Middlesex

by

Jeffrey Eugenides

Theodora “Tessie” Stephanides Character Analysis

Theodora (who starts going by “Tessie” as a teenager) is Milton’s wife and cousin, Cal and Chapter Eleven’s mother, and Sourmelina and Jimmy’s only child. She is a quiet, conventional, and dutiful person, which Cal explains was a result of her rebelling against her loud, nonconformist mother. She is very short, slender, and beautiful, and Cal describes her as more American-looking than either Sourmelina or Cal himself. Tessie is briefly engaged to Michael Antoniou, who is by far the more sensible choice for a future husband, but ultimately can’t deny her feelings for her cousin Milton, and marries him instead. Although Milton and Tessie’ relationship is at times conflict-prone, they clearly love each other. Tessie is also a loving and caring mother, though her prudishness around bodies and sex means that she is not very helpful to Callie while Callie is going through puberty. After Milton’s death, Tessie moves with her cousin Zoë to New Smyrna Beach in Florida.

Theodora “Tessie” Stephanides Quotes in Middlesex

The Middlesex quotes below are all either spoken by Theodora “Tessie” Stephanides or refer to Theodora “Tessie” Stephanides. 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:
Rebirth vs. Continuity Theme Icon
).
Book 1: The Silver Spoon Quotes

Sing now, O Muse, of the recessive mutation on my fifth chromosome! Sing how it bloomed two and a half centuries ago on the slopes of Mount Olympus, while the goats bleated and the olives dropped. Sing how it passed down through nine generations, gathering invisibly within the polluted pool of the Stephanides family. And sing how Providence, in the guise of a massacre, sent the gene flying again; how it blew like a seed across the sea to America, where it drifted through our industrial rains until it fell to earth in the fertile soil of my mother’s own midwestern womb.

Sorry if I get a little Homeric at times. That’s genetic, too.

Related Characters: Cal/lie Stephanides (speaker), Theodora “Tessie” Stephanides
Related Symbols: The Recessive Gene
Page Number: 4
Explanation and Analysis:
Book 2: Clarinet Serenade Quotes

If Sourmelina had always been a European kind of American, a sort of Marlene Dietrich, then Tessie was the fully Americanized daughter Dietrich might have had. Her mainstream, even countrified, looks extended to the slight gap between her teeth and her turned-up nose. Traits often skip a generation. I look much more typically Greek than my mother does.

Related Characters: Cal/lie Stephanides (speaker), Theodora “Tessie” Stephanides, Sourmelina Zizmo
Page Number: 174
Explanation and Analysis:
Book 3: Opa! Quotes

“The matter with us is you.” How many times did I hear that growing up? Delivered by Milton in his so-called black accent, delivered whenever any liberal pundit talked about the “culturally deprived” or the “underclass” or “empowerment zones,” spoken out of the belief that this one statement, having been delivered to him while the blacks themselves burned down a significant portion of our beloved city, proved its own absurdity. As the years went on, Milton used it as a shield against any opinions to the contrary, and finally it grew into a kind of mantra, the explanation for why the world was going to hell, applicable not only to African Americans but to feminists and homosexuals; and then of course he liked to use it on us, whenever we were late for dinner or wore clothes Tessie didn’t approve of.

Related Characters: Cal/lie Stephanides (speaker), Milton (Militadies) Stephanides (speaker), Theodora “Tessie” Stephanides
Page Number: 246
Explanation and Analysis:
Book 4: Looking Myself Up in Webster’s Quotes

In addition, the subject has been raised in the Greek Orthodox tradition, with its strongly sex-defined roles. In general the parents seem assimilationist and very “all-American” in their outlook, but the presence of this deeper ethnic identity should not be overlooked.

Related Characters: Dr. Luce (speaker), Cal/lie Stephanides, Milton (Militadies) Stephanides, Theodora “Tessie” Stephanides
Page Number: 436
Explanation and Analysis:
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Theodora “Tessie” Stephanides Quotes in Middlesex

The Middlesex quotes below are all either spoken by Theodora “Tessie” Stephanides or refer to Theodora “Tessie” Stephanides. 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:
Rebirth vs. Continuity Theme Icon
).
Book 1: The Silver Spoon Quotes

Sing now, O Muse, of the recessive mutation on my fifth chromosome! Sing how it bloomed two and a half centuries ago on the slopes of Mount Olympus, while the goats bleated and the olives dropped. Sing how it passed down through nine generations, gathering invisibly within the polluted pool of the Stephanides family. And sing how Providence, in the guise of a massacre, sent the gene flying again; how it blew like a seed across the sea to America, where it drifted through our industrial rains until it fell to earth in the fertile soil of my mother’s own midwestern womb.

Sorry if I get a little Homeric at times. That’s genetic, too.

Related Characters: Cal/lie Stephanides (speaker), Theodora “Tessie” Stephanides
Related Symbols: The Recessive Gene
Page Number: 4
Explanation and Analysis:
Book 2: Clarinet Serenade Quotes

If Sourmelina had always been a European kind of American, a sort of Marlene Dietrich, then Tessie was the fully Americanized daughter Dietrich might have had. Her mainstream, even countrified, looks extended to the slight gap between her teeth and her turned-up nose. Traits often skip a generation. I look much more typically Greek than my mother does.

Related Characters: Cal/lie Stephanides (speaker), Theodora “Tessie” Stephanides, Sourmelina Zizmo
Page Number: 174
Explanation and Analysis:
Book 3: Opa! Quotes

“The matter with us is you.” How many times did I hear that growing up? Delivered by Milton in his so-called black accent, delivered whenever any liberal pundit talked about the “culturally deprived” or the “underclass” or “empowerment zones,” spoken out of the belief that this one statement, having been delivered to him while the blacks themselves burned down a significant portion of our beloved city, proved its own absurdity. As the years went on, Milton used it as a shield against any opinions to the contrary, and finally it grew into a kind of mantra, the explanation for why the world was going to hell, applicable not only to African Americans but to feminists and homosexuals; and then of course he liked to use it on us, whenever we were late for dinner or wore clothes Tessie didn’t approve of.

Related Characters: Cal/lie Stephanides (speaker), Milton (Militadies) Stephanides (speaker), Theodora “Tessie” Stephanides
Page Number: 246
Explanation and Analysis:
Book 4: Looking Myself Up in Webster’s Quotes

In addition, the subject has been raised in the Greek Orthodox tradition, with its strongly sex-defined roles. In general the parents seem assimilationist and very “all-American” in their outlook, but the presence of this deeper ethnic identity should not be overlooked.

Related Characters: Dr. Luce (speaker), Cal/lie Stephanides, Milton (Militadies) Stephanides, Theodora “Tessie” Stephanides
Page Number: 436
Explanation and Analysis: