Maggie: A Girl of the Streets
'Maggie: A Girl of the Streets ' Summary
The story opens with Jimmie, at this point a young boy, trying by himself to fight a gang of boys from an opposing neighborhood. He is saved by his friend, Pete, and comes home to his sister, Maggie, his toddling brother, Tommie, his brutal and drunken father, and mother, Mary Johnson. The parents, Irish immigrants, terrify the children until they are shuddering in the corner.
Years pass, Tommie and his father die as Jimmie hardens into a sneering, aggressive, cynical youth. He gets a job as a teamster, having no regard for anyone but firetrucks who would run him down. Maggie begins to work in a shirt factory, but her attempts to improve her life are undermined by her mother's drunken rages. Maggie begins to date Jimmie's friend Pete, who has a job as a bartender and seems a very fine fellow, convinced that he will help her escape the life she leads. He takes her to the theater and the museum. One night Jimmie and Mary accuse Maggie of "Goin to deh devil", essentially kicking her out of the tenement, throwing her lot in with Pete. Jimmie goes to Pete's bar and picks a fight with him (even though he himself has ruined other boys' sisters). As the neighbors continue to talk about Maggie, Jimmie and Mary decide to join them in badmouthing her instead of defending her.
Later, Nellie, a "woman of brilliance and audacity" convinces Pete to leave Maggie, whom she calls "a little pale thing with no spirit." Thus abandoned, Maggie tries to return home but is rejected by her mother and scorned by the entire tenement. In a later scene, a prostitute, implied to be Maggie, wanders the streets, moving into progressively worse neighborhoods until, reaching the river, she is followed by a grotesque and shabby man. The next scene shows Pete drinking in a saloon with six fashionable women "of brilliance and audacity." He passes out, whereupon one, possibly Nellie, takes his money. In the final chapter, Jimmie tells his mother that Maggie is dead. The mother exclaims, ironically, as the neighbors comfort her, "I'll forgive her!"
Book Details
Language
EnglishOriginal Language
EnglishPublished In
1893Author
Stephen Crane
United States
Stephen Crane's fiction is typically categorized as representative of Naturalism, American realism, Impressionism or a mixture of the three. Critic Sergio Perosa, for example, wrote in his essay, "Ste...
More on Stephen CraneDownload eBooks
Unfortunately, no ebooks exist for this book, yet...
Listen/Download Audiobook
- Select Speed
Related books
Tom Jones by Henry Fielding
The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, often known simply as Tom Jones, is a comic novel by English playwright and novelist Henry Fielding. It is a Bi...
Tongues of Conscience by Robert Smythe Hichens
In the heart of Edwardian England, a young woman's conscience is put to the ultimate test in Robert Smythe Hichens' gripping novel, Tongues of Conscie...
Micah Clarke by Arthur Conan Doyle
Micah Clarke is a classic tale of heroism and sacrifice. It is a story about the power of conviction and the importance of standing up for what you be...
The Able McLaughlins by Margaret Wilson
The Able McLaughlins is a 1923 novel by Margaret Wilson first published by Harper & Brothers. It won the Pulitzer Prize for the Novel in 1924. It won...
Charles Rex by Ethel M. Dell
On his last night in Valrosa, Saltash (Charles Rex) returns to his luxurious yacht to find a stowaway, a young woman disguised as a boy. She pleads to...
Taken at the Flood by Mary Elizabeth Braddon
Brought up by a parish schoolmaster with a hidden past, Sylvia Carew dreams of a future devoid of poverty. Will she be faithful to the man she adores...
The Younger Sister by Catherine Anne Hubback
Emma Watson, the youngest child of six from a poor family, was sent away as a child to be raised by her wealthy aunt and uncle. When her uncle dies an...
Henrietta Temple by Benjamin Disraeli
Henrietta Temple is a semi-autobiographical novel and the author's first true success. Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield and later British Prime...
The Fairy Latchkey by Magdalene Horsfall
The book explores the complexities of family relationships, particularly those between mothers and daughters. The novel centers around the character...
The Mouthpiece of Zitu by John Ulrich Giesy
The story revolves around a young man named Paul Brixton, who is tasked with finding a mythical ruby known as the "Mouthpiece of Zitu." According to l...
Reviews for Maggie: A Girl of the Streets
No reviews posted or approved, yet...