W12 Close Reading of Tales of the City
At this point in the story, Maupin is still doing character development and introductions. We learned about many characters, but he slowly introduces them in more detail as time goes on and how each of their lives intertwine. This chapter discusses “Mrs.Madrigal,” Mary Ann’s landlady in San Francisco. We already have been introduced to her neighbor and friend, and a few male protagonist, and we only met her landlady briefly. The dinner is a chance for Maupin to show us the true personality of Mrs.Madrigal.
Mrs.Madigral is friendly but eccentric character as was introduced earlier, with her welcoming Mary Ann into the apartment family. Here she invited Mary Ann to dinner to get to know her. From just a few lines, we can understand a bit more of her. Mrs.Madigral is not that of a typical “hippy” or even “stoner,” and Maupin paints her in an elegant light, especially based on how she dresses. Her clothes tend to be very free floating every time, and this is no exception to that. Not only is she freely elegant, gazpacho and stuffed mushrooms also add onto that, as they tend to be more nicer dining in the area. However, she offers joints with every visit to all her tenets, so at the same time she tends to be down to earth I suppose.
Mrs.Madrigal may only have had a minimal role so far, but she has an impact on the reader as being a rememberable character. Some of the other characters slip away or get a more casual appearance, but I felt that Mrs.Madrigal gets extra “emphasis” from Maupin in his writing to give intrigue.
“Mrs. Madrigal looked almost elegant in black satin pajamas and a matching cloche.
‘Ah, Mary Ann. I’m grinding the gazpacho. Help yourself to the hors d’oeuvres. I’ll be right back in two shakes of a lamb’s tail.’
The “hors d’oeuvres” were arranged symmetrically on two plates. One held several dozen stuffed mushrooms. The other, half a dozen joints.”
Armistead Maupin, Tales of the City, “The Landlady’s Dinner.” Pg.46.
Mrs.Madigral is friendly but eccentric character as was introduced earlier, with her welcoming Mary Ann into the apartment family. Here she invited Mary Ann to dinner to get to know her. From just a few lines, we can understand a bit more of her. Mrs.Madigral is not that of a typical “hippy” or even “stoner,” and Maupin paints her in an elegant light, especially based on how she dresses. Her clothes tend to be very free floating every time, and this is no exception to that. Not only is she freely elegant, gazpacho and stuffed mushrooms also add onto that, as they tend to be more nicer dining in the area. However, she offers joints with every visit to all her tenets, so at the same time she tends to be down to earth I suppose.
Mrs.Madrigal may only have had a minimal role so far, but she has an impact on the reader as being a rememberable character. Some of the other characters slip away or get a more casual appearance, but I felt that Mrs.Madrigal gets extra “emphasis” from Maupin in his writing to give intrigue.
“Mrs. Madrigal looked almost elegant in black satin pajamas and a matching cloche.
‘Ah, Mary Ann. I’m grinding the gazpacho. Help yourself to the hors d’oeuvres. I’ll be right back in two shakes of a lamb’s tail.’
The “hors d’oeuvres” were arranged symmetrically on two plates. One held several dozen stuffed mushrooms. The other, half a dozen joints.”
Armistead Maupin, Tales of the City, “The Landlady’s Dinner.” Pg.46.
I like how relaxed this book sounds, they freely describe drugs casually which was I guess popular for the character because she lives in San Francisco. I like that it shows how that perspective of tolerance and acceptance has stayed the same in California, and if anything it has spread from here. The author clearly has spent some time in the Bay Area..
ReplyDeleteI really like how you were able to go into detail about the characters for your analysis. Perhaps some in text citations and quotes can hieten that information. I wish also that you provided more information on how this small section plays a big role in the "bigger picture" of the story. How does her description of her personality shine through in the rest of the chapter or book?
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