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Bill Fordham
Barbara and Bill’s fourteen-year-old daughter. Jean is sullen, quirky, and desperate for an escape from her difficult family; she retreats into movies and marijuana, longing to drown out her separated parents’ incessant fighting and avoid the role of judge and moral compass they have placed upon Jean’s unwilling shoulders. It’s implied that Jean has recently gone through puberty and filled out, and that she looks older than her age; Karen’s fiancé Steve is sexually attracted to Jean, and attempts to assault her one night after the two share a joint. Jean is uneasily stumbling through her adolescence, desperate not to make a “federal case” or a “big deal” out of the many slights, traumas, and difficulties her family puts onto her plate. Jean’s desire for solitude and escape is a direct reflection of the claustrophobic atmosphere of her family’s ancestral home, and her attempts to establish herself as someone distinct from the rest of her family reflect many of the more repressed adult characters’ hidden wishes for themselves.
Jean Fordham Quotes in August: Osage County
The August: Osage County quotes below are all either spoken by Jean Fordham or refer to Jean Fordham. 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:
).
Act 1, Scene 3
Quotes
BILL: Barbara, please, we have enough on our hands with your parents right now. Let’s not revisit all this.
BARBARA: Revisit, when did we visit this to begin with? You pulled the rug out from under me. I still don’t know what happened. Do I bore you, intimidate you, disgust you? Is this just about the pleasures of young flesh, teenage pussy? I really need to know.
BILL: You need to know now? You want to have this discussion with Beverly missing, and your mother crazy as a loon, and our daughter twenty feet away? Do you really want to do this now? […] This discussion deserves our care. And patience. We’ll both be in a better frame of mind to talk about this once your father’s come home.
BARBARA: My father’s dead, Bill.
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Act 2, Scene 1
Quotes
BARBARA: Okay. Pill raid. Johnna, help me in the kitchen. Bill, take Ivy and Jean upstairs. (To Ivy.) You remember how to do this, right?
IVY: Yeah…
BARBARA: (To Jean) Everything. Go through everything, every counter, every drawer, every shoe box. Nothing’s too personal. Anything even looks suspicious, throw it in a box and we can sort it out later. You understand?
CHARLIE: What should we do?
BARBARA: Get Mom some black coffee and a wet towel and listen to her bullshit. Karen, call Dr. Burke.
KAREN: What do you want me to say?
BARBARA: Tell him we got a sick woman here.
VIOLET: You can’t do this! This is my house! This is my house!
BARBARA: You don’t get it, do you? (With a burst of adrenaline, she strides to Violet, towers over her.) I’M RUNNING THINGS NOW!
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Jean Fordham Quotes in August: Osage County
The August: Osage County quotes below are all either spoken by Jean Fordham or refer to Jean Fordham. 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:
).
Act 1, Scene 3
Quotes
BILL: Barbara, please, we have enough on our hands with your parents right now. Let’s not revisit all this.
BARBARA: Revisit, when did we visit this to begin with? You pulled the rug out from under me. I still don’t know what happened. Do I bore you, intimidate you, disgust you? Is this just about the pleasures of young flesh, teenage pussy? I really need to know.
BILL: You need to know now? You want to have this discussion with Beverly missing, and your mother crazy as a loon, and our daughter twenty feet away? Do you really want to do this now? […] This discussion deserves our care. And patience. We’ll both be in a better frame of mind to talk about this once your father’s come home.
BARBARA: My father’s dead, Bill.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 2, Scene 1
Quotes
BARBARA: Okay. Pill raid. Johnna, help me in the kitchen. Bill, take Ivy and Jean upstairs. (To Ivy.) You remember how to do this, right?
IVY: Yeah…
BARBARA: (To Jean) Everything. Go through everything, every counter, every drawer, every shoe box. Nothing’s too personal. Anything even looks suspicious, throw it in a box and we can sort it out later. You understand?
CHARLIE: What should we do?
BARBARA: Get Mom some black coffee and a wet towel and listen to her bullshit. Karen, call Dr. Burke.
KAREN: What do you want me to say?
BARBARA: Tell him we got a sick woman here.
VIOLET: You can’t do this! This is my house! This is my house!
BARBARA: You don’t get it, do you? (With a burst of adrenaline, she strides to Violet, towers over her.) I’M RUNNING THINGS NOW!
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
