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Lorenzo Shannon
Jo Britten is a timid, racist white woman. A former librarian who feared she was becoming a spinster, she jumped at the chance to marry Lyle Britten when he proposed to her despite having heard about his “wild” drinking and womanizing. She has a baby son with Lyle and longs for Lyle to really see her and love her, but she is insecure and jealous of his previous sexual relationships—especially his rumored relationship with Willa Mae, a young, pretty Black woman whose husband Lyle murdered. At Lyle’s trial for the murder of young Black man Richard Henry, it’s implied that Lyle forces Jo to lie and say that Richard sexually assaulted her during an altercation between Lyle and Richard at Lyle’s store.
Jo Britten Quotes in Blues for Mister Charlie
The Blues for Mister Charlie quotes below are all either spoken by Jo Britten or refer to Jo Britten. 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 2
Quotes
Ellis: Mrs. Britten, if you was to be raped by a orang-outang out of the jungle or a stallion, couldn’t do you no worse than a nigger. You wouldn’t be no more good for nobody. I’ve seen it
[…]
That’s why we men have got to be so vigilant.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Lillian: I wouldn’t filthy my hands with that Communist sheet!
Parnell: Ah? But the father of your faith, the cornerstone of that church of which you are so precious an adornment, was a communist, possibly the first.
Jo: It’s not different—how can you say that? White men ain’t got no more business fooling around with black women than—
Lyle: Girl, will you stop getting yourself into an uproar? Men is different from women—they ain’t as delicate.
Parnell: Nobody in the world knew about her inside, what she was like, and how she dreamed, but me. And nobody in the world knew about me inside, what I wanted, and how I dreamed, but her.
Richard: Maybe your wife could run home and get some change. You got some change at home, I know. Don’t you?
Lyle: I don’t stand for nobody to talk about my wife.
Act 3
Quotes
Juanita: I am not responsible for your imagination.
Lyle: You ain’t no better than me!
Parnell: I am aware of that. God knows I have been made aware of that—for the first time in my life.
Get the entire Blues for Mister Charlie LitChart as a printable PDF.
Jo Britten Quotes in Blues for Mister Charlie
The Blues for Mister Charlie quotes below are all either spoken by Jo Britten or refer to Jo Britten. 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 2
Quotes
Ellis: Mrs. Britten, if you was to be raped by a orang-outang out of the jungle or a stallion, couldn’t do you no worse than a nigger. You wouldn’t be no more good for nobody. I’ve seen it
[…]
That’s why we men have got to be so vigilant.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Lillian: I wouldn’t filthy my hands with that Communist sheet!
Parnell: Ah? But the father of your faith, the cornerstone of that church of which you are so precious an adornment, was a communist, possibly the first.
Jo: It’s not different—how can you say that? White men ain’t got no more business fooling around with black women than—
Lyle: Girl, will you stop getting yourself into an uproar? Men is different from women—they ain’t as delicate.
Parnell: Nobody in the world knew about her inside, what she was like, and how she dreamed, but me. And nobody in the world knew about me inside, what I wanted, and how I dreamed, but her.
Richard: Maybe your wife could run home and get some change. You got some change at home, I know. Don’t you?
Lyle: I don’t stand for nobody to talk about my wife.
Act 3
Quotes
Juanita: I am not responsible for your imagination.
Lyle: You ain’t no better than me!
Parnell: I am aware of that. God knows I have been made aware of that—for the first time in my life.
