Nellie Overshadows Maggie

A Dramatization of Maggie: Girl of the Streets

Bertrand Russel, a British Polymath, once said “The secret to happiness is to face the fact that the world is horrible, horrible, horrible.” while Nellie comprehends this Maggie never finds this secret to happiness. Maggie is the protagonist of Maggie: Girl of the Streets, she is a likeable character for whom we all feel compassion and empathy as she takes on the role of fulfilling the realistic personage purposefully sculpted by Stephen Crane. An intentional stylistic device that Stephen Crane takes advantage of to enhance Maggie’s character is a literary foil by the name of Nellie. A literary foil are two characters who have been “cut from the same cloth” ; however, they contain key differences that emphasize each other’s qualities or flaws. In this novel, Maggie’s character is overshadowed by her foil Nellie, described as “a woman of brilliance and audacity”, which dramatizes Maggie’s downfall. This shadow cast on Maggie is evident through the use of Nellie as her foil as they are both dependent on Pete but Nellie takes the advantage; Maggie relies on others as Nellie relies on herself; and, Nellie seems to bring Maggie’s downfall but in reality she represents the realistic consequences of an immigrant in America. 

Nellie and Maggie both long for comfort; Maggie longs for romantic comfort while Nellie longs for financial comfort. Before her downfall, Maggie is a very caring affectionate girl who is concerned about her brother and takes a very romantic interest in a boy named Pete. The match of these two characters is immediately perceived as problematic due to Pete’s characteristics which contrast Maggie’s sweet and innocent character. Maggie’s qualities ultimately make her a tragic hero because she is unable to stick up for herself. Nellie is the opposite, she is very egoistic and only fends for herself, this quality allows her to survive in the conditions she is under in the slums of New York City. This characteristic of hers is very prominent when she steals money from Pete who is still in love with her. She takes advantage of his love for her to manipulate him and steal money from his pocket whilst he is drunk. This instance also ties in how these Maggie and Nellie are very similar, they are both in some way dependent on Pete. They are also from the same city, are around the same age and are described as very beautiful to the point of turning heads.

“Nellie teaches the reader to only rely on oneself; a very realistic portrayal is painted on the life of immigrants coming to America through this lesson of self-reliance. “

Nellie uses her beauty to her advantage as she uses it to make a living attainable for a female immigrant during that period. There is a reason Maggie is brought to an unfortunate ending and Nellie continues to survive. Nellie teaches the reader to only rely on oneself; a very realistic portrayal is painted on the life of immigrants coming to America through this lesson of self-reliance. Maggie’s downfall is caused by her lack of self-reliance making it an important theme of the story. Similarly to this theme the use of Maggie’s foil of Nellie creates a more dramatic effect on her downfall as Crane highlights all the superior qualities that Nellie possesses overshadowing Maggie. Nellie is at first very unlikable in contrast to the caring Maggie; however, as the story progresses Nellie only becomes more popular while Maggie begins to slowly lose her worth. The girl who was once a very caring and innocent girl disperces herself into “the blackness of the final block” (Crane 80). Her life becomes so insignificant that she is overlooked by buildings who envelop her in the darkness of her own life and choices. Maggie used to think prostitutes were worthless as Maggie draws back her skirts as she passes one in the theater. Unfortunately she results in pleasuring disgusting men for money: 

[…]she perceived [a] huge fat man in torn and greasy garments. His grey hair straggled down over his forehead. His small bleared eyes, sparkling from amidst great rolls of red fat, swept eagerly over the girl’s upturned face. He laughed, his brown, disordered teeth gleaming under a grey, grizzled mustache from which beer drops dripped. His whole body gently quivered and shook like that of a dead jelly fish. Chuckling and leering, he followed the girl of the crimson legions. (Crane 81)

The imagery used by Crane emcompasses the great disgust Maggie apprehended from this individual. He is described to be drunk as there is beer dripping from his beer and he is incredibly older than Maggie due to his grey hair and features. The use of ‘crimson’ to describe Maggie and ‘red’ to describe the man’s fat suggest a sexual act due to the man’s flushed complexion and the color red tie to prostitution such as the Moulin Rouge in Paris, France, a famous burlesque theater is entirely based on the color red. Another clue to this grotesque sexual act that takes place between the young girl and this man is the simile that compares the man’s queering body to a jellyfish which suggest the act of ejaculation. Unlike Nellie who uses prostitution to her advantage Maggie slowly begins to lose her own identity and respect; she in turn becomes ‘unapproachable’ (Crane 80).

Nellie represents a shift in the story as she is thought to bring Maggie’s misfortune as she steals Pete’s focus. However Nellie merely magnifies the need of immigrants to rely on themselves. We notice how Nellie has built a comfortable life for herself and Maggie envies her luxurious appearance with which she grasps Pete’s heart and attention:  “She perceived that her black dress fitted her to perfection. Her linen collar and cuffs were spotless. Tan gloves were stretched over her well-shaped hands. A hat of a prevailing fashion perched jauntily upon her dark hair. She wore no jewelry and was painted with no apparent pain. She looked clear-eyed through the stares of the men” (Crane 65). The luxury of the clothes that Nellie is draped in showcases the priority that she has made for herself and how she takes advantage of her job unlike Maggie whose same job is represented in a blatant nature. Crane almost punishes Maggie for her lack of concern for herself and rewards Nellie for her unempathetic behavior. This gives the story a measurable timeline the more Maggie becomes envious and deserted by Pete the more she notices the stares of men that look at her with “calculating eyes” (Crane 76).  This opens Maggie to the same opportunities as Nellie however, Maggie’s fright and vulnerability reverts her ability to be comparable to Nellie. As Nellie stomps on the threats ahead of her, in contrast Maggie lets everything consume her into an eternal darkness.

A dark path was a reality for many immigrants completing this upsetting but realistic novel who understood that the world was horrible. Nellie only more effectively conveys this darkness by showing an alternative perspective to a better life with the same cards that Maggie has been dealt. This likeable and charismatic character slowly progresses from a character the reader sympathizes with to a character whose actions make the reader overcome with anguish. Her incapability to fend for herself due to her lack of self-reliance is magnified by Nellie’s drive to survive which evolves from a dislikeable character to a character whose unfavorable actions are understood in a realistic point of view. Crane’s use of a literary foil is an irreplaceable addition to the story as it is utilized to make Maggie’s concern for others, usually a very favorable quality, a curse. He effectively creates this illusion of the dramatization of Maggie’s character as Nellie is always given a leg up from her with Pete, her ability to fend for herself comes to her advantage and the realistic representation Nellie showcases the reality of an immigrant in that respective time period.The larger perspective Crane effectively paints is the importance of self-reliance which is the reason that Nellie greatly complements Maggie’s character as she represents how what are presumably bad intentions, such as being self-centered were the reality for many immigrants completing his idea of the realistic American Dream.