The Mule-Bone · Character

Mrs. Clark

The mayor's wife, fat and flabby with a high-pitched voice, Mrs. Clark rules the domestic side of Eatonville's first family with fuss and opinion.

supporting

Also known as Mrs. Clark De Mayor, Mrs. Clark Somebody, Mist ' Clark

First appearance: act i

As a supporting figure in The Mule-Bone, Mrs. Clark is not background color—the story leans on what they do once the chapter opens.

See Mrs. Clark in act i Book page

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As Joe Clark's wife, she occupies the peculiar position of being married to the store, the post office, and the mayor all at once, which makes her both privileged and perpetually put-upon. Her high-pitched voice and flabby dignity are comic, but they also signal a woman alert to rank and eager to defend it. She matters to the early social texture of the play, one of the wives whose standards and grudges shape how the town judges its young men and women.

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The fuller portrait of Mrs. Clark sits in Reading Lens — open the free preview to keep reading with notes on the page.

See Mrs. Clark in act i