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As a wedding gift for George, Esther sews a smoking jacket—a lavish, tuxedo-style jacket intended to be worn after dinner while men smoked—made with beautiful, hand-painted silk she bought from Mr. Marks. The jacket, even before it’s made, comes to represent the many different forms of intimacy between men and women that the play explores. Esther buys the fabric to begin with because Mr. Marks tells her a compelling story about the Japanese artist who created it for Japanese royalty; Esther hopes to pass along this sense of intimacy to George by giving him the jacket and sharing the fabric's story. George's dismissiveness and lack of appreciation for the gift, however, encapsulates how dismissive he is of Esther. Just as he neglects her and abuses her trust, he carelessly gives away the smoking jacket to Mayme. When Mr. Marks agrees to accept the smoking jacket from Esther and allows her to straighten it on him, it suggests that intimacy can only emerge when people trust each other and regard the other sensitively and positively.
The Smoking Jacket Quotes in Intimate Apparel
The Intimate Apparel quotes below all refer to the symbol of The Smoking Jacket. 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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Act 2, Scene 1
Quotes
George: What is it?
Esther: It's Japanese silk. Put it on. (George clumsily pulls the smoking jacket around his muscular body. He clearly isn't comfortable with the delicacy of the garment.) Careful. (George explores the jacket with his weather-worn fingers.) It ain't too small?
George: Nah. But I afraid, I soil it. (George removes the jacket and tosses it on the bed.)
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Act 2, Scene 4
Quotes
Esther: How you know she ain't a good person? And he just saying what you want to hear. That his words are a smooth tonic to make you give out what ain't free. How you know his wife ain't good?
Mayme: I don't know. But do it matter?
Esther: Yeah it do. You ever think about where they go after they leave here? Who washes their britches after they been soiled in your bed?
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The Smoking Jacket Symbol Timeline in Intimate Apparel
The timeline below shows where the symbol The Smoking Jacket appears in Intimate Apparel. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Act 1, Scene 3
...the cost. Esther says that she could make a shawl, and Mr. Marks suggests a smoking jacket for Esther's gentleman. Esther shyly brushes this suggestion aside.
(full context)
Act 2, Scene 1
Esther quickly stands up to fetch the smoking jacket , which she made for George as a wedding gift. She helps him put it...
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Act 2, Scene 4
...Esther and then excitedly pulls out the gift that this man recently gave her: the smoking jacket that Esther made. Esther is shocked and says that the man must like her a...
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Act 2, Scene 5
Mayme lounges in bed, wrapped in the smoking jacket . Someone knocks at the door and Mayme opens it. She's surprised to find Esther...
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...home. She asks if Mayme knows where George is, and says that she's wearing the smoking jacket that Esther made George. Mayme rips off the jacket and asks why Esther never said...
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...stop George, and Mayme says that George belongs to her too. She hands over the smoking jacket and Esther says that she's just a foolish girl from the country. Mayme insists this...
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...knocks for a while longer and finally stops. Mayme sits and Esther leaves with the smoking jacket .
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Act 2, Scene 6
...silk he sold her some months ago. She says that she made it into a smoking jacket , per his suggestion, and she wants him to have it. She insists, and Mr....
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