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Braling Two
Mrs. Braling is Braling’s hateful, controlling wife. She forced Braling into marrying her by threatening him with a rape accusation (after the pair presumably had mutually consenting sex). Ten years later, she is still as controlling as ever. Even though Smith has been trying to get Braling to go out for a drink with him for ten years, Braling is only able to do so once he can distract Mrs. Braling with Braling Two. Mrs. Braling only appears in the final lines of the story. She is startled when “someone” (likely Braling Two) kisses her cheek while she is asleep, implying that the Bralings’ marriage has been affectionless and stale for years. When Braling Two turns against Braling by attempting to lock him up in the toolbox (and presumably let him die), Braling frantically asks the marionette if Mrs. Braling put him up to this. The fact that Braling would even consider that his wife was behind his impending murder suggests that the pair’s relationship is not just dysfunctional—it’s built on true hatred and contempt.
Mrs. Braling Quotes in Marionettes, Inc.
The Marionettes, Inc. quotes below are all either spoken by Mrs. Braling or refer to Mrs. Braling. 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:
).
“Marionettes, Inc.”
Quotes
“What did you do, put sleeping powder in your wife’s coffee?”
“No, that would be unethical.”
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“It may be splitting hairs, but I think it highly ethical. After all, what my wife wants most of all is me. This marionette is me to the hairiest detail. I’ve been home all evening. I shall be home with her for the next month. In the meantime another gentleman will be in Rio after ten years of waiting.”
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“Did my wife put you up to this?”
“No.”
“Did she guess? Did she talk to you? Does she know? Is that it?” […]
“You’ll never know, will you?” Braling Two smiled delicately. “You’ll never know.”
Braling struggled. “She must have guessed; she must have affected you!”
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Ten minutes later, Mrs. Braling awoke. She put her hand to her cheek. Someone had just kissed it. She shivered and looked up. “Why—you haven’t done that in years,” she murmured.
“We’ll see what we can do about that,” someone said.
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Mrs. Braling Quotes in Marionettes, Inc.
The Marionettes, Inc. quotes below are all either spoken by Mrs. Braling or refer to Mrs. Braling. 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:
).
“Marionettes, Inc.”
Quotes
“What did you do, put sleeping powder in your wife’s coffee?”
“No, that would be unethical.”
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Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
“It may be splitting hairs, but I think it highly ethical. After all, what my wife wants most of all is me. This marionette is me to the hairiest detail. I’ve been home all evening. I shall be home with her for the next month. In the meantime another gentleman will be in Rio after ten years of waiting.”
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“Did my wife put you up to this?”
“No.”
“Did she guess? Did she talk to you? Does she know? Is that it?” […]
“You’ll never know, will you?” Braling Two smiled delicately. “You’ll never know.”
Braling struggled. “She must have guessed; she must have affected you!”
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Explanation and Analysis:
Ten minutes later, Mrs. Braling awoke. She put her hand to her cheek. Someone had just kissed it. She shivered and looked up. “Why—you haven’t done that in years,” she murmured.
“We’ll see what we can do about that,” someone said.
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