Miss Lucy Character Analysis in Sweet Bird of Youth

Boss Finley’s mistress, who lives on his dime at the Royal Palms Hotel. Whenever Tom Junior or Heavenly bring up Miss Lucy to their father, he pretends he doesn’t know who they’re talking about, since his affair with her began before his wife died. Try as he might to deny that he knows her, he ends up hearing that she recently wrote “Boss Finley is too old to cut the mustard” on a bathroom mirror. Because of this, he pretends to give her a beautiful diamond clip, but then snaps the jewel box on her fingers right when she’s about to take it out, saying, “Now go downstairs to the cocktail lounge and go in the ladies’ room and describe this diamond clip with lipstick on the ladies’ room mirror down there.” To get her own revenge, Miss Lucy helps the heckler sneak into a Youth for Tom Finley event at the Royal Palms Hotel.

Miss Lucy Character Timeline in Sweet Bird of Youth

The timeline below shows where the character Miss Lucy appears in Sweet Bird of Youth. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...like drunk driving. Insulted, Tom Junior brings up his father’s “well-known promiscuity” with his mistress, Miss Lucy . “Who is Miss Lucy?” Boss Finley says, playing dumb. “Who is Miss Lucy?” Tom... (full context)

Love, Obsession, and Pleasure Theme Icon

Boss Finley denies Miss Lucy ’s existence until Tom Junior tells him that she recently wrote “Boss Finley is too... (full context)

...nothing, nobody, nowhere is gonna stop me, never.” Saying this, he leaves to go see Miss Lucy . (full context)

Stuff, the bartender in the cocktail lounge of the Royal Palms Hotel, greets Miss Lucy , who sits down at the bar and tells him that she has just seen... (full context)

Stuff and Miss Lucy pause for a moment to observe a tall man with a bandage on his forehead... (full context)

...get into the ballroom without a suit jacket—and wanting to get revenge on Boss Finley— Miss Lucy finds a jacket behind the bar and gives it to him, instructing him to sit... (full context)

...doesn’t mind getting “snubbed” because he has “snubbed” people himself many times. He then sees Miss Lucy walking through the lounge. She comes over and tussles his hair, which he tells her... (full context)

Chance is embarrassed by the information Miss Lucy and Stuff have broadcast about his life, and he denies their claims, saying somebody must... (full context)

Changing the subject, Miss Lucy asks Chance to tell her whom he’s traveling with. “Miss Lucy I’m traveling with the... (full context)

Once again, Miss Lucy tries to persuade Chance to leave, but their conversation is interrupted when the Princess enters... (full context)

...the crowd enters the ballroom followed by Boss Finley, Tom Junior, and Heavenly. Just then, Miss Lucy rushes into the lounge and tells the heckler to wait to strike until the lights... (full context)

Boss Finley spews racist vitriol as Miss Lucy turns down the volume on the TV in the lounge. “I can’t and will not... (full context)