Intimate Apparel

by

Lynn Nottage

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A black sex worker for whom Esther sews lingerie. Though Esther disapproves of Mayme's line of work, the two are close, genuine friends and often share their dreams with each other. Mayme initially moved to New York in the hope of playing ragtime piano in fancy clubs in Europe; however, these dreams have, as far as Mayme is concerned, proven unattainable. Though she still plays piano for herself and her clients, Mayme believes that dreaming and planning are foolish and, especially in her case, would take away from her ability to do her job. Though she recognizes that she has a relatively good job in a safer saloon, Mayme is also exasperated by her clients, as most of them are rough or overly handsy with her. Many of the clothing items she commissions from Esther are based off of corsets that Esther made for Mrs. Van Buren, the "Fifth Avenue lady," while Mayme laughs to learn that Mrs. Van Buren wants to wear corsets like those commonly worn by sex workers and dancers. Despite Mayme's initial skepticism of George, she helps Esther draft letters to him and, unbeknownst to her, takes him on as a client in the weeks after he comes to New York to marry Esther. George's kindness, gentleness, and generosity—he gives Mayme the smoking jacket that Esther made him as a wedding gift—rekindles Mayme's belief in romance and reaffirms her insistence that it's none of her business if her job harms the marriages of the men she sees. She reevaluates this when Esther finally admits that George is her husband. The two women both let George go, thereby asserting their independence.

Mayme Quotes in Intimate Apparel

The Intimate Apparel quotes below are all either spoken by Mayme or refer to Mayme. 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:
Intimacy and Friendship Theme Icon
).
Act 1, Scene 4 Quotes

Mayme: All the pawing and pulling. For a dollar they think they own you.

Related Characters: Mayme (speaker), Esther, Mrs. Van Buren
Page Number: 18
Explanation and Analysis:

Esther: You know that white lady I talk about sometime, hold on...She keep asking me what they be wearing up in the Tenderloin. All that money and high breeding and she want what you wearing.

Mayme: No kidding?

Esther: What she got, you want, what you got, she want.

Related Characters: Esther (speaker), Mayme (speaker), Mrs. Van Buren
Page Number: 19-20
Explanation and Analysis:

Mayme: Let me tell you, so many wonderful ideas been conjured in this room. They just get left right in that bed there, or on this piano bench. They are scattered all over this room. Esther, I ain't waiting for anybody to rescue me. My Panama man come and gone long time now. It sweet that he write you but, my dear, it ain't real.

Related Characters: Mayme (speaker), Esther, George
Related Symbols: The Crazy Quilt
Page Number: 22
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 1, Scene 6 Quotes

Mayme: And do you love him?

Esther: As much as you can love a man you ain't seen. I'm thirty-five, Mayme, and he wants to marry me. And there ain't gonna be no more opportunities I'm afraid. I've told him yes.

Related Characters: Esther (speaker), Mayme (speaker), George
Page Number: 30
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 2, Scene 4 Quotes

Esther: How you know she ain't a good person? And he just saying what you want to hear. That his words are a smooth tonic to make you give out what ain't free. How you know his wife ain't good?

Mayme: I don't know. But do it matter?

Esther: Yeah it do. You ever think about where they go after they leave here? Who washes their britches after they been soiled in your bed?

Related Characters: Esther (speaker), Mayme (speaker), George
Related Symbols: The Smoking Jacket
Page Number: 49
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 2, Scene 5 Quotes

Mayme: The world changing and he wants big strong horses. He made me laugh. He promised to take me out someplace special, but I didn't have nothing nice to wear. And honestly it made me think about how long it been since I done something for myself. Gone someplace like you said, where a colored woman could go to put up her feet and get treated good for a change. And I see the dice rolling, and I think Lord, God, wouldn't a place like that be wonderful. But every time the dice roll, that place is a little further away. Until it all gone.

Related Characters: Mayme (speaker), Esther, George
Related Symbols: The Crazy Quilt
Page Number: 55
Explanation and Analysis:

Esther: LET HIM GO! Let him go. He ain't real, he a duppy, a spirit. We be chasing him forever.

Related Characters: Esther (speaker), George, Mayme
Page Number: 55
Explanation and Analysis:
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Mayme Quotes in Intimate Apparel

The Intimate Apparel quotes below are all either spoken by Mayme or refer to Mayme. 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:
Intimacy and Friendship Theme Icon
).
Act 1, Scene 4 Quotes

Mayme: All the pawing and pulling. For a dollar they think they own you.

Related Characters: Mayme (speaker), Esther, Mrs. Van Buren
Page Number: 18
Explanation and Analysis:

Esther: You know that white lady I talk about sometime, hold on...She keep asking me what they be wearing up in the Tenderloin. All that money and high breeding and she want what you wearing.

Mayme: No kidding?

Esther: What she got, you want, what you got, she want.

Related Characters: Esther (speaker), Mayme (speaker), Mrs. Van Buren
Page Number: 19-20
Explanation and Analysis:

Mayme: Let me tell you, so many wonderful ideas been conjured in this room. They just get left right in that bed there, or on this piano bench. They are scattered all over this room. Esther, I ain't waiting for anybody to rescue me. My Panama man come and gone long time now. It sweet that he write you but, my dear, it ain't real.

Related Characters: Mayme (speaker), Esther, George
Related Symbols: The Crazy Quilt
Page Number: 22
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 1, Scene 6 Quotes

Mayme: And do you love him?

Esther: As much as you can love a man you ain't seen. I'm thirty-five, Mayme, and he wants to marry me. And there ain't gonna be no more opportunities I'm afraid. I've told him yes.

Related Characters: Esther (speaker), Mayme (speaker), George
Page Number: 30
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 2, Scene 4 Quotes

Esther: How you know she ain't a good person? And he just saying what you want to hear. That his words are a smooth tonic to make you give out what ain't free. How you know his wife ain't good?

Mayme: I don't know. But do it matter?

Esther: Yeah it do. You ever think about where they go after they leave here? Who washes their britches after they been soiled in your bed?

Related Characters: Esther (speaker), Mayme (speaker), George
Related Symbols: The Smoking Jacket
Page Number: 49
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 2, Scene 5 Quotes

Mayme: The world changing and he wants big strong horses. He made me laugh. He promised to take me out someplace special, but I didn't have nothing nice to wear. And honestly it made me think about how long it been since I done something for myself. Gone someplace like you said, where a colored woman could go to put up her feet and get treated good for a change. And I see the dice rolling, and I think Lord, God, wouldn't a place like that be wonderful. But every time the dice roll, that place is a little further away. Until it all gone.

Related Characters: Mayme (speaker), Esther, George
Related Symbols: The Crazy Quilt
Page Number: 55
Explanation and Analysis:

Esther: LET HIM GO! Let him go. He ain't real, he a duppy, a spirit. We be chasing him forever.

Related Characters: Esther (speaker), George, Mayme
Page Number: 55
Explanation and Analysis: