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Mrs. Martin
Mary is the Smiths’ maid. Though inhabiting the same absurd and illogical world as the rest of the play’s characters, she nevertheless seems to retain some degree of sanity and human dignity. She alone has the power to break the fourth wall and speak directly to the audience, as seen when she reveals that the Martins have made an error in their deductions and are not who they believe they are. This scene raises the question of Mary’s possible omniscience. Her amorous behavior with the Fire Chief excites the Smiths’ and Martins’ class prejudice and revulsion, and her recital of her terse, fascinating poem “The Fire” instigates the play’s collapse into chaos.
Mary Quotes in The Bald Soprano
The The Bald Soprano quotes below are all either spoken by Mary or refer to Mary. 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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The Bald Soprano Quotes
I can therefore let you in on a secret. Elizabeth is not Elizabeth, Donald is not Donald. And here is the proof: the child that Donald spoke of is not Elizabeth's daughter, they are not the same person. Donald's daughter has one white eye and one red eye like Elizabeth's daughter. Whereas Donald's child has a white right eye and a red left eye, Elizabeth's child has a red right eye and a white left eye! Thus all of Donald's system of deduction collapses when it comes up against this last obstacle which destroys his whole theory.
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Mr. and Mrs. Martin’s long sequence of astonishing coincidences ends with them both declaring that they have a daughter named Alice, with one red eye and one white eye. At this point, they finally conclude that they must be Donald and Elizabeth, husband and wife. After they joyfully embrace and fall asleep in a chair, in this passage, Mary tiptoes onto the stage and breaks the “fourth wall” to directly address the audience and disprove the Martins’ conclusions. Mary’s unique ability to do this, coupled with her inexplicable knowledge of the Martins’ lives, suggests that she may possess powers of 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 erro
MR. MARTIN: If that is the case...dear friends...these emotions are understandable, human, honorable...
MRS. MARTIN: All that is human is honorable.
MRS. SMITH: Even so, I don't like to see it... here among us...
MR. SMITH: She's not been properly brought up...
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Mary, the maid, reenters the scene, interrupting the Smiths’ conversation with the Fire Chief about their clock. Upon seeing one another, she and the Fire Chief recognize one another as former lovers, and Mary leaps into his arms. Their open canoodling disturbs the Smiths and Martins, who in this passage attempt to work through their powerful reaction to the amorous display. The Martins’ contention that “all that is human is honorable” recalls the mock-weightiness of Mr. Smith’s contention that the “heart is ageless” when he peed in his pants. It also ironically foreshadows the descent into madness that the Smith 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 vo
The polypoids were burning in the wood
A stone caught fire
The castle caught fire
The forest caught fire
The men caught fire
The women caught fire
The birds caught fire
The fish caught fire
The water caught fire
The sky caught fire
The ashes caught fire
The smoke caught fire
The fire caught fire
Everything caught fire,
Caught fire, caught fire.
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Upset by Mary’s conduct with the Fire Chief, Mrs. Smith asks her to excuse herself and go recite her poems quietly in front of a mirror somewhere. Mary agrees to recite a poem, but she does it loudly in front of the whole group: it is called “The Fire,” which she dedicates to the Fire Chief. The poem begins with a surreal image of “polypoids,” perhaps some kind of sea-anemone, “burning in the wood”—a physical improbability. The poem starts to sound more realistic as it proceeds, though, describing some more conventional objects catching fire, before returning to surreal impossibility as 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
MRS. MARTIN: Bazaar, Balzac, bazooka!
MR. MARTIN: Bizarre, beaux-arts, brassieres!
MRS. SMITH: A,e,i,o,u, a,e,i,o,u, a,e,i,o,u, i!
MRS. MARTIN: B, c, d, f g, 1, m, n, p, r, s, t, v, w, x, z!
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After Mary recites her poem about the fire and is wheeled off stage, the Fire Chief turns to go as well, leaving to attend a fire across town. As he leaves, however, he asks a question about “the bald soprano,” and this, compounded with the poem recital, seems to flip a switch in the Smiths’ and Martins’ mind and plunge them into total madness. For several lines, they exchange nonsensical, non-sequitur fake proverbs, until Mr. Smith cries, “To hell with polishing!”, which initiates an even steeper decline into vicious nonsense. The members of the group begin shouting strings of words 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
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Mary Character Timeline in The Bald Soprano
The timeline below shows where the character Mary appears in The Bald Soprano. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
The Bald Soprano
...When the clock chimes 17 times, Mrs. Smith begins reviewing the dinner that their maid Mary served to them earlier that night, giving a strangely laborious, monotonous assessment of the taste...
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...about the Bobby Watsons and snaps at her. They briefly argue, then reconcile and kiss. Mary, the maid, enters and announces that she’s been out and about all afternoon, and that...
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Mary tiptoes on stage and whispers to the audience that the Martins are mistaken; they are...
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Mary enters and apologetically asks to share a story of her own. The Fire Chief recognizes...
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Mrs. Martin tells Mary to go to the kitchen and read her poems in front of the mirror, something...
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Mary recites a poem in honor of the Fire Chief, called “The Fire.” The poem relates...
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