# Muriel — Cane character guide

> Muriel in Cane by Jean Toomer.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Muriel—bored

**First appearance:** 0030-part-ii-theater

## Snapshot

A fleshy, warm-faced young woman in a brass box seat who loves Dan but cannot buck the town that tells her not to.

## Who they are

Muriel sits under the orange floor-lamp with her Indian-curly hair and flushed cheeks, telling Dan to get a good job and settle down while her heart argues the opposite. She is caught between Mrs. Pribby's newspaper rustle and Dan's burning eyes, wanting something real and beautiful but too afraid of the town's verdict to reach for it. Her silent surrender to respectability is what makes Dan's fury at the theater—and at himself—so unbearable.

## Relationships

### [Dan Moore](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cane_se/characters/dan_moore)

_romantic_

Dan Moore is deeply infatuated with Muriel, but their relationship is strained by social expectations and personal insecurities.

### [Dan Moore](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cane_se/characters/dan_moore)

_romantic_

Dan Moore is deeply infatuated with Muriel, but their relationship is strained by social expectations and personal insecurities.

### [Dan Moore](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cane_se/characters/dan_moore)

_romantic_

Dan Moore is deeply infatuated with Muriel, but their relationship is strained by social expectations and personal insecurities.

## In the story

### [Box Seat](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cane_se/chapters/part-ii-box-seat)

Dan's love interest, constrained by Mrs. Pribby's rules, who reluctantly agrees to go to the boxing match.

### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cane_se/chapters/part-ii-i)

Hosts Dan but is torn between her feelings for him and the pressure to conform to Mrs. Pribby's expectations.

### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cane_se/chapters/part-ii-ii)

Attends the boxing match, conflicted about her feelings for Dan, and is publicly offered a rose by the dwarf performer.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cane_se/characters/muriel
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cane_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cane_se/characters