Mary McKendry Character Analysis in Mao’s Last Dancer

Mary McKendry is the Australian-born ballerina who becomes Li Cunxin’s most important dance partner and, ultimately, his wife. She is the mother of Sophie, Thomas, and Bridie Li. Cunxin and Mary first meet when she travels to China to perform as a member of the London Festival Ballet in the late 1970s. Mary’s technically accomplished, emotionally invested dancing immediately draws Cunxin’s attention. He later sees her dance in London, where he presses Ben Stevenson to invite her to join the Houston Ballet as a principal dancer, which she does in the fall of 1985. She and Cunxin quickly become dance partners, and eventually a romance blossoms between the two. They marry in 1987. Cunxin admires her strong character, her intelligence and love of reading, her family values, and her willingness to throw herself into his family and their world—despite its discomforts—when they finally visit China in 1988. She retires from her dancing career following the discovery that the couple’s first daughter, Sophie, is deaf, although she supports Cunxin’s dance career until his retirement years later.

Mary McKendry Quotes in Mao’s Last Dancer

The Mao’s Last Dancer quotes below are all either spoken by Mary McKendry or refer to Mary McKendry. 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:

Opportunity, Hard Work, and Success Theme Icon

And when Romeo mistakenly believed that Juliet was dead, all the sorrow and despair I had ever experienced in my life overwhelmed me. I thought of the years of separation from my parents, of fearing for my life in that small room in the Chinese consulate. I thought of life without Mary, I thought of the greatest sacrifice one could make, to take one’s life for the sake of love. When Juliet finally plunged Romeo’s knife into her heart and closed her eyes forever, there was not a sound from anyone in the entire theater, only the soul-wrenching music playing to the end. Then suddenly the audience erupted into applause. I didn’t want it to end. I’d tasted the delicious feeling of the ultimate performance; the performance of my life. Another moment to treasure forever.

Related Characters: Li Cunxin (speaker), Mary McKendry, Ben Stevenson

Page Number and Citation: 404-405

Explanation and Analysis:

“Mary, can you have six extra boys and give us one each?” another sister-in-law asked, and everyone laughed. Deep inside, however, I knew how they felt. Not producing a son to continue the family line was considered the worst betrayal of your ancestors […] I looked at my third brother’s beautiful daughter, Lulu, then looked at my nephew and my other nieces. I felt sad that they, like most of the next generation of children growing up in China, would have no brothers or sisters. We had survived through generations of dark and impoverished living because of this one strength, because of the unconditional love and unselfish care of each other within our family unit. It was all we’d had.

Related Characters: Li Cunxin (speaker), Cunyuan, Dia, Mary McKendry, Niang

Page Number and Citation: 422-423

Explanation and Analysis:

“I’m only one of millions of victims,” my brother explained to Mary. “I am, like so many people in China, still amazed at how badly I was manipulated and betrayed by Mao and the Gang of Four. The Red Guards of yesterday were the epitome of the communist spirit. Now we are searching for answers. We have to live with our injured pride and lost beliefs.”

I felt so much sorrow for Cuncia. I knew what he said was true—he had spent the best part of his youth pursuing nothing but propaganda. But the Cultural Revolution didn’t just rob him of his youth; it crushed and destroyed his spirit and his soul. His trust in society had vanished. Even his sacred family values had been called into question by Mao and the Cultural Revolution.

Related Characters: Cuncia (speaker), Li Cunxin (speaker), Chairman Mao , Mary McKendry

Page Number and Citation: 423-424

Explanation and Analysis:

Mary McKendry Character Timeline in Mao’s Last Dancer

The timeline below shows where the character Mary McKendry appears in Mao’s Last Dancer. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...he sees in person. Shortly before graduation, the London Festival Ballet—and an 18-year-old ballerina named Mary McKendry—visits China and the academy. It requires a lot of dedication and effort for Cunxin... (full context)

...1983, during another European tour with the Houston Ballet, Cunxin watches an Australian-born ballerina named Mary McKendry dance with the London Festival Ballet. He wants Ben to invite her to join... (full context)

