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Alan (Marianne’s Brother)
Denise is Marianne’s mother. A widow, she’s rich and successful but emotionally removed from her role as a mother. She’s rarely home, and when she is, she tends to unfairly criticize Marianne. She also purposefully overlooks Alan’s abusive behavior toward Marianne and even treats Marianne in some abusive, manipulative ways herself.
Denise (Marianne’s Mother) Quotes in Normal People
The Normal People quotes below are all either spoken by Denise (Marianne’s Mother) or refer to Denise (Marianne’s Mother). 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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11. Six Weeks Later (September 2012)
Quotes
He could just tell her about the situation and ask if he could stay in her place until September. He knew she would say yes. He thought she would say yes, it was hard to imagine her not saying yes. But he found himself putting off the conversation, putting off Niall’s enquiries about it, planning to bring it up with her and then at the last minute failing to. It just felt too much like asking her for money. He and Marianne never talked about money. They had never talked, for example, about the fact that her mother paid his mother money to scrub their floors and hang their laundry, or about the fact that this money circulated indirectly to Connell, who spent it, as often as not, on Marianne. He hated having to think about things like that. He knew Marianne never thought that way. She bought him things all the time, dinner, theatre tickets, things she would pay for and then instantly, permanently, forget about.
Related Characters:
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Explanation and Analysis:
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Denise (Marianne’s Mother) Character Timeline in Normal People
The timeline below shows where the character Denise (Marianne’s Mother) appears in Normal People. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
4. Six Weeks Later (April 2011)
...aback: of course he wouldn’t. Marianne then reveals that her father used to hit her mother and even used to hit her sometimes, too. Connell is quiet for a long time....
(full context)
5. Two Days Later (April 2011)
Lorraine asked if Connell is hesitant to call Marianne his girlfriend because he’s afraid that Denise—Marianne’s mother—would look down on him. Connell was caught off guard, but Lorraine admitted that Denise...
(full context)
6. Four Months Later (August 2011)
...on one of his knuckles as Marianne speaks. But before he can do anything, their mother comes home.
(full context)
Alan tells Marianne not to say anything about their interaction to their mother. She immediately agrees. It’s not as if Denise would do anything anyway—she apparently decided a...
(full context)
12. Four Months Later (January 2013)
...the arm, whirled her around, and spit in her face. Then, on Christmas day, her mother gave her $500 and said she was worried about her future—life isn’t like it is...
(full context)
