Theodora “Tessie” Stephanides Character Analysis in Middlesex

Theodora (who starts going by “Tessie” as a teenager) is Milton’s wife and cousin, Cal and Chapter Eleven’s mother, and Sourmelina and Jimmy’s only child. She is a quiet, conventional, and dutiful person, which Cal explains was a result of her rebelling against her loud, nonconformist mother. She is very short, slender, and beautiful, and Cal describes her as more American-looking than either Sourmelina or Cal himself. Tessie is briefly engaged to Michael Antoniou, who is by far the more sensible choice for a future husband, but ultimately can’t deny her feelings for her cousin Milton, and marries him instead. Although Milton and Tessie’ relationship is at times conflict-prone, they clearly love each other. Tessie is also a loving and caring mother, though her prudishness around bodies and sex means that she is not very helpful to Callie while Callie is going through puberty. After Milton’s death, Tessie moves with her cousin Zoë to New Smyrna Beach in Florida.

Theodora “Tessie” Stephanides Quotes in Middlesex

The Middlesex quotes below are all either spoken by Theodora “Tessie” Stephanides or refer to Theodora “Tessie” 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:

Sing now, O Muse, of the recessive mutation on my fifth chromosome! Sing how it bloomed two and a half centuries ago on the slopes of Mount Olympus, while the goats bleated and the olives dropped. Sing how it passed down through nine generations, gathering invisibly within the polluted pool of the Stephanides family. And sing how Providence, in the guise of a massacre, sent the gene flying again; how it blew like a seed across the sea to America, where it drifted through our industrial rains until it fell to earth in the fertile soil of my mother’s own midwestern womb.

Sorry if I get a little Homeric at times. That’s genetic, too.

Related Characters: Cal/lie Stephanides (speaker), Theodora “Tessie” Stephanides

Related Symbols: The Recessive Gene

Page Number and Citation: 4

Explanation and Analysis:

If Sourmelina had always been a European kind of American, a sort of Marlene Dietrich, then Tessie was the fully Americanized daughter Dietrich might have had. Her mainstream, even countrified, looks extended to the slight gap between her teeth and her turned-up nose. Traits often skip a generation. I look much more typically Greek than my mother does.

Related Characters: Cal/lie Stephanides (speaker), Sourmelina Zizmo, Theodora “Tessie” Stephanides

Page Number and Citation: 174

Explanation and Analysis:

“The matter with us is you.” How many times did I hear that growing up? Delivered by Milton in his so-called black accent, delivered whenever any liberal pundit talked about the “culturally deprived” or the “underclass” or “empowerment zones,” spoken out of the belief that this one statement, having been delivered to him while the blacks themselves burned down a significant portion of our beloved city, proved its own absurdity. As the years went on, Milton used it as a shield against any opinions to the contrary, and finally it grew into a kind of mantra, the explanation for why the world was going to hell, applicable not only to African Americans but to feminists and homosexuals; and then of course he liked to use it on us, whenever we were late for dinner or wore clothes Tessie didn’t approve of.

Related Characters: Milton (Militadies) Stephanides (speaker), Cal/lie Stephanides (speaker), Theodora “Tessie” Stephanides

Page Number and Citation: 246

Explanation and Analysis:

In addition, the subject has been raised in the Greek Orthodox tradition, with its strongly sex-defined roles. In general the parents seem assimilationist and very “all-American” in their outlook, but the presence of this deeper ethnic identity should not be overlooked.

Related Characters: Dr. Luce (speaker), Theodora “Tessie” Stephanides, Milton (Militadies) Stephanides, Cal/lie Stephanides

Page Number and Citation: 436

Explanation and Analysis:

Theodora “Tessie” Stephanides Character Timeline in Middlesex

The timeline below shows where the character Theodora “Tessie” Stephanides appears in Middlesex. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...ties a piece of sting to the handle. She then hangs it over Callie’s mother Tessie’s pregnant stomach. Desdemona has correctly guessed the sexes of 23 babies. Now, Desdemona says that... (full context)

Migration, Ethnicity, and the American Dream Theme Icon

...from the other room and says that her prediction is meaningless, because of “science.” Like Tessie, he wants to have a girl, to balance out the masculine energy of five-year-old Chapter... (full context)

Tessie was 22 and a virgin when she married Milton. They were engaged during World War... (full context)

In three weeks’ time, Callie will be conceived. On this night, Tessie sits at her vanity table while the Acropolis night light she and Milton received as... (full context)

The next Sunday, Desdemona, Tessie, and Chapter Eleven attend church. Milton never comes and neither does Desdemona’s husband, Lefty, who... (full context)

Long ago, Tessie and Father Mike had been engaged, but after Tessie married Milton instead, Mike married Tessie’s... (full context)

...to participate in the Greek tradition of egg-cracking. However, during the middle of the egg-cracking, Tessie informs Milton that her basal temperature is up, and the two of them sneak off... (full context)

...think you know everything about your family and yet, in the case of his mother Tessie, not even know the truth of your own husband’s identity or that your parents are... (full context)

...walked all the way from the lake. Sourmelina’s baby, taken from the incubator, is named Theodora, while Lefty and Desdemona’s son is named Militadies, although he will go by the English... (full context)

After the funeral rites for Zizmo are completed, both Milton and Theodora are baptized. Desdemona asks Sourmelina how it is possible to prevent oneself from getting pregnant... (full context)

Milton and Theodora are inseparable until Milton turns four, at which point he abandons his cousin to play... (full context)

...ahead of himself, as they haven’t even kissed yet. The narrative switches back to 1944. Theodora, now going by Tessie, is 20 years old. World War II is ranging, Prohibition has... (full context)

...man to death, Lefty refuses to serve them, forcing them to leave at gunpoint. While Tessie sits at home painting her toenails, she hears someone playing an Artie Shaw tune on... (full context)

...but Desdemona suspects it has something to do with “the growing intimacy between Milton and Tessie.” The thought of this intimacy has been giving Desdemona heart palpitations. She has taken to... (full context)

This same day, Tessie asks Milton to play her something on the clarinet. He does, and then without knowing... (full context)

...when Michael comes over for Sunday lunch, he and Milton have an argument about religion. Tessie is struck by the contrast between the two young men. Later, when Milton offers to... (full context)

...was stationed in San Diego, having joined the Navy as an act of “revenge” against Tessie and in hope of forgetting his love for her. (full context)

Meanwhile, back in Detroit, Tessie watches news about the war at the movie theater. She daydreams of going to Europe... (full context)

During this time, everyone is writing letters to each other. Michael writes to Tessie twice a week, and Tessie lies in her letters back, pretending that she has spent... (full context)

The next time Tessie is at the movies, newsreel footage of the war plays again, and this time she... (full context)

Tessie comes in to Desdemona’s room to say that she is calling off the wedding. Desdemona... (full context)

...in Bithynios, but he never gets around to doing this. Within a year he marries Tessie and they have their first child. He graduates from the Naval Academy and serves in... (full context)

...were conceived and born. After Milton graduates from the Naval Academy in 1949, he and Tessie live at Pearl Harbor for a while. In 1951 Milton is transferred to Norfolk, Virginia.... (full context)

...of Greek kitsch items. The opening is a success; business booms, and soon Milton and Tessie are able to buy a large house in Indian Village, which is near Lefty and... (full context)

...the family is too preoccupied 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... (full context)

...and falls to the floor, ripping her clothes. She and Lefty move into Milton and Tessie’s house, living in the attic for maximum privacy. Cal believes that Desdemona liked living there... (full context)

...down through 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... (full context)

...in the face. Those in attendance try to stop themselves laughing. Milton is proud, while Tessie is humiliated. (full context)

