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Helen’s Mother
Helen’s secret lover, whom she meets in a speakeasy shortly after giving birth to George’s child. When Helen’s coworker, the telephone girl, takes her to the speakeasy, the two young lovers quickly make a connection. After the telephone girl and her own lover, Mr. Smith, depart, Mr. Roe tells Helen that he was once taken hostage by several Mexican bandits. In order to escape, he explains, he got them drunk, filled a bottle with stones, and clubbed them to death. Though this story frightens Helen, it also seems to excite her, and Mr. Roe’s rugged but affectionate personality entices her, inviting her to ignore her inhibitions. Before taking Helen to his apartment, he tells her about his life as a traveller, waxing poetic about freedom, and though it quickly becomes clear Mr. Roe is a ladies’ man primarily interested in having a casual relationship, Helen falls fully in love with him, returning to his apartment on a regular basis after their first meeting. Unfortunately for her, he appears far less committed to their relationship, which he makes clear by cooperating with the prosecuting lawyers in their effort to prove that Helen murdered George.
Mr. Roe Quotes in Machinal
The Machinal quotes below are all either spoken by Mr. Roe or refer to Mr. Roe. 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:
).
Episode 6: Intimate
Quotes
She comes into the light. She wears a white chemise that might be the tunic of a dancer, and as she comes into the light she fastens about her waist a little skirt. She really wears almost exactly the clothes that women wear now, but the finesse of their cut, and the grace and ease with which she puts them on, must turn this episode of her dressing into a personification, an idealization of a woman clothing herself. All her gestures must be unconscious, innocent, relaxed, sure and full of natural grace. As she sits facing the window pulling on a stocking.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Machinal LitChart as a printable PDF.
Mr. Roe Quotes in Machinal
The Machinal quotes below are all either spoken by Mr. Roe or refer to Mr. Roe. 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:
).
Episode 6: Intimate
Quotes
She comes into the light. She wears a white chemise that might be the tunic of a dancer, and as she comes into the light she fastens about her waist a little skirt. She really wears almost exactly the clothes that women wear now, but the finesse of their cut, and the grace and ease with which she puts them on, must turn this episode of her dressing into a personification, an idealization of a woman clothing herself. All her gestures must be unconscious, innocent, relaxed, sure and full of natural grace. As she sits facing the window pulling on a stocking.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
