26 quotes
Different Perspectives on Artistic Expression
Eleanor Fine
A bit flowery for my taste.
Cathy Whitaker
How do you mean?
Eleanor Fine
Oh, you know, a touch light on his feet.
Cathy Whitaker
Oh, you mean...
Eleanor Fine
Yes, darling, he's one of those.
The Illusion of Appearances and Secrets
Stan Fine
Frank is the luckiest guy in town!
Frank Whitaker
It's all smoke and mirrors, fellas. That's all it is. You should see her without her face on.
Doreen
Frank!
Cathy Whitaker
No, he's absolutely right. We ladies are never what we appear, and every girl has her secrets.
Frank Whitaker
How about this girl getting her husband another drink?
Cathy Whitaker
Don't you think you've had enough, dear?
Frank Whitaker
No, honey, I don't think I've had enough!
Conflict Over Language and Identity
Eleanor Fine
I'm just delighted to see you taking interest in yet another civic cause. I can see it now: "Cathleen Whitaker and her kindness to homosexuals.
Cathy Whitaker
Ugh. That word.
A Compliment on Formal Attire
Cathy Whitaker
I must say, you look extremely fetching all gussied up in your white tux and tie.
Frank Whitaker
Well, it's a good thing, since I can hardly breathe in it.
The Complexity of Confiding in Others
Raymond Deagan
Sometimes it's the people outside our world we confide in best.
Cathy Whitaker
But once you do confide, share with someone, they're no longer really outside, are they?
A Relationship's Complex Web of Infidelity
Eleanor Fine
Girlfriend of mine, Shirley Dawson, her husband - every night of the week. Plus, three more times on the weekend. Can you imagine?
A Request for a Dance
Cathy Whitaker
Oh, Raymond, Mrs. Whitaker sounds so formal! Won't you please... ask me to dance?
The Complexity of Modern Art Appreciation
Raymond Deagan
] painting] So, what's your opinion on modern art?
[Studying a [[Joan Miró|Miró]
Cathy Whitaker
It's hard to put into words, really. I just know what I care for and what I don't. Like this... I don't know how to pronounce it... Mira?
Raymond Deagan
Miró.
Cathy Whitaker
Miró. I don't know why, but I just adore it. The feeling it gives. I know that sounds terribly vague.
Raymond Deagan
No. No, actually, it confirms something I've always wondered about modern art. Abstract art.
Cathy Whitaker
What's that?
Raymond Deagan
That perhaps it's just picking up where religious art left off, somehow trying to show you divinity. The modern artist just pares it down to the basic elements of shape and color. But when you look at that Miró, you feel it just the same.
Assertion of Masculinity and Identity
Cathy Whitaker
You're all man to me! All man...
Preference for Traditional Masculinity
Eleanor Fine
Call me old fashioned, I just like all the men I'm around to be all men.
Racial Tensions in Social Interactions
Cathy Whitaker
Yes. I have spoken to Raymond Deagan on occasion. He brought his little girl to Eleanor's art show. But - but, apparently, even here in Hartford, the idea of a white woman even speaking to a colored man...
Frank Whitaker
Oh, please! Just save me the Negro rights!
The Purpose of Society Papers Explained
Mrs. Leacock
A good society paper need not be a gossip rag.
A Question of Openness in Marriage
Cathy Whitaker
And there's nothing else you care to share with your very own adoring wife?
Exploring Hidden Desires and Inner Conflicts
Taglines
What lies beneath the surface? What hides behind the walls? What imprisons desires of the heart?
Household Expectations on Language Use
David Whitaker
Aw, geez!
Cathy Whitaker
We don't use language like that in this house.
Lessons on Mixing Different Worlds
Raymond Deagan
I've learned my lesson about mixing in other worlds. I've seen the sparks fly. All kinds.
Character Reflection on Cathy's Past Influences
Eleanor Fine
Cathy? Oh, she's been liberal ever since she played summer stock at college with all those steamy Jewish boys. Why do you think they used to call her "Red"?
Challenges of Heterosexual Conversion Success Rates
Othwr
Dr. Bowman: Today, the general attitude regarding this sort of behavior is naturally more modern, more scientific than it ever has been before. But for those who do seek treatment, who possess the will and desire to lead a normal life, there still remains only a scant five to thirty percent rate of success - for complete heterosexual conversion.
The Image of a Perfect Marriage
Mrs. Leacock
You are the proud wife of a successful sales executive; planning the parties, and posing at her husband's side on the advertisements. To everyone here in Connecticut, you are - Mr. and Mrs. Magnatech.
Struggling with Inner Demons
Frank Whitaker
I know it's a sickness, because it makes me feel despicable.
Seeing Beyond Surface and Color
Cathy Whitaker
It isn't plausible for me to be friends with you. You've been so very kind to me and I've been perfectly reckless and foolish in return, thinking...
Raymond Deagan
Thinking what? That one person could reach out to another, take an interest in another - and maybe for one fleeting instant could manage to see beyond the surface, beyond the color of things?
Cathy Whitaker
Do you think we ever really do see beyond those things - the surface of things?
Raymond Deagan
Just beyond the fall of grace, behold that ever-shining place." Yes. I do. I don't really have a choice.
Cathy Whitaker
I wish I could.
The Fragility of Idealized Love
Cathy Whitaker
That was the day I stopped believing in the wild ardor of things. Perhaps in love, as well. That kind of love. The love in books and films. The love that tells us to abandon our lives and plans, all for one brief touch of Venus. So often we fail at that kind of love. The world just seems too fragile a place for it. And of every other kind, life remains full. Perhaps it's just we who are too fragile.
Exploring Isolation and Identity in Society
Cathy Whitaker
Heaven knows we all have our troubles. I'm sure you, yourself...
Raymond Deagan
What?
Cathy Whitaker
I don't know. Ever since running into you at the exhibition, I kept wondering what it must be like to be the only one in a room. Colored or whatever it was. How that might possibly feel. I'm sure I've - I've never...
Raymond Deagan
Well, I suppose you sort of grow accustomed to it over time. I mean, don't get me wrong. There is a world, even here in Hartford, where everybody does indeed look like me. Trouble is, very few people ever leave that world.