...notes. At night he smokes hash in his hookah pipe. For Callie’s first few Christmases, Tessie is so excited about having a girl that she dressed her in ridiculous, frilly outfits.... (full context)

Milton and Tessie’s bedroom is “furnished entirely in Early American reproductions,” and Milton sleeps with a gun from... (full context)

...through storefronts. He drives straight into the smoke billowing from the fires. Back at home, Tessie takes the children into the attic along with a suitcase full of food. Distraught over... (full context)

Lefty, Desdemona, Tessie, and the children spend three days in the attic, not bathing or brushing their teeth,... (full context)

...up emerging. Although there are certain problems with the house that she never gets over, Tessie comes to like the enormous glass walls, which Lefty takes it upon himself to clean.... (full context)

That evening, Callie happily tells Tessie that she has made a new friend, and asks to invite her over. Tessie is... (full context)

...Dr. Philobosian’s advice due to the fact that he’s too old. She tells Milton and Tessie, “Get me a new doctor who isn’t already dead himself.” However, each new doctor says... (full context)

...an Orthodox Jewish family made up of Sam and Hettie Grossinger and their daughter Maxine. Tessie frequently has them over for dinner, although, despite her efforts, rarely manages to make a... (full context)

...her yearly checkup with him he barely looks at her when he speaks, instead addressing Tessie. (full context)

Tessie is prudish and thus avoids discussing anything related to sex or the body. Thanks to... (full context)

Callie and Tessie’s relationship undergoes a tense period. When Callie asks if she can get a bra, Tessie... (full context)

...at Baker & Inglis, Callie is taking classes in Latin. Every evening, Milton reads to Tessie from the Great Books series. However, many of the texts in the series bore them,... (full context)

Tessie and Milton have a profound, unconditional love for Callie, but worry that she will turn... (full context)

...church and tells her that she is getting a mustache. She tells her to get Tessie to bring her in to have it waxed. Callie is horrified, but not surprised. She... (full context)

Sophie greets Tessie and Callie. There is a curtain that runs through the salon; in front of it,... (full context)

...Chapter Eleven goes back to college, a “silence” descends over the Stephanides house. Milton and Tessie are distraught. In spring semester of eighth grade, Callie is in Mr. da Silva’s advanced... (full context)

...happily to her parents, and Callie spots Milton—looking like “the captain of a cruise ship”—and Tessie. Before the play begins, Callie tells the Obscure Object not to worry, assuring her that... (full context)

Tessie tells Callie that she has made her a doctor’s appointment with a “ladies’ doctor,” Dr.... (full context)

...in Greece, where he was able to recover some of the dignity he lost after Tessie jilted him. (full context)

...Cleopatra, and Plato. Callie has always been fond of Aunt Zo, who now asks why Tessie would possibly come to church considering she doesn’t have to. Back in Grosse Pointe, Callie... (full context)

...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 take matters into her... (full context)

When Tessie and Callie get back home, they find a group of men shouting about the Turkish... (full context)

...of his intersex condition reveals itself. Back in the summer of 1974, Callie reassures both Tessie and herself with her fake periods. With the vacation to Turkey out of the way,... (full context)

Only Father Mike, Aunt Zo, and their children remain. Tessie is angry with Milton, and a fight erupts between the two of them. Father Mike... (full context)

...to have particularly unusual genitalia. When the doctors in the emergency room tell Milton and Tessie about Cal’s condition, they don’t believe them, and insist on getting a second opinion from... (full context)

...is marked with a sign that reads: “Sexual Disorders and Gender Identity Clinic.” Milton and Tessie act as if they don’t see it. The clinic is elegant, with a view of... (full context)

...to meet Callie. When he invites Callie into his office for an examination, Milton and Tessie assure her that they will be right outside, waiting. Dr. Luce is “the world’s leading... (full context)

Dr. Luce brings Milton and Tessie into his office to talk to them. Tessie notices that he doesn’t refer to Callie... (full context)

