's bedroom, George looks pleased with himself and unconcerned that his suit is worn. Esther watches him out of the corner of her eye, but looks away when he glances at her. Esther asks if she can make him food, but George says he's not hungry. She asks where he's going on a Sunday, since she promised Mrs. Dickson that they'd have dinner after the church social. George says that Mrs. Dickson asks too many questions, but Esther insists that she's being attentive. George grabs his hat, deliberates, and then asks for two dollars: he needs a better hat to find work, as his hat is a farmer's hat. Esther says that two dollars is a lot of money, and reminds George that she's going to make him a smart suit.
The way that George talks about Mrs. Dickson suggests that for all his talk of wanting to know gentlewomen, those gentlewomen aren't proving so attractive in real life. He's also denying Esther the ability to “properly” perform the role of his wife, since he won't let her feed him and seems disinterested in going to these events where Esther is celebrated for being a married lady. Promising to make George a suit shows that Esther still hopes that she can make this work and can still show George her love.
Themes
Esther agrees to give George money, cuts into her crazy quilt, and pulls out two dollars. She asks why George needs to go out, and he says that he promised to meet some men at the bar. Esther asks him to stay so she can mend his shirt. She touches the hole and says that people will say disparaging things about her, especially Mrs. Dickson. Disgusted, George says that Mrs. Dickson is very full of herself. He imitates her asking if he's working, and then says that he has letters from white engineers and the chief in Panama, but nobody will hire him. He has tools and more experience than anyone else, but the bosses choose to hire old European men.
Here, Esther gets at the fact that anything even marginally improper that George does doesn't just make him look bad; it reflects badly on Esther, too, because as his wife, she's responsible for policing his behavior and making sure he goes into public looking nice. The things that George says about his letters suggest that his idealized vision of what life and work were going to be like in America aren't coming true; he's learning that he's still subject to racism of a different kind here that keeps him from reaching his goals.
Themes
George says that a boss who interviewed him gave him a letter. He hands it to Esther, who pretends to read it. She carefully says that the boss must mean what he wrote, but George asks if she thinks what the man wrote is true. Esther asks why it wouldn't be. George, frustrated, pulls off his shirt, tosses it to Esther, and throws himself on the bed to smoke. Esther asks if he's tried at the butcher's, as she knows they need help. George answers noncommittally. She suggests that they go to the church social before Mrs. Dickson's, but George says he's not really the churchgoing type. Esther, shocked, asks if George believes and reminds him that he wrote about church in his letters, but George says he wrote lots of things.
Notice that it's unclear here if George himself can read the letter, given that he never notes what the letter says and his answers, like Esther's, can be read as non-answers designed to extract information from the other person. Learning that George doesn't attend church much shakes Esther to the core, as it means that George is in no way the man she thought he was. Due to the way that she idealized marriage especially, there's no room in her vision for a man who's not, in her mind, perfect in every way.
Themes
Esther returns to her sewing as George feels the crazy quilt. She asks him to come to the social. She says she's never been and the ladies at church only started inviting her to things once she got married. George says they're just interested in him because he's a "monkey chaser," but Esther insists that they've just not traveled and the ladies might be willing to help them. George says that he's not interested in porting luggage; he wants to build things. He says that a man in the saloon told him that the only way for a black man in America to get ahead is with his own business. George says that it looks bad that he's jobless while Esther has one. Esther assures him that her earnings are his and asks him to not smoke in bed—that's how the man downstairs died.
When Esther notes that the ladies at church are only inviting her to things because she's married, it again shows that in Esther's society, she's now achieved feminine perfection by getting married, no matter how dysfunctional that marriage might be behind the scenes. While George is certainly hobbled by his pride when it comes to getting a job, it's worth noting that he takes offense to being unemployed and having an employed wife. This suggests that he wants to feel powerful and, specifically, more powerful than Esther is.
Themes
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George says that there's a man at the saloon who knows someone with a dozen draft horses to sell for cheap. Esther says that this is just "saloon talk" and likely isn't real. George is offended, and to placate him, Esther asks where he's going to get the money for the horses anyway. He strokes her crazy quilt, but Esther says that money isn't going anywhere: it's for her beauty parlor. George laughs and says that Esther owning a beauty parlor is funny, since she's not pretty. Esther is hurt and says that she makes pretty things.
Given the way that Esther described the beauty parlor, it's not actually about beauty. Instead, the parlor is about creating a space where women can feel valued and pampered, and Esther understands that one of the best ways to do that is by serving women in much the same way she does now as a seamstress: by giving them beautiful things and treating them like ladies.
Themes
George gets up, takes Esther in his arms, and apologizes. He says that she'd look pretty if she put her hair up and painted her lips, but Esther says she's not "that kind of woman." George agrees with her, lets her go, and asks for the money. Esther refuses. George grabs his unfinished shirt and tells Esther where he's going for his drink. She says the place is "notorious," but won't say how she knows. George makes a dismissive noise, and Esther asks why he's so upset with her since she gave him money. He says that he feels inadequate taking money from her. Esther says that she built herself up from nothing, but George says that almost two years on the Panama Canal amounts to nearly nothing in America. He says it's depressingly gray here.
George's comments about not having money, specifically when he mentions how meager his earnings from the Panama Canal are now that he's in America, suggest again that the American dream isn't accessible to him—at least until he gets a job and has income of his own, which he seems to feel he can't do. This leaves room for the possibility that George is shutting himself out of jobs that might help him get ahead and, in other words, making his American dream even less possible for him.
Themes
Esther sternly says that she appreciates that he came here, but they promised to take care of each other. She says that she's proud to be with George no matter what his job is, but George says he's tired of taking money from her. He grabs his hat and coat, refuses to let Esther smooth his collar, and says that he'll be home for supper but not the social or for Mrs. Dickson. Esther crumples his work letter.
Everything that George does here denies Esther the ability to show George that she cares for him, especially when he doesn't let her straighten his clothes. His disinterest in his clothing is likely something that's very offensive to Esther, especially since he seemed so taken by the way she talked about fabrics in her letters.
Themes
Esther enters Mr. Marks's apartment. He's humming and she asks if the tune is a rag. He says it's a Romanian song, but he can't remember the words. Esther compliments the new buttons on his jacket, and Mr. Marks pulls out the Scottish wool that Esther ordered. It's heavy, and he tells her that the man who sold it to him told him all about how his mother cared for the sheep like small children. The neighbors laughed until they sheared the sheep and discovered how wonderful the wool was. Esther strokes the fabric with delight.
Once again, the story that Mr. Marks tells about this Scottish wool shows the power of a story to create intimacy in a relationship. The way that Mr. Marks and Esther engage with each other is, notably, far kinder and more positive than the way that George speaks to Esther. This certainly makes this even more difficult for Esther, as she can now see plainly what she's missing in her marriage.
Themes
Mr. Marks fetches some gorgeous lace that he saved for Esther. He playfully drapes the lace around her neck, bringing them too close together, and he calls her by her maiden name. Esther firmly corrects him, and Mr. Marks puts the lace on his cutting board. Esther says that she's only come for suiting. Mr. Marks pulls out his other bolts of drab suiting as Esther touches the lace. He rolls up the lace. Esther starts to say something but, distraught, says that she can't buy from him anymore. She asks for the Scottish wool and says she'll take the lace.
Choosing to go for the Scottish wool suggests that once again, Esther is going to try to pay forward the intimacy she has with Mr. Marks and pass it on to George. Taking the lace, meanwhile, allows Esther to show Mr. Marks that she wants to make him happy and she does share his joy and interest in the fabrics, even if their relationship is going to be untenable going forward.
Themes
