Maud Martha: Analysis of Major Characters
"Maud Martha" is a nuanced exploration of identity and societal expectations, centered around the experiences of its protagonist, Maud Martha Brown Phillips. Growing up in a modest Chicago neighborhood, Maud grapples with feelings of ordinariness and a longing for a more exciting life, particularly influenced by her aspirations for love and validation. Her family dynamics play a crucial role; her mother, Belva, is both nurturing and critical, while her sister, Helen, embodies conventional beauty and societal approval, often overshadowing Maud.
Maud's marriage to Paul Phillips reveals the challenges of her aspirations versus the reality of her life, as Paul struggles with his own superficial desires and societal pressures. Their relationship is marked by a lack of emotional connection, leaving Maud feeling isolated in her dreams and disappointments. The presence of their daughter, Paulette, brings a glimmer of hope, allowing Maud to confront her internal struggles.
The characters in "Maud Martha" serve as a reflection of the complexities of familial relationships, societal expectations, and personal identity, inviting readers to consider the nuanced interplay between ambition and acceptance in the context of early 20th-century African American life.
Maud Martha: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Gwendolyn Brooks
First published: 1953
Genre: Novel
Locale: The South Side of Chicago, Illinois
Plot: Psychological realism
Time: The 1920's to the 1940's
Maud Martha Brown Phillips, the protagonist. She is the daughter of Belva and Abraham Brown, reared with her older sister Helen and brother Harry in Cottage Grove, a neighborhood on Chicago's South Side. She is first seen at the age of seven. Maud perceives herself as ordinary and not beautiful, with her dark coloring and nappy hair. She desires to be cherished and dreams of an exciting life in New York City. Helen warns her to stop reading books if she ever wants to get a boyfriend. Maud Martha eventually marries Paul Phillips and moves to a dingy kitchenette apartment on the third floor of a graystone building. There they read together. She loses herself in Of Human Bondage while he falls asleep with Sex in the Married Life. After the birth of their daughter Paulette, Maud settles for a life that is clearly less than she had hoped for, in a listless marriage and living in a shabby apartment in a quirky neighborhood, but she remains determined to survive life's indignities.
Paul Phillips, a grocery clerk, Maud's insensitive husband. He is interested in her at first because she is an incorruptible virgin. He cannot concede defeat so “allows” Maud to steal him away from the city's nightlife, beautiful “high yellow” (light-skinned) women, fancy clothes, and impressive cars. He retains his obsession with the social whirl, however, cultivating an invitation to the Foxy Cats Club Ball and barely hiding his desire to leave his wife at home. After his efforts at social climbing fail, he makes little attempt to be a good husband. Lacking the sensitivity and patience to respect Maud's fondness for family holiday celebrations, he makes her put their daughter to bed and invites his beer-drinking friends over for Christmas.
Belva Brown, Maud's fussy and domineering mother. She is alternately kind and harsh with her daughter. Although she provides a solid home for her three children, never forgetting a birthday and making each holiday a special memory, she is a thorn in Maud's side, almost fainting at the birth of her first grandchild and unfavorably comparing Maud to Helen even after they are grown.
Helen Brown, Maud's older and prettier sister. Despite being less intelligent than her sister, Helen is the family's favorite. She scolds Maud for losing herself in books. Seldom sympathetic to others, she hates the “hulk of rotten wood” they call home and uses her beauty to marry a doctor, whom she does not love but who can give her a different and more comfortable life.
Abraham Brown, Maud's father, who has worked as a janitor all his life. He loves his old house and worries constantly about Helen's well-being, never realizing how hurt and slighted Maud feels.
David McKemster, Maud's former boyfriend. He aspires to leave his humble neighborhood to go to the university. After Maud is married, she accidentally meets him at a lecture, but he is cool to her when he spots his white intellectual friends from college.
Paulette Phillips, Maud and Paul's daughter. Her innocent child's voice finally enables Maud to face and break the silence she has constructed for herself.