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MAGPIES. The Wives. First Wife: Honest, plain woman Second Wife: Most powerful, manipulative and treacherous Third Wife: only gives birth to girls Fourth Wife: An-Mei’s mother, has lowest status in the house Fifth Wife: a little girl only a few years older than An-Mei.
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The Wives • First Wife: Honest, plain woman • Second Wife: Most powerful, manipulative and treacherous • Third Wife: only gives birth to girls • Fourth Wife: An-Mei’s mother, has lowest status in the house • Fifth Wife: a little girl only a few years older than An-Mei
“Later she removed that broken bead and knotted the space together so the necklace looked whole again. She told me to wear the necklace every day for one week so I would remember how easy it is to lose myself to something false” (Tan 261).
Mama Mei gives An-Mei a blue sapphire ring to show An-Mei true affection. • This is the same ring that An-Mei throws into the ocean to appease the sea god when Bing dies in the chapter “Half and Half”.
How Mama Mei Became a Concubine • Wu Tsing wanted to have a son, a male heir, but Second Wife couldn’t have children, so she arranged for Third Wife to become Third Wife. But when Third Wife only gave birth to daughters, Second Wife needed to find someone else to become Fourth Wife.
How Mama Mei Became a Concubine (cont) • She meets Mama Mei at a Monastery and invites her to the house for dinner. She purposely keeps Mama Mei at the house late, so it is unsafe for Mama Mei to return home. Mama Mei spends the night at the house, sharing Second Wife’s bed (in a completely non-sexual way).
How Mama Mei Became a Concubine (cont) • But in the middle of the night, Wu Tsing and Second Wife switch places, and Wu Tsing rapes Mama Mei. Then Second Wife begins to tell people that Mama Mei was a gold digger who was trying to get at Wu Tsing’s money. So ultimately, Mama Mei had no choice but to become Wu Tsing’s concubine.
Mama Mei realizes that no matter what, her status will always be the lowest in the house, and therefore, so will An-Mei’s.
“I know my mother listened to her own heart, to no longer pretend. I know this because why else did she die two days before the lunar new year? Why else did she plan her death so carefully that it became a weapon? […] When the poison broke into her body, she whispered to me that she would rather kill her own weak spirit so she could give me a stronger one” (Tan 270-271).
Flash-forward to the Present: • An-Mei wants to teach this same lesson to Rose (who is going through the divorce with Ted, who always tried to control her). • An-Mei wants to teach her daughter to stop suffering in silence, to raise her voice against male dominated oppressive systems (Ted represents such a system).
