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 Esther's bedroom in Mrs. Dickson's boardinghouse, Mrs. Dickson is folding laundry. Esther steps in. Mrs. Dickson is happy to see her and says that it's been too long. They hug, and Mrs. Dickson complains about the other girls in the house. She says that she just made tea and wants to hear all about what Esther's been up to. Esther abruptly asks if Mrs. Dickson has rented the room yet. She doesn't want to say why, but when Mrs. Dickson says it's still available, Esther asks if she can come for supper this evening. Mrs. Dickson again starts to ask what's going on, but Esther says she's fine and takes Mrs. Dickson's hand. Mrs. Dickson invites Esther downstairs and says that Corinna Mae is already hugely pregnant and talks horribly about her husband.
Esther's unwillingness to talk about what's happened, combined with asking about the room, is her essentially asking Mrs. Dickson to not say "I told you so"—and if Mrs. Dickson chooses to follow Esther's lead, this will be the mark of a true friendship. This again reaffirms Esther's commitment to her female friendships and platonic friendships in general, given that those ones are so much more fulfilling for her. Now, Esther can concentrate on who she is and what she can do, rather than set her sights on a man who will only drag her down.
Themes
Esther says that she'd like to sit for a moment before they have tea. Mrs. Dickson says that she'll go fetch more laundry off the line and agrees to meet Esther in the kitchen in a bit. Esther thanks Mrs. Dickson for not asking questions and Mrs. Dickson squeezes Esther's hand. She takes her laundry basket and leaves. Esther touches her belly and then sits down at her sewing machine to begin piecing a new quilt. The lights take on a sepia tone, and a projected title card reads "Unidentified Negro Seamstress. ca. 1905."
Turning the closing scene into a photograph again encourages the reader to think more critically about these classic photographs and the people in them. The women in those photographs, like Esther, were subject to the same racial and classist discrimination that Esther experienced throughout the play, and making this clear brings the history of these women alive for modern viewers.
Themes
