# Maggie Hollins — The Old Wives’ Tale character guide

> Maggie Hollins in The Old Wives’ Tale by Arnold Bennett.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Maggie, Hollins, the vile Hollins, Maggie Hollins, old Maggie, young Maggie

**First appearance:** 0004-i-the-square

## Snapshot

After twenty-two years as the Baineses' drudge, Maggie stuns the household by announcing she will marry Hollins the fish-hawker and finally live for herself.

## Who they are

Maggie has been an organism in the Baines house rather than a person — over forty, gawky, worn thin by service, her own wishes never consulted. When she tells Constance she is leaving to marry the fish-hawker she was engaged to back in '48, a separate and capricious individuality surfaces beneath the dehumanized drudge. Her quiet rebellion unsettles Constance's assumptions about class, marriage, and who deserves a life of their own.

## Relationships

### [Sophia Baines](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_old_wives_tale_se/characters/sophia_baines)

_social_

Childhood acquaintance and later a poor, pitiable figure in Bursley, evoking Sophia's occasional pity.

### [Sophia Baines](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_old_wives_tale_se/characters/sophia_baines)

_social_

Childhood acquaintance and later a poor, pitiable figure in Bursley, evoking Sophia's occasional pity.

### [Sophia Baines](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_old_wives_tale_se/characters/sophia_baines)

_social_

Childhood acquaintance and later a poor, pitiable figure in Bursley, evoking Sophia's occasional pity.

## In the story

### [The Square](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_old_wives_tale_se/chapters/i-the-square)

The Baines' servant, seen in new clothes meeting a man in the Square; has been engaged eleven times.

### [Revolution](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_old_wives_tale_se/chapters/i-revolution)

Gives notice to leave after many years of service, surprising Constance.

### [VI: The Widow](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_old_wives_tale_se/chapters/vi-the-widow)

A former servant who visits the shop to buy cheap flannel. Constance reflects on Maggie's difficult life and her own changed circumstances.

### [Towards Hotel Life](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_old_wives_tale_se/chapters/iii-towards-hotel-life)

Young Maggie, wife of a bricklayer, is hired as a charwoman to look after the house while the sisters are away.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_old_wives_tale_se/characters/maggie_hollins
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_old_wives_tale_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_old_wives_tale_se/characters