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Meyer Gold
The director of the Golden Age, Sister Penny is a firm and competent nurse, managing not only the physical but also the social and emotional needs of the children in her care. It’s largely due to her influence that the children see the hospital as a cheerful “watering hole.” Sister Penny is at once ascetic–she lives in an austere room in the hospital and has very few material desires–and very sensual; she routinely takes lovers, an unconventional practice for a woman in the 1950s. Sister Penny’s lovers show her desire for human connection, but her refusal to marry any of them indicates the value she places on solitude and freedom. Ultimately, Sister Penny is most fulfilled by her work, which she views as a calling and an art, comparable to Ida’s vocation as a pianist. Although she has a comfortable relationship with her daughter, Elizabeth Ann, nursing feels more natural to Sister Penny than motherhood; this is an interesting sentiment in a novel that largely lionizes relationships between mothers and children, and shows that while motherhood is often the most fulfilling aspect of a character’s life, it by no means has to be.
Sister Penny Quotes in The Golden Age
The The Golden Age quotes below are all either spoken by Sister Penny or refer to Sister Penny. 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:
).
13. Meyer Walks Home
Quotes
She was vibrant with life and yet she was solitary. Unburdened by domesticity. She was brave, even audacious. Kept her disappointments in their place. How had a woman like that come to live alone?
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15. Christmas
Quotes
She was startled by Ida’s ease and precision. Her concentration, her accuracy, reminded Olive of the skills that were her personal exultation, of a good surgeon at work, or nurses laying out a body. Her own deftness and judgment.
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28. The Hunch
Quotes
He had an image suddenly of sitting with her at a table in one of the little cafes overlooking Lake Balaton […] around it, brothers, their girlfriends, guests from Budapest. The peace of couples who have been swimming and then taken a siesta together in the afternoon […] such a capacity she had for living. A purity about her, as engrossed in life as an insect going about its tasks, embedded in all that is natural.
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Get the entire The Golden Age LitChart as a printable PDF.
Sister Penny Quotes in The Golden Age
The The Golden Age quotes below are all either spoken by Sister Penny or refer to Sister Penny. 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:
).
13. Meyer Walks Home
Quotes
She was vibrant with life and yet she was solitary. Unburdened by domesticity. She was brave, even audacious. Kept her disappointments in their place. How had a woman like that come to live alone?
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
15. Christmas
Quotes
She was startled by Ida’s ease and precision. Her concentration, her accuracy, reminded Olive of the skills that were her personal exultation, of a good surgeon at work, or nurses laying out a body. Her own deftness and judgment.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
28. The Hunch
Quotes
He had an image suddenly of sitting with her at a table in one of the little cafes overlooking Lake Balaton […] around it, brothers, their girlfriends, guests from Budapest. The peace of couples who have been swimming and then taken a siesta together in the afternoon […] such a capacity she had for living. A purity about her, as engrossed in life as an insect going about its tasks, embedded in all that is natural.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