...his next engagement with the Houston Ballet before returning to Texas to start rehearsing with Mary McKendry, who has accepted Ben’s invitation to join the company. Cunxin is again impressed with... (full context)

...to dancing. He often misses his niang during those three lonely months of recovery. But Mary visits him frequently, encouraging him to branch out in his reading and inspiring a newfound... (full context)

Cunxin and Mary begin dancing with each other again, and they quickly become good friends. Soon, Mary invites... (full context)

Cunxin loves spending time with Mary and her positive influence on him. Her curiosity and love of literature inspire him, and... (full context)

When Ben casts Mary and Cunxin opposite each other as lovers in a production of Peer Gynt, Cunxin realizes... (full context)

Marrying Mary presents one complication: she and her family are Roman Catholics. One of Cunxin’s other Catholic... (full context)

...bar, a party at Ben’s house, and a men’s club. Cunxin becomes drunk and exhausted. Mary’s brother finds the whole ordeal horrifying. He’s sober enough to drive Cunxin home, but because... (full context)

With Charles Foster serving as best man, Cunxin and Mary get married in the small Catholic chapel where Cunxin was baptized. They host a reception... (full context)

...and his professional success, Cunxin harbors one unfulfilled dream. So, early in 1988, he and Mary go to the Chinese consulate in Houston. Cunxin feels nervous, unable to stop thinking about... (full context)

In preparation for their trip, Cunxin and Mary buy five suitcases full of gifts for everyone in Cunxin’s family. Then, finally, in July... (full context)

...still smarts from Cunxin’s defection, and the secret police make it clear that he and Mary will remain under surveillance during their visit. (full context)

Teacher Xiao takes Cunxin and Mary back to his apartment for lunch. He tells Cunxin how honored he is to have... (full context)

Before leaving Beijing, Cunxin and Mary host a party for all his old teachers and classmates. At the end, he tells... (full context)

As Cunxin and Mary fly on a tiny prop plane toward Qingdao, Cunxin wonders how much will have changed—or... (full context)

...into a Western style embrace when he climbs out of the truck. Everyone fawns over Mary, the first white person to visit the village since 1949. She and Cunxin hand out... (full context)

...Lis’ freshly paved courtyard, electric fans, and glassed-in windows, the house still lacks indoor plumbing. Mary takes it all—including the toilet hole dug under the courtyard wall—in stride. She and Cunxin... (full context)

One morning, the entire Li clan visits Na-na’s grave. As Cunxin and Mary kow-tow, he thinks about how much he still misses his kind, sweet grandmother. He doesn’t... (full context)

...They’ve been successful, but their limited finances keep them from expanding the business. Cunxin and Mary give Cunsang a gift of cash to help, and Cunsang so overwhelmed that he can... (full context)

A few days before Cunxin and Mary return to America, the family celebrates Jing Tring’s wedding. Some of the old traditions have... (full context)

The family insists on celebrating Cunxin and Mary, too, since no one got to attend their American wedding. Fifty guests cram into the... (full context)

...changed his life—again. Niang insists on sewing a quilt—the traditional gift for newlyweds—for him and Mary to take home. She wants them to have a long and happy marriage. She and... (full context)

Finally, Cunxin and Mary bid farewell to Niang, Dia, and the rest of the family in the village. Jing... (full context)

After that first visit, Mary and Cunxin return to China many times. Their dance careers flourish, even as they grow... (full context)

Between the births of Cunxin’s and Mary’s second child, Thomas, and third child, Birdie, Cunxin accepts an offer to join the Australian... (full context)

When he sits down to write his memoir in 2003, Mary is still the love of Cunxin’s life. Ben has retired as the artistic director of... (full context)

Mao’s Last Dancer

Mary McKendry Character Analysis

Mary McKendry Quotes in Mao’s Last Dancer

Chapter 27: Mary Quotes

Chapter 29: Back in My Village Quotes

Mary McKendry Character Timeline in Mao’s Last Dancer