Dussie Mae is a young woman who travels with Ma. Although it’s never explicitly stated in the play, it’s implied that Dussie Mae and Ma are romantically involved. However, Dussie Mae remains open to Levee’s multiple romantic advances, though she tells him that she won’t truly let him court her until he has his own band and starts selling his own records. Nonetheless, she and Levee kiss in the band room while Ma is upstairs in the studio—one of several ways in which Levee undermines Ma’s power and authority in the band.
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Dussie Mae Character Timeline in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
The timeline below shows where the character Dussie Mae appears in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Act 1
...But then a buzzer rings and Ma enters with a policeman, a young woman named Dussie Mae , and Ma’s nephew Sylvester. Ma is infuriated, shouting at Irvin to tell the policeman...
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...The policeman claims Sylvester hit the other vehicle, but Sylvester insists that he, Ma, and Dussie Mae were the ones who got hit, not the other way around. As they talked to...
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...studio, Ma takes off her shoes and sings about the discomfort of “sharp-toed shoes.” Meanwhile, Dussie Mae walks around and inspects the contents of the dimly lit studio. Ma admires Dussie as...
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Act 2
Catching Levee making eyes at Dussie Mae , Ma tells Cutler to get him in line. Irvin’s voice then sounds over speaker...
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...he’s good. According to her, he’s nothing but trouble. With this in mind, she waves Dussie Mae over and tells her to go sit somewhere out of sight, where she isn’t “flaunting”...
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Downstairs, Levee sings one of his own songs while Toledo reads a newspaper, but then Dussie Mae enters, and he immediately starts flirting with her. This makes Toledo uncomfortable—since he wants nothing...
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...return with the Cokes, at which point Slow Drag goes downstairs to find Levee and Dussie Mae locked in a passionate embrace. Slow Drag doesn’t say anything, instead just going to get...
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...messing up the session. They tell him he should focus on the music, not on Dussie Mae —who is, after all, “Ma’s gal.” Cutler tells Levee that Ma will ruin his career...
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