Maggie: A Girl of the Streets

Mikaila Garfinkel
English 48B
2/10/09
Stephen Crane

"His mother's great chest was heaving painfully. Jimmie paused and looked down at her. Her face was inflamed and swollen from drinking...Her mouth was set in the same lines of vindictive hatred that it had, perhaps, borne during the fight."

This quote is, rather obviously, describing Maggie's mother, Mary, after getting into a drunken fight with her husband, what appears to not be an uncommon occurrence. The scene is told, though from third person, implied through the eyes of Jimmie, and depicts Mary for what she really is, and how she is really seen. She is illustrated as not only a "stereotypical" poor Irish woman, with the poor home, unhealthy children and heavy drinking problem, but also as a woman that is in a lot of pain. Her eyes are described as "grown blue" and she has "tangled hair tossed in waves over her forehead". All these descriptions depict Mary as someone that is not only, "evil", but as a generally unhappy person, that doesn't even try to take care of herself. The pain in the chest can be "seen" by the narrator, so it is intended to convey that she is holding a lot of resentment and hatred (hence the mouth) inside of her. Mary's hatred, usually geared towards Maggie, could be thought of as jealousy, for Maggie is pretty and kind, unlike most "Rum Alley" kids (although by the end of the story, Maggie has completely changed). It is ironic that Mary finds Maggie evil, when Mary herself embodies most of the demonic qualities.


The quote stuck out to me, because it brought my attention to the fact that Mary was a raging alcoholic. While it is well-known that this was not uncommon for Irish immigrants, and the thus the birth of the stereotype, it was the first story I can recall that depicts a woman as an alcoholic. Many Irish authors, such as Frank McCourt, include male, or father figure, alcoholics (although in McCourt's case, it was factual since it was a memoir). While I was always aware that there were woman alcoholics, I think Crane chose a female figure for this role with great intention. I think he wanted to show the reader that the slums he was trying to depict included all sorts of people, including mothers. With a female antagonist, he is showing that all immigrants are effected by the downsides of the Irish immigration that occured, and flooded the streets with poverty and hard liquor. This is not the only time he chooses to defy the steretype, for he also make Jimmie very anti-relgious. While it is apparent, that many of these Catholics have sinned, they are still shown as "believers", such as Mary being against premarital sex. Jimmie being against religion is Crane's way of showing the reader that there are deviations from the "normal" or Irish stereotypes. Even if these deviations are negative, it is still a step towards going against the norm, perhaps a hint of optimism from Crane coming through.