The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel aired on Amazon Prime from 2017 to 2023 and features several Hollywood heavyweights in the lead roles. Rachel Brosnahan plays the lead role of Miriam "Midge" Maisel, a young mother living in New York in the late 1950s/early 1960s who follows her passion & natural talent as a stand-up comedian. The TV sitcom features social activism and strong opposition to oppression & prejudices, but the show primarily spotlights the women's liberation movement through the lens of female characters who fight for equal rights and representation. The purpose of the show's writers is clear: Showcase the men and women who were brave enough to see the world differently and imagine a new future for themselves and their loved ones. Below are just four of the many impactful characters who give viewers an inside look at what life was like in 1950s/1960s America.
Miriam "Midge" Maisel
Several female characters throughout the series struggle to earn more respect from society and tackle 1950s/60s expectations of a woman's traditional role in society. Miriam, the main character, defies those expectations in several ways throughout the sitcom's five seasons, starting with the very first episode, when Miriam's husband, Joel, leaves her after announcing his affair with a secretary. She must establish her independence after playing the role of dutiful housewife and mother of two for so many years. She receives significant backlash and harsh judgment from nearly everyone she knows, including her parents, who act as if it is her own fault that her husband cheated on and then left her.
As Miriam pursues her dream career of stand-up comedy, she faces numerous obstacles and setbacks due to limitations placed on her by society. For example, numerous times, nightclub owners and patrons assume Miriam is a singer because of her gender and good looks; when she corrects them and explains she's a comic, the reaction ranges from disbelief to disgust. She's repeatedly talked down to or ignored altogether by club owners; numerous times, she loses her time slot to another comedian just because he's a man. But in spite of it all, Miriam ends up making quite a name for herself in stand-up comedy. She is eventually hired as the first female writer on The Gordon Ford Show, where she continues to encounter sexism from the male writers who drown out her voice and ideas.
Rose Weissman
Rose Weissman, Miriam's mother, is played by Marin Hinkle. Rose is an interesting character who initially seems quite content fulfilling the expected role of a stereotypical housewife. She caters to her husband, Abe, and works tirelessly to maintain the Weissman household. Rose seems to be satisfied with the life she's built, but something inside Rose compels her to suddenly flee New York and live by herself in Paris. Miriam and Abe frantically look for her, and when they eventually find her, they beg her to return to their life in New York. Both are completely flummoxed when Rose refuses. Her reasoning is simple: She was unhappy with her family and home life in New York, and Paris brought her immense happiness and joy. Why should she return to a place making her feel so miserable? Miriam is more understanding than Abe, who cannot fathom how Rose could possibly be so unsatisfied with her life as a wife and mother. He stays with Rose in Paris for several days, where the two rekindle the lost romance in their marriage and Abe comes to realize what has been missing in their lives. Eventually, Abe and Rose do return to New York, where Rose goes on to have a successful career as a matchmaker.
Mei / Mei and Joel
Maisel's characters not only defy societal norms for women's roles; they also challenge expectations for romantic relationships, incredibly progressive for the time period. Stephanie Hsu plays Mei, a witty and intelligent woman whose family runs an underground gambling ring underneath the nightclub owned by Joel (yes, Miriam's ex-husband). Mei is Chinese American, and she knows without a doubt that she wants more out of life than to be someone's wife and mother. Mei is on track to complete medical school and be a doctor. Even after she and Joel become romantically involved, she remains adamant that he will not derail her ambitious career aspirations. Mei ends up pregnant, and rather than marry Joel and play the role of dutiful mother and housewife, it is implied that she terminates the pregnancy before moving to Chicago to continue pursuing her career. Her character is inspirational in her ability to make difficult choices that no one else may understand but that are the best choices for herself in the long run.
Mei and Joel also break norms with their relationship through religion: Mei is not religious at all, and Joel comes from a strong Jewish background. At that time, it was expected that Joel would marry a nice Jewish girl. Even though he's terrified to disappoint and defy his parents, and he does hide Mei from them for awhile, their religious backgrounds are not the source of their eventual break-up.
Abe Weissman
Social activism and Abe Weissman, Tony Shalhoub's dynamic character, go together like peanut butter and jelly. Abe is Rose's husband and Miriam's father. At the start of the show, Abe is a tenured professor of mathematics at Columbia University, and he also does research for Bell Labs. He is constantly musing about how much of his life has passed by without feeling like he's actually done anything. There is a void he desperately seeks to fill, and at the end of season three, he's figured out how to do it: Abe leaves his well-paying position at the university to earn a fraction of his salary writing for The Village Voice. There's a scene where Miriam comes home to find her father and his radical group of new friends sprawled out all over the house, planning and plotting and smoking endless cigarettes. It definitely has a Vida vibe, just not underground!
Abe undergoes another profound transformation by the end of the show. His entire life, he's believed wholeheartedly in the power of patriarchal lineage, that inherent brilliance will manifest itself in a male son or grandson. He has held the assumption that the male heirs to the Weissman name are destined for greatness; he never gave the women another thought. Thus, he's been waiting (pretty impatiently) for this greatness to manifest in his grandson Ethan. Imagine his surprise when one day, he hears a beautiful piano tune being played from memory and sees his granddaughter Esther, not Ethan, seated at the piano. Abe's eyes are opened to his profound oversight: He'd been so hell-bent on the greatness of a son or grandson, simply because of their maleness, that he'd completely overlooked his granddaughter and, more alarmingly, his daughter Miriam. Abe realizes in amazement: "My daughter is a remarkable person, and I don't think I've ever said that" (Season 5, Episode 8). This is an extremely powerful moment of self-awareness, and it occurs at the very end of the show to leave a lasting impression on viewers.
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The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is a wildly entertaining sitcom that features characters who attempt to combat sexism, racism, and traditional societal norms of the 1950s and 1960s. Viewers today will appreciate the historical ties and accurate representations of the time period, but they will also recognize that though changes have been made, America has a long way to go to achieve true equality for all.
By: Katie Endris
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