Every night, Tessie and Callie go back to the Italian restaurant together, and every day, they go to... (full context)

...Milton replies, “Soon as you’re better,” although Callie doesn’t know what this means. In bed, Tessie has dreams that recall Desdemona’s own terrors about deformed children. Tessie is terrified that she... (full context)

...by the way that Milton has dressed that he is bracing himself for bad news. Tessie is also clearly miserable, yet in hindsight Cal finds that there is something strangely amusing... (full context)

...hormone,” and adds that he will try to fix this. On hearing this, Milton and Tessie feel optimistic. Dr. Luce asks if they know of any other family members who have... (full context)

...and surgery, which will mean that Callie will “look like a normal girl.” However, when Tessie asks, Luce admits that unfortunately, Callie will always be infertile. Tessie points out that Callie... (full context)

...deficiency syndrome. The file describes Callie’s mannerisms as “pleasant” and “feminine.” It describes Milton and Tessie as “fairly typical Midwesterners of the World War II generation,” noting that Milton is a... (full context)

...with tickets to a Broadway show, but Callie claims she’s too tired to go. Before Tessie and Milton reluctantly go without her, Callie hugs Tessie tight. After they go, she takes... (full context)

Although Milton and Tessie have warned him against it, Cal decides to hitchhike. He doesn’t blame his parents for... (full context)

Tessie feels a profound, spiritual attachment to Callie, and senses that she is alive but hungry.... (full context)

Tessie thinks about Callie, wondering how her daughter could possibly be a boy. She begins to... (full context)

...increasingly desperate. Meanwhile, Milton calls Chapter Eleven and asks him to come home, explaining that Tessie is going through a terrible time with Callie being missing. In response, Chapter Eleven starts... (full context)

...realizes it is because he assumes the worst about Callie’s disappearance. On Sunday, Milton asks Tessie to light a candle for Callie at church, saying, “Couldn’t hurt.” After, he curses himself... (full context)

...She has a “dark side” which includes heavy drinking and outbursts of anger. Milton and Tessie remain on edge, waiting for news of Callie. Their shared fear brings them closer, and... (full context)

...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 tell Milton, because Milton is dead. (full context)

...It is two a.m., and Milton is experiencing a last surge of hope long after Tessie has given up. After receiving the first phone call, he’d gotten a second. This time,... (full context)

...that he dies before he can see Chapter Eleven run Hercules Hotdogs into bankruptcy and Tessie sell Middlesex. In a way, Cal is also grateful that Milton never saw him again,... (full context)

...confessed everything, and that all the money was found in his car. Cal asks how Tessie is doing, and Chapter Eleven explains that she’s angry at Milton for having gone to... (full context)

...him, but then, jokingly, hands it over and says Cal can carry it himself. When Tessie sees Cal, she cannot help but feel disturbed, feeling that there is a “criminal aspect”... (full context)

Just as Tessie, Cal, and Chapter Eleven are finally ready to go to Milton’s funeral, a voice comes... (full context)

Cal asks if he can go and see her, and though Tessie is initially hesitant, she agrees, pointing out that whatever happens, Desdemona will forget. Cal brings... (full context)

...Lefty was her third cousin, but also her brother. Cal is stunned. At this moment, Tessie calls out to Cal, saying it’s time to go. Cal says he’s going to say... (full context)

...Aunt Zo divorces him and moves to New Smyrna Beach, Florida, with Desdemona. Before long, Tessie joins them. Desdemona dies in 1980. During Milton’s funeral, Tessie places his wedding crown inside... (full context)

Theodora “Tessie” Stephanides Character Analysis

Theodora “Tessie” Stephanides Quotes in Middlesex

Book 1: The Silver Spoon Quotes

Book 2: Clarinet Serenade Quotes

Book 3: Opa! Quotes

Book 4: Looking Myself Up in Webster’s Quotes

Theodora “Tessie” Stephanides Character Timeline in Middlesex