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MacGregor
Jessie is Max’s late wife and mother to Teddy, Lenny, and Joey. Max speaks fondly or derisively of Jessie depending on his mood. Though at times he praises her wit and strength, he uses crude, misogynistic language to disparage her in moments when he feels threatened in his masculinity. At the end of the play, Sam shockingly claims to have witnessed Jessie having sex with MacGregor, an old family friend—which in turn suggests that MacGregor, not Max, could be the father of at least one of Jessie’s sons.
Jessie Quotes in The Homecoming
The The Homecoming quotes below are all either spoken by Jessie or refer to Jessie. 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:
).
Act 1
Quotes
TEDDY. What do you think of the room? Big, isn’t it? It’s a big house. I mean, it’s a fine room, don’t you think? Actually there was a wall, across there…with a door. We knocked it down…years ago…to make an open living area. The structure wasn’t affected, you see. My mother was dead.
RUTH sits.
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LENNY. I’ll tell you what, Dad, since you’re in the mood for a bit of a…chat, I’ll ask you a question. It’s a question I’ve been meaning to ask you for some time. That night…you know…the night you got me…that night with Mum, what was it like? Eh? When I was just a glint in your eye. What was it like? What was the background to it? I mean, I want to know the real facts about my background. I mean, for instance, is it a fact that you had me in mind all the time, or is it a fact that I was the last thing you had in mind?
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MAX. Who’s this?
TEDDY. I was just going to introduce you.
MAX. Who asked you to bring tarts in here?
TEDDY. Tarts?
MAX. Who asked you to bring dirty tarts into this house?
TEDDY. Listen, don’t be silly—
MAX. You been here all night?
TEDDY. Yes, we arrived from Venice—
MAX. We’ve had a smelly scrubber in my house all night. We’ve had a stinking pox-ridden slut in my house all night.
TEDDY. Stop it! What are you talking about?
MAX. I haven’t seen the bitch for six years, he comes home without a word, he brings a filthy scrubber off the street, he shacks up in my house!
TEDDY. She’s my wife! We’re married!
Pause.
MAX. I’ve never had a whore under this roof before. Ever since your mother died. My word of honour. […]
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Get the entire The Homecoming LitChart as a printable PDF.
Jessie Quotes in The Homecoming
The The Homecoming quotes below are all either spoken by Jessie or refer to Jessie. 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:
).
Act 1
Quotes
TEDDY. What do you think of the room? Big, isn’t it? It’s a big house. I mean, it’s a fine room, don’t you think? Actually there was a wall, across there…with a door. We knocked it down…years ago…to make an open living area. The structure wasn’t affected, you see. My mother was dead.
RUTH sits.
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LENNY. I’ll tell you what, Dad, since you’re in the mood for a bit of a…chat, I’ll ask you a question. It’s a question I’ve been meaning to ask you for some time. That night…you know…the night you got me…that night with Mum, what was it like? Eh? When I was just a glint in your eye. What was it like? What was the background to it? I mean, I want to know the real facts about my background. I mean, for instance, is it a fact that you had me in mind all the time, or is it a fact that I was the last thing you had in mind?
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MAX. Who’s this?
TEDDY. I was just going to introduce you.
MAX. Who asked you to bring tarts in here?
TEDDY. Tarts?
MAX. Who asked you to bring dirty tarts into this house?
TEDDY. Listen, don’t be silly—
MAX. You been here all night?
TEDDY. Yes, we arrived from Venice—
MAX. We’ve had a smelly scrubber in my house all night. We’ve had a stinking pox-ridden slut in my house all night.
TEDDY. Stop it! What are you talking about?
MAX. I haven’t seen the bitch for six years, he comes home without a word, he brings a filthy scrubber off the street, he shacks up in my house!
TEDDY. She’s my wife! We’re married!
Pause.
MAX. I’ve never had a whore under this roof before. Ever since your mother died. My word of honour. […]
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