Previous
The Smoking Jacket
Esther stores her life's savings in a seam of her crazy quilt. Crazy quilts, which became popular in the last twenty years of the 19th century, were intricate, lavish quilts made most often from scraps of silk, velvet, and wool that were then heavily embroidered. Both because of the intensive man-hours that went into making the quilt and because it also contains eighteen years' worth of savings, the quilt becomes a symbol for the laborious effort required to achieve the American dream. In the end, Esther's choice to give George her savings to purchase draft horses (though she later learns that, in truth, he spent the money on gambling, alcohol, and sex workers) represents Esther's move to abandon her original, unattainable version of the American dream. That dream itself may be beautiful and carefully constructed, just like the quilt, but it ultimately wasn't able to stand up to the true test of reality, emotions, and other people who are fundamentally unpredictable.
The Crazy Quilt Quotes in Intimate Apparel
The Intimate Apparel quotes below all refer to the symbol of The Crazy Quilt. 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 4
Quotes
Mayme: Let me tell you, so many wonderful ideas been conjured in this room. They just get left right in that bed there, or on this piano bench. They are scattered all over this room. Esther, I ain't waiting for anybody to rescue me. My Panama man come and gone long time now. It sweet that he write you but, my dear, it ain't real.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 1, Scene 5
Quotes
Esther: DON'T! This quilt is filled with my hard work, one hundred dollars for every year I been seated at that sewing machine. It's my beauty parlor. So you see I don't need Mr. Charles for his good job and position.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 2, Scene 5
Quotes
Mayme: The world changing and he wants big strong horses. He made me laugh. He promised to take me out someplace special, but I didn't have nothing nice to wear. And honestly it made me think about how long it been since I done something for myself. Gone someplace like you said, where a colored woman could go to put up her feet and get treated good for a change. And I see the dice rolling, and I think Lord, God, wouldn't a place like that be wonderful. But every time the dice roll, that place is a little further away. Until it all gone.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Intimate Apparel LitChart as a printable PDF.
The Crazy Quilt Symbol Timeline in Intimate Apparel
The timeline below shows where the symbol The Crazy Quilt appears in Intimate Apparel. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Act 1, Scene 4
Esther admits that she has some money saved in the lining of her crazy quilt . Mayme sighs that the quilt sounds wonderful to a poor woman, but Esther says...
(full context)
Act 1, Scene 5
...Esther, but Esther cuts her off and says that she has $1,800 saved in her crazy quilt to one day open her beauty parlor, so she doesn't need Mr. Charles. Mrs. Dickson...
(full context)
Act 2, Scene 1
Esther and George stand on either side of the bed that's covered in the crazy quilt , Esther in her wedding dress and George in his frayed suit. After a moment,...
(full context)
...George gets out of bed and dresses. Esther kneels on the bed, wrapped in her crazy quilt , and says that George is handsome. Esther gets up and Mayme and Mrs. Van...
(full context)
Act 2, Scene 2
Esther agrees to give George money, cuts into her crazy quilt , and pulls out two dollars. She asks why George needs to go out, and...
(full context)
Esther returns to her sewing as George feels the crazy quilt . She asks him to come to the social. She says she's never been and...
(full context)
...asks where he's going to get the money for the horses anyway. He strokes her crazy quilt , but Esther says that money isn't going anywhere: it's for her beauty parlor. George...
(full context)
Act 2, Scene 4
...just wants him to "lie down." Esther tells him to stop and George eyes the crazy quilt . She refuses to give him the money, saying that it's half of her life....
(full context)
...the truth and when he assures her he is, she breaks away, rips open her crazy quilt , and pulls out the money. She puts the cash in George's hands and seems...
(full context)
