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Ching
The Old Mistress is the female head of the House of Hwang. Wang Lung meets her only once, when he goes to fetch O-lan from the great house for their marriage, but the meeting leaves a deep impression on him. Along with her husband, the Old Lord, the Old Mistress represents wealth and social superiority to Wang Lung. He becomes ashamed of the fear he felt in her presence, but he also wants to have the power that he felt emanate from her. However, the Old Mistress also smokes vast amounts of opium, which not only leave her weak and helpless, but also help bankrupt her family. During the year of famine that drives Wang Lung’s family south to the city, robbers attack the House of Hwang, and the Old Mistress dies of fright. In sum, she symbolizes both the power of the rich and the dangers of decadence that come with wealth.
The Old Mistress Quotes in The Good Earth
The The Good Earth quotes below are all either spoken by The Old Mistress or refer to The Old Mistress. 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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Chapter 1 Quotes
“Raise him,” said the old lady gravely to the gateman, “these obeisances are not necessary. Has he come for the woman?”
“Yes, Ancient One,” replied the gateman.
“Why does he not speak for himself?” asked the old lady.
“Because he is a fool, Ancient One,” said the gateman...
This roused Wang Lung and he looked with indignation at the gateman.
“I am only a coarse person, Great and Ancient Lady,” he said. “I do not know what words to use in such a presence.”
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Wang Lung goes to the House of Hwang to fetch his new wife, O-lan, who works as a slave there. The gateman shows him into a great hall, where the Old Mistress is to present Wang Lung with O-lan, and Wang Lung falls onto his knees before her to show his respect. This is Wang Lung’s first of many visits to the House of Hwang, and this first visit leaves a great impression on him, effectively setting the standard against which he will measure all future visits as he rises in status and receives greater respect in the house. On 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 eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero
Chapter 3 Quotes
Wang Lung sat smoking, thinking of the silver as it had lain upon the table. It had come out of the earth, this silver, out of his earth that he ploughed and turned and spent himself upon. He took his life from this earth; drop by drop by his sweat he wrung food from it and from the food, silver. Each time before this that he had taken the silver out to give to anyone, it had been like taking a piece of his life and giving it to someone carelessly. But now... he saw the silver transmuted into something worth even more than itself—clothes upon the body of his son. And this strange woman of his, who worked about, saying nothing, seeming to see nothing, she had first seen the child thus clothed!
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Before O-lan gives birth to her first child, she tells Wang Lung that she plans to take the child (whom she assumes will be a son) to the House of Hwang to show him to the Old Mistress. She wants to clothe him well and present him triumphantly as a sign of her social ascendancy, as she used to be a slave in the house. Wang Lung thinks this is a wonderful idea, and he gives her the money for the clothes. This passage essentially acts as Wang Lung’s meditation upon the land, money, family, and social status. He recognizes 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 eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi
Chapter 5 Quotes
I had but a moment for private talk with the cook under whom I worked before... but she said, ‘This house cannot stand forever with all the young lords, five of them, spending money like waste water in foreign parts and sending home woman after woman as they weary of them, and the Old Lord living at home adding a concubine or two each year, and the Old Mistress eating enough opium every day to fill two shoes with gold.’
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After O-lan visits the House of Hwang with her son, she tells Wang Lung as they walk home that the family is experiencing financial difficulties. The Hwangs are so used to having endless amounts of money at their disposal that they have neither the ability nor the desire to limit their pleasures. The description of the Hwang family in this passage shows that wealth has led them into constant decadent indulgence, and throughout the book, wealth will be associated with this same sense of excess. Furthermore, as Wang Lung later begins to grow prosperous, he will imitate the Hwang family 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 eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat
Chapter 28 Quotes
There before him was the great carven dais where the old lady had sat, her fragile, tended body wrapped in silvery satin.
And moved by some strange impulse he went forward and he sat down where she had sat and he put his hand on the table and from the eminence it gave him he looked down on the bleary face of the old hag who blinked at him... Then some satisfaction he had longed for all his days without knowing it swelled up in his heart and he smote the table with his hand and he said suddenly,
“This house I will have!”
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Wang Lung has been considering renting the House of Hwang, and he comes upon the gateman’s wife, who shows him into the inner courts and the great hall where Wang Lung met the Old Mistress the first time he came to the house. On Wang Lung’s first visit here, he was humiliated by his poverty and his ignorance of how to act around such social superiors. Even the gateman, a servant himself, acted as though he were far better than Wang Lung. This experience has stuck with Wang Lung his entire life, and now he’s finally able to retrospectively take 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 eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam
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The Old Mistress Character Timeline in The Good Earth
The timeline below shows where the character The Old Mistress appears in The Good Earth. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
...Wang Lung’s arrival and leads him through a series of courtyards. Finally they come to the Old Mistress ’s rooms, but the gateman protests that Wang Lung can’t go in carrying his basket...
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...a huge room, and Wang Lung almost trips as he gapes up at the ceiling. The Old Mistress sits on a dais (raised platform), holding an opium pipe. Wang Lung kneels before her,...
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...he’s so nervous. He’s satisfied with her voice, but disappointed that her feet aren’t bound. The Old Mistress has Wang Lung stand next to O-lan, and she tells him that she bought O-lan...
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Chapter 3
...bring her son. Both will be clad in new clothes, and she’ll present herself to the Old Mistress . Wang Lung realizes that O-lan has been planning this for a long time, even...
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Chapter 5
...would want to eat them. O-lan says that she’s going to bring the cakes to the Old Mistress when she visits with the baby after the New Year. Wang Lung is very pleased...
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...O-lan whispers in shock that it seems the House of Hwang is lacking in money. The Old Mistress and the slaves were all wearing the same coats as the previous year. The clothes...
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...that the young lords spend too much money, the Old Lord has many concubines, and the Old Mistress never stops eating opium. A daughter about to get married has a huge dowry and...
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The Old Mistress told O-lan that the family is looking to sell land just outside the city wall....
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Chapter 8
...despite everything. He’s heard that the House of Hwang is struggling more than ever, and the Old Mistress wants the agent to sell land so she can have opium. The Old Lord has...
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Chapter 16
...can hardly believe it. Cuckoo says that bandits stole the slaves and the goods, and the Old Mistress died of fright. Most of the servants left even before this, when the food and...
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Chapter 28
...to the House of Hwang, and his eldest son’s idea makes him imagine sitting in the Old Mistress ’s place and acting as she did. He smokes and fantasizes about this.
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...doesn’t identify himself, but follows her to the great hall where he first came before the Old Mistress . Wang Lung sits where she sat and looks down at the gateman’s wife. He...
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Chapter 30
...Lung can’t believe he used to fear this woman who now looks as weak as the Old Mistress used to look when the House of Hwang collapsed.
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Chapter 32
...the farm laborer who accidentally caused Ching’s death. Wang Lung sits on the dais where the Old Mistress used to sit and presents the laborer with the slave as his wife, feeling how...
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