The Maids

Claire and Solange are sisters, both in their 30s and serving as maids for Madame. The play opens in Madame’s bedroom, where the younger sister Claire is dressed in a slip and surrounded by flowers, and pretending to be Madame. Meanwhile, the older sister Solange pretends to be Claire. This is their nightly ritual. With heightened dramatic gestures and tone, Claire-as-Madame admonishes Solange-as-Claire for bringing gloves from the kitchen, which she views as dirty, into the bedroom. Claire orders Solange to lay out a white dress for her, casually accusing Solange of coveting her jewelry and allowing a man to seduce her. Solange begins to shine Madame’s shoes, but Claire is disgusted with her use of saliva as polish. Solange responds with deference and humility. Claire comments that she will look beautiful and insults Solange’s appearance, briefly dropping her performance of Madame to say that Solange will “never seduce Mario” and complaining, “A ridiculous young milkman despises us, and if we’re going to have a kid by him—” (37). Solange cuts her off, and Claire steps back into character.

To Claire’s dismay, Solange brings out a dark red dress and commands Claire to wear it rather than the white one. Solange insists that the dress is attractive and adds that as a widow, Claire-as-Madame really ought to be wearing black. Claire is indignant, replying, “You want to talk about Monsieur’s misfortunes, don’t you? Fool. It was hardly the moment to allude to hum, but I can turn this matter to fine account!” (38). Claire-as-Madame bemoans her “infamy,” reproaching Solange-as-Claire for judging her. Claire reveals that Madame’s lover was recently arrested. She had written the letter to the police that exposed Monsieur’s crimes and sent him to prison, although it is unclear whether Claire is referring to herself or herself-as-Madame as the letter-writer. Claire exclaims that she has suffered greatly herself. Additionally, since Monsieur is not dead, Claire insists that Madame is not a widow and will stand, distraught and grief-stricken, by her lover’s side, even if he goes to prison or to Devil’s Island, a penal colony in French Guiana.

Claire wants to wear the white dress, fit for “the mourning of queens” (39), but Solange again commands that Claire wear the red dress. Claire acquiesces, accusing Solange of despising her. Solange replies, “I’ll follow you everywhere. I love you” (39). Claire-as-Madame replies that Solange-as-Claire only loves her as a mistress because she hopes to gain something from Madame’s favor. Solange helps Claire into the dress, and Claire complains that Solange smells like an animal from living in the maid’s quarters. Claire describes the twin beds and the small altar to the Virgin Mary in the austere room that they share, “where two sisters fall asleep, dreaming of one another” (40), and where men, including the milkman, steal through the window to visit them at night. Solange laments the misery of their lives. Claire comments on the paper flowers, gesturing toward Madame’s room full of real flowers. Back in character, she vainly compares her own beauty to that of the Virgin Mary.

Solange arranges the train of Claire’s dress, but Claire calls her a “bungler” and pushes her off, kicking her sister in the head. Solange, mishearing the word as “burglar,” becomes upset, but Claire scolds her and tells her to cry in her own room, insisting, “Here, in my bedroom, I will only have noble tears” (42). Claire demands that Solange finish arranging her dress but then expresses revulsion at Solange’s touch and insists that Solange dress her without actually touching her. Claire-as-Madame accuses Solange-as-Claire of plotting revenge against her, and Solange agrees that Claire-as-Madame can read her mind. Claire complains that it’s a dreadfully difficult burden to be a mistress. With contempt, Solange reminds Claire of her lover, and Claire replies, “My unhappy lover heightens my nobility” (43).

Solange vents her hatred toward her mistress and the way she treats Solange as “an object of disgust” (44), spitting on the red dress. In her anger Solange slips between roleplaying and her identity as a maid and Claire’s sister. Solange blames Madame/Claire’s beauty, enhanced by creams, powders, and lavish clothing, for robbing Claire/Solange of her own beauty, allowing Madame/Claire to steal the milkman’s affection. Impassioned, Solange refers to herself by her own name, and Claire anxiously corrects her. Solange quickly returns to calling herself Claire and slaps Claire-as-Madame. Solange threatens that the maids will rise up and Madame will be helpless, calling Monsieur “just a cheap thief” (45). Solange tells Claire to look in the mirror to see how anger and confusion twists her face; Claire insists that even freshly slapped, she is still beautiful. Solange continues, asserting that the two maids are no longer afraid of Madame.

Claire-as-Madame tells Solange-as-Claire to get out of the room, and Solange agrees to go back to the filth of her job and the malodorous kitchen sink. But first, she advances on Claire, threatening to “finish the job” (46). Suddenly, an alarm clock rings and surprises the two women. They are themselves again, and Solange hurries to help Claire out of the dress. Claire moans that they didn’t get to finish their roleplaying, and Solange sadly agrees that they never get to the end before running out of time. Solange blames Claire, insisting, “It’s all your fault, you’re never ready. I can’t finish you off” (46), but Claire suggests that they spend too much time in the start of the scene. Solange tells Claire to watch through the window, although Claire says she set the alarm early to allow time to clean up. Solange insists again that Claire keep watch since Solange must deal with the mess, including cleaning the red gown.

Noting that Claire is still distracted by her own reflection, Solange directs, “You can be like me now. Be yourself again. Come on, Claire, be my sister again” (48). Weary, Claire changes back into her uniform and snipes at her sister for always trying to control her. Solange denies that she is controlling, arguing that Claire was the one to create conflict when she mentioned Mario, the milkman. Solange points out that Mario makes suggestive comments to both sisters. Claire pretends to be too preoccupied with cleaning to listen, and Solange accuses Claire of enjoying inserting personal insults into what Claire interrupts and describes as “the ceremony” (49). Claire exclaims that she is jealous of Solange, who saw Madame’s reaction when Monsieur was arrested, clarifying that Claire was the one to send the anonymous letter to the police.

