The Talented Mr. Ripley

by

Patricia Highsmith

An expat, writer, and resident of Mongibello, Marge Sherwood is Dickie’s on-and-off romantic interest and Tom’s major rival for Dickie’s affections. Marge is creative and kind, but hopelessly lovesick for Dickie, and she often allows herself to be treated unfairly at his hands. When she senses an attachment between Tom and Dickie, she reveals her suspicions about Tom to Dickie, which creates a rift between the two men and leads Tom to resent Marge. After Tom murders Dickie, he returns to Mongibello and writes to Marge as Dickie, describing his need to distance himself from her so that he can ascertain how he really feels about her. As Marge and Tom correspond throughout the novel—with Tom alternately writing to her as Dickie and as himself—the text reveals Marge to be a sharp and rightly defensive woman whose strong moral compass and sure sense of intuition fall on deaf (or dead) ears.

Marjorie “Marge” Sherwood Quotes in The Talented Mr. Ripley

The The Talented Mr. Ripley quotes below are all either spoken by Marjorie “Marge” Sherwood or refer to Marjorie “Marge” Sherwood. 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:
Obsession, Identity, and Imitation Theme Icon
).
Chapter 9 Quotes

“And these—a lot of landscapes,” Dickie said with a deprecatory laugh, though obviously he wanted Tom to say something complimentary about them, because obviously he was proud of them. They were all wild and hasty and monotonously similar. “My surrealist effort,” Dickie said, bracing another canvas against his knee. Tom winced with almost a personal shame. It was Marge, undoubtedly, though with long snakelike hair, and worst of all two horizons in her eyes, with a miniature landscape of Mongibello’s houses and mountains in one eye, and the beach in the other full of little red people. “Yes, I like that,” Tom said. It gave Dickie something to do, just as it gave thousands of lousy amateur painters all over something to do. He was sorry that Dickie fell into this category as a painter, because he wanted Dickie to be much more.

Related Characters: Tom Ripley (speaker), Richard “Dickie” Greenleaf (speaker), Marjorie “Marge” Sherwood, Herbert Greenleaf, Emily Greenleaf
Page Number: 58
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 10 Quotes

He suddenly felt that Dickie was embracing her, or at least touching her, at this minute, and partly he wanted to see it, and partly he loathed the idea of seeing it. He turned and walked back to Marge’s gate. Tom stopped as Marge’s window came into view: Dickie’s arm was around her waist. Dickie was kissing her. Marge’s face was tipped up to Dickie’s, and what disgusted Tom was that he knew Dickie didn’t mean it. What disgusted him was the big bulge of her behind in the peasant skirt below Dickie’s arm that circled her waist. Tom turned away and ran down the steps, wanting to scream.

Related Characters: Tom Ripley, Richard “Dickie” Greenleaf, Marjorie “Marge” Sherwood
Related Symbols: Marge’s Underthings
Page Number: 74
Explanation and Analysis:
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Marjorie “Marge” Sherwood Quotes in The Talented Mr. Ripley

The The Talented Mr. Ripley quotes below are all either spoken by Marjorie “Marge” Sherwood or refer to Marjorie “Marge” Sherwood. 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:
Obsession, Identity, and Imitation Theme Icon
).
Chapter 9 Quotes

“And these—a lot of landscapes,” Dickie said with a deprecatory laugh, though obviously he wanted Tom to say something complimentary about them, because obviously he was proud of them. They were all wild and hasty and monotonously similar. “My surrealist effort,” Dickie said, bracing another canvas against his knee. Tom winced with almost a personal shame. It was Marge, undoubtedly, though with long snakelike hair, and worst of all two horizons in her eyes, with a miniature landscape of Mongibello’s houses and mountains in one eye, and the beach in the other full of little red people. “Yes, I like that,” Tom said. It gave Dickie something to do, just as it gave thousands of lousy amateur painters all over something to do. He was sorry that Dickie fell into this category as a painter, because he wanted Dickie to be much more.

Related Characters: Tom Ripley (speaker), Richard “Dickie” Greenleaf (speaker), Marjorie “Marge” Sherwood, Herbert Greenleaf, Emily Greenleaf
Page Number: 58
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 10 Quotes

He suddenly felt that Dickie was embracing her, or at least touching her, at this minute, and partly he wanted to see it, and partly he loathed the idea of seeing it. He turned and walked back to Marge’s gate. Tom stopped as Marge’s window came into view: Dickie’s arm was around her waist. Dickie was kissing her. Marge’s face was tipped up to Dickie’s, and what disgusted Tom was that he knew Dickie didn’t mean it. What disgusted him was the big bulge of her behind in the peasant skirt below Dickie’s arm that circled her waist. Tom turned away and ran down the steps, wanting to scream.

Related Characters: Tom Ripley, Richard “Dickie” Greenleaf, Marjorie “Marge” Sherwood
Related Symbols: Marge’s Underthings
Page Number: 74
Explanation and Analysis: