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Theodora “Tessie” Stephanides
Chapter Eleven is Cal’s older brother, Milton and Tessie’s first child. (His unconventional name is never explained, and the reader never learns if it is his given name or a nickname.) As a child, he is nerdy and unpopular, but after narrowly avoiding being drafted into the Vietnam War and beginning college at the University of Michigan, he undergoes a drastic transformation. Influenced by the countercultural movements of the late 1960s and early ‘70s, Chapter Eleven grows out his hair, starts meditating, takes acid, buys a motorbike, and becomes a vegetarian. He also—to the horror of his parents—switches his major from engineering to anthropology, before dropping out altogether. After Cal runs away from home, Chapter Eleven begins spending more time with his parents again, and agrees to take over Hercules Hot Dogs. However, following Milton’s death, Chapter Eleven drives the business into the ground within five years.
Chapter Eleven Stephanides Quotes in Middlesex
The Middlesex quotes below are all either spoken by Chapter Eleven Stephanides or refer to Chapter Eleven Stephanides. 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:
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Book 3: Waxing Lyrical Quotes
I suspect that Chapter Eleven’s transformation was caused in no small part by that day on his bed when his life was decided by lottery. Am I projecting? Saddling my brother with my own obsessions with chance and fate? Maybe. But as we planned a trip—a trip that had been promised when Milton was saved from another war—it appeared that Chapter Eleven, taking chemical trips of his own, was trying to escape what he had dimly perceived while wrapped in an afghan: the possibility that not only his draft number was decided by lottery, but that everything was.
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When Callie’s brother, Chapter Eleven, comes home from his first semester at the University of Michigan, he is a completely different person. He has transformed into a hippie who has long hair, drops acid, and critiques capitalism and colonialism. Callie is shocked by her brother’s self-reinvention, and in this passage she speculates that the reason behind it is the fact that he only barely avoided being drafted. Shaken up by the randomness of fate, Chapter Eleven seeks answers in hippie counterculture. Speaking from the future, Cal also says that he is not sure if his theory is correct because he Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia
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Chapter Eleven Stephanides Character Timeline in Middlesex
The timeline below shows where the character Chapter Eleven Stephanides appears in Middlesex. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Book 1: The Silver Spoon
Just before Callie is born, her grandmother, Desdemona, asks Callie’s brother, Chapter Eleven , to bring her her silkworm box. Obeying, Chapter Eleven goes straight up to the...
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...Tessie, he wants to have a girl, to balance out the masculine energy of five-year-old Chapter Eleven . Milton sits in the room full of men, which include Peter Tatakis, who despite...
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The next Sunday, Desdemona, Tessie, and Chapter Eleven attend church. Milton never comes and neither does Desdemona’s husband, Lefty, who stays home working...
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...the thermometer, and feels annoyed. However, she is instantly distracted by the chaos caused by Chapter Eleven losing control of the coffee urn and spilling coffee all over a little girl. While...
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Two weeks later it is Easter Sunday for followers of the Greek Orthodox church. Chapter Eleven was crushed not to be able to celebrate Easter on the same date as his...
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Book 2: Ex Ovo Omnia
...everyone in his immediate family is related to each other in complicated ways. Cal’s brother, Chapter Eleven , is also his third cousin; Milton is the nephew as well as the son...
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...to notice Lefty’s gambling. Milton is busy with the diners, Tessie is caring for baby Chapter Eleven , and Sourmelina has moved to the Southwest with her girlfriend, Mrs. Evelyn Watson.
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...the family to his grandparents, who then passed it on to Milton and Tessie. When Chapter Eleven was conceived, the biology gods decided that he would not inherit the gene. However, when...
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Book 3: Home Movies
...still “dapper” after his stroke, and Desdemona’s dentures make her look like a “snapping turtle.” Chapter Eleven looks decidedly American. The family have two boxers. Later, this film (“Easter ‘62”) will be...
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...birthday in 1967 is the last home movie he will ever make. At this time, Chapter Eleven is 12 and enjoys cutting golf balls in half in order to look at their...
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Book 3: Middlesex
...like the enormous glass walls, which Lefty takes it upon himself to clean. Callie and Chapter Eleven love it because there are so many opportunities for climbing.
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Book 3: The Mediterranean Diet
One night, Chapter Eleven goes down to the kitchen and get a snack. He decides to make hot dogs...
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...like “the world ha[s] a million eyes,” all staring at her. She has noticed that Chapter Eleven has started masturbating, which he does secretly in the bathroom. Years pass. During this time,...
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...American food is terrible for people’s digestion, which is why Americans buy so many laxatives. Chapter Eleven joins in the fight, teasing Callie for her lack of breasts while Callie retorts by...
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Book 3: The Wolverette
...Wolverette. The year that Callie starts at Baker & Inglis is the same year that Chapter Eleven begins college. The previous spring, Chapter Eleven gained admission to the University of Michigan and...
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...receive, she also thinks its unjust that men are sent to war. In the end, Chapter Eleven ’s draft number is not called, and he moves to Ann Arbor in the fall....
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Book 3: Waxing Lyrical
...getting [her] face done.” While a Hungarian woman rips off Callie’s mustache, Tessie says that Chapter Eleven will be coming home for Christmas and bringing his new girlfriend, Meg. Ever since Chapter...
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When Chapter Eleven came home for the last Christmas vacation, he was a “different person.” His hair was...
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For the first time in their lives, Chapter Eleven pays attention to Callie, asking her questions about her life. At one point, he observes...
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Chapter Eleven no longer wears deodorant, and Callie complains about his smell. During New Year’s, Meg and...
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Book 3: The Obscure Object
After Chapter Eleven goes back to college, a “silence” descends over the Stephanides house. Milton and Tessie are...
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Book 3: Tiresias in Love
...midst of this emotional turmoil, she decides to start going to church again. In April, Chapter Eleven told them that he was dropping out of college to “live off the land.” Callie...
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...anything wrong with her, that she remains “just friends” with the Obscure Object, and that Chapter Eleven returns to college. Tessie notices that Callie looks pale. At this moment, Callie decides to...
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Book 3: The Gun on the Wall
...again. Fuming, Callie hits Jerome in the face. She pins him down, and does something Chapter Eleven used to do to her—spits in his face. Immediately, Callie knows she has to run....
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Book 4: Gender Dysphoria in San Francisco
...not to deal drugs or start begging, but starts feeling increasingly desperate. Meanwhile, Milton calls Chapter Eleven and asks him to come home, explaining that Tessie is going through a terrible time...
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Milton drives Chapter Eleven to a Hercules Hot Dogs branch and introduces him to the manager, Gus, as the...
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Book 4: Hermaphroditus
...the club is raided by the police, and Cal is arrested. From jail, he calls Chapter Eleven and begs him not to tell Tessie and Milton. Chapter Eleven replies that he can’t...
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Book 4: Air-Ride
...tragic end, in a way it was fortunate that he dies before he can see Chapter Eleven run Hercules Hotdogs into bankruptcy and Tessie sell Middlesex. In a way, Cal is also...
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Book 4: Last Stop
Back in 1975, Chapter Eleven comes to San Francisco and collects Cal from jail. When Chapter Eleven sees his brother...
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Chapter Eleven takes care of the bureaucracy of Milton’s death, and doesn’t ask Cal anything about the...
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When they pull up on Middlesex, Cal feels profoundly moved. Chapter Eleven starts carrying Cal’s suitcase for him, but then, jokingly, hands it over and says Cal...
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Just as Tessie, Cal, and Chapter Eleven are finally ready to go to Milton’s funeral, a voice comes through the intercom, calling...
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