Claire comments that Madame’s grief is so great that it might kill her, and Solange retorts, “Fine. She can drop dead! And I’ll inherit!” (50). Solange imagines never having to be a maid or endure their dingy servant quarters again. Claire muses that she likes their room, but Solange chides her and argues that the room is “shabby,” but it doesn’t matter because the two of them are “scum” (50). Claire is dismissive, but Solange persists in describing their meager, sparse little room. Solange reveals that Claire likes to parade around at night, pretending to be a queen after the household is asleep. Claire denies this, but Solange insists that she has seen her when Claire didn’t know that she was watching.

Claire pleads with Solange to stop yelling, glancing nervously out the window. Solange assents but heatedly tells her sister that the way Claire moves the curtains to look out reminds her of the way Monsieur looked out to watch the police, which makes Solange furious. Claire finds this silly and paranoid, but Solange tries to impress seriousness upon her sister, stating that there is no one who loves them. Claire protests that Madame is kind and loves them, but Solange replies, “She loves us the way she loves her armchair. Not even that much!” (52) Additionally, Solange claims that they can’t even love each other because “filth…doesn’t love filth” (52). Anguished, Solange describes their roleplaying game as a release from the misery of their lives that she can’t stand to give up.

Claire tries to calm Solange, who is shouting again, but Solange declares that Madame is only kind because it’s easy to be kind when you’re beautiful and privileged. But Solange and Claire are just maids, and all they can do is pretend to be more, digging at Claire for her nighttime games of pretend. Claire reproaches Solange for getting herself upset again, implying that she has reason to criticize Solange too. Solange tells Claire that she hates her. Claire returns the sentiment, reiterating that she could provoke Solange just as easily, and not just about Mario the milkman. Solange challenges her to do it. Claire replies that Solange has been the aggressor but hasn’t mentioned Claire’s most exposing behavior: her writing. In their room Claire has written many letters in which she has created incredible stories and fantasies. But, as Claire claims, Solange simply devoured the stories and used them to escape into her imagination.

The previous night, when Solange took her turn playing Madame, Claire saw the way her stories influenced how Solange built herself up. She could see how Solange romanticized the idea of following a lover to Devil’s Island. Claire expounds, however, that this isn’t the reason she hates her sister. Claire hates Solange because she saw her at night trying to kill Madame. This terrified Claire because she knew Solange wanted to kill Madame as a stand-in for Claire, and that Claire would need to be wary of Solange after roleplaying Madame during their ritual. After a moment, Solange agrees, explaining, “Yes, I did try. I wanted to free you. […] It made me suffocate to see you suffocating, […] rotting away in that woman’s bitter-sweetness” (55). Solange notes that she lost her nerve, but had she completed the act, Claire would have certainly turned her in to the police.

Solange confesses that she wanted to kill Madame because the grief of Monsieur’s arrest only turned Madame into a tragically glamorous figure. It made her more beautiful and compelling in contrast to the never-glamorous maids. Solange admits, “I wanted to make up for the poverty of my grief by the splendor of my crime. Afterward, I’d have set fire to the lot” (57). Claire begins to feel suffocated, and Solange tells her to open the doors. The phone rings. Claire answers, and the two women learn that Monsieur has been released on bail. Sarcastically, Solange compliments Claire for her effectiveness in sending Monsieur to prison, adding that they might even recognize her handwriting. Claire retorts that Solange should have killed Madame when she had the chance, blaming Solange for being too frightened to commit. Additionally, Claire points out that when they inevitably are caught performing their roleplaying ritual (as they never manage to clean up all the evidence), that will also be Solange’s fault.

Claire accuses Solange of weakness, but Solange insists that she can summon the strength. Claire replies that she has the strength to succeed where Solange failed. This time Claire is the one who becomes upset while Solange tries to calm her. Claire announces that she is sick of living an inferior, dirty life as a maid. Solange wants to soothe her but acknowledges, “I know I disgust you. I’m repulsive to you. And I know it because you disgust me. When slaves love one another, it’s not love” (61). Claire argues that she is tired of seeing herself reflected in her sister “like a bad smell,” of “being raped by a milkman who goes blithely through our garrets” (61). Solange attempts to persuade Claire to change her mind, but Claire is determined to poison Madame. Claire declares that it’s her turn to assume the dominating role and barks orders at Solange, who protests weakly. Solange tries to tell Claire that she “won’t know what gestures to make” (62), but Claire responds by repeating stories that they’ve read about people who carried out poisonings.

Claire proclaims that she and Solange can endure the aftermath together, even if it means going to prison together, asserting, “We shall be that eternal couple, Solange, the two of us, the eternal couple of the criminal and the saint. We’ll be saved, Solange, saved, I swear to you!” (63). Claire collapses, exhausted, into Madame’s bed. Solange pacifies her affectionately, and Claire, suddenly meek, says, “I’m ashamed, Solange” (63). Solange comforts her and tries to distract her from thinking about Madame. Abruptly, Claire leaps up and exclaims that they cannot be weak. They must work together and be strong. Solange must help Claire effectively administer phenobarbital. Additionally, Claire adds, they must be cheerful as they carry out their plan to avoid being overwhelmed by the tragedy, because “[m]urder is a thing that’s…unspeakable” (65). They laugh as Claire says they will sing while they dismember and bury Madame’s body. The doorbell rings.