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Tommy
Richard is Molly’s ex-husband, Marion’s current husband, and Tommy’s father. He is an arrogant, impatient, power-hungry, and well-respected businessman who looks down on Anna and Molly for their left-wing political beliefs (even though he met Molly during a brief socialist phase of his own in the 1930s) and their indifference to marriage and work. He tries to control the lives of everyone in his family, especially Tommy, whom he tries to dissuade from writing and encourage to enter the business world. Richard cheats constantly and openly on Marion with a series of seemingly interchangeable younger mistresses who are often one his secretaries—he even tries to sleep with Anna and, after she refuses, becomes even more furious and aggressive toward her whenever she dismisses his attempts to control his family. At the end of Free Women, he amicably divorces Marion and moves his new mistress into his house. He scarcely appears in the notebooks, but when he does, he appears to have three daughters rather than three sons, as in Free Women. He represents not only the prototypical bumbling, cheating husband but also the classic conservative businessman, who feeds the cycle of accelerating social inequality under capitalism by prioritizing profit above people, happiness, and character.
Richard Portmain Quotes in The Golden Notebook
The The Golden Notebook quotes below are all either spoken by Richard Portmain or refer to Richard Portmain. 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:
).
Free Women: 2
Quotes
“It seems to me like this. It’s not a terrible thing — I mean, it may be terrible, but it’s not damaging, it’s not poisoning, to do without something one wants. It’s not bad to say: My work is not what I really want, I’m capable of doing something bigger. Or I’m a person who needs love, and I’m doing without it. What’s terrible is to pretend that the second-rate is first-rate. To pretend that you don’t need love when you do; or you like your work when you know quite well you’re capable of better. It would be very bad if I said, out of guilt or something: I loved Janet’s father, when I know quite well I didn’t. Or for your mother to say: I loved Richard. Or I’m doing work I love …”
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Get the entire The Golden Notebook LitChart as a printable PDF.
Richard Portmain Quotes in The Golden Notebook
The The Golden Notebook quotes below are all either spoken by Richard Portmain or refer to Richard Portmain. 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:
).
Free Women: 2
Quotes
“It seems to me like this. It’s not a terrible thing — I mean, it may be terrible, but it’s not damaging, it’s not poisoning, to do without something one wants. It’s not bad to say: My work is not what I really want, I’m capable of doing something bigger. Or I’m a person who needs love, and I’m doing without it. What’s terrible is to pretend that the second-rate is first-rate. To pretend that you don’t need love when you do; or you like your work when you know quite well you’re capable of better. It would be very bad if I said, out of guilt or something: I loved Janet’s father, when I know quite well I didn’t. Or for your mother to say: I loved Richard. Or I’m doing work I love …”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
