Maggie: A Girl Of The Streets

The character of Maggie Johnson in Maggie: A Girl of the Streets exemplifies how environmental factors can be so inhibiting that they can dictate the rest of one's life. In 19th century America, the only way a woman was able to advance socioeconomically was through marriage. Marriage was extremely important to women because it was their chance at a better life—another way in which gender was an uncontrolled factor providing situational disadvantages among the poor. However, it is for this reason that when Maggie meets Pete, a well dressed bartender in the Bowery, she sees him as her way out of a dismal life. Although his economic status is not much better than that of the Johnson’s, his social reputation is significantly higher because of his …show more content…
To Maggie, Pete is a god among men simply because he has an optimistic personality which is rare for the Bowery since life was so dismal. Furthermore, although Pete is a member of the lower class, just like Maggie, he does his best to exude the appearance of wealth. This is shown when Maggie notes that, “...Pete entered with fascinating innovations in his apparel. As she had seen him twice and he had different suits on each time, Maggie had a dim impression that his wardrobe was prodigiously extensive” (Crane 27). This passage illustrates Maggie’s fantasy that Pete can provide her with a way out of the Bowery. However, Maggie fails to realize that her view on wealth is so skewered, the fact that Pete can afford to have two different suits does not separate him from the lower class. Pete turns out to be the antagonist of the novel when he leaves Maggie for another woman, showing that his gentlemanly persona is only surface layer and he in fact has been corrupted by the Bowery—just like all the others. Furthermore, Maggie’s relationship with Pete turns her into a social pariah due to the fact that they engaged in premarital