58 pages • 1-hour read
The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post: A Novel
A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Last Names
Marjorie Merriweather Post utilizes five last names over the course of the novel: Post, Close, Hutton, Davies, and Merriweather, though the last of these functions more like a middle name and is inherited from her mother. The changes to Marjorie’s last name and her eventual reversion to Post symbolize the different phases of her life. Ultimately, she returns to herself while also holding onto the legacy of her father, whom she strives to honor in many of her decisions. The only other female character that Marjorie always associates with her family name is Alice Roosevelt (even though Alice marries Nick Longworth), a woman she looks up to for her ability to be unashamedly herself.
With Charles William Post’s death, Marjorie realizes that “I was the only Post left” (126). She transforms the Post identity, no longer having to live in the shadow of her father. As she grows more involved in her family’s business, the social capital of her name also grows—much to the resentment of her husbands. Joe Davies is especially bitter about this, calling her “the biggest phony of ‘em all” (328) once his own popularity and standing declines. The circumstances of their divorce make it so that Marjorie will never take another man’s name again.
The unattached protagonist that bookends the novel embodies autonomy and agency as Marjorie Merriweather Post. Structuring the novel this way suggests that Marjorie is most herself as a Post—a success, professionally and personally.
Homes and Property
Marjorie’s many estates define her life and legacy. They provide her with sanctuary from the outside world, embody her artistic tastes, and host many parties and gatherings.
Marjorie’s interest in owning property undoubtedly comes from her father. She moves around quite a bit as a child: born in Illinois, moving to Texas, and then Michigan, before going to Washington, DC for finishing school. While she considers Battle Creek her home, she rarely visits the city after her father’s death, because “Leila had won it when she’d won my papa, and I’d yielded it to her” (348). Just as Charles William always seemingly had his eye on the next place to buy, Marjorie develops the habit of building lavish mansions: the pastoral Camp Topridge in the Adirondacks, the luxurious Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, the garden-rich Hillwood estate in Washington, DC, and her mega-yacht.
These homes provide Marjorie with an escape from the pressures and watchful eye of American society. She first notices this in Mar-a-Lago: “I liked it in Palm Beach, where the days were relaxed and so was my husband. […] Society here was not codified; our hours were not allotted to the same sequence of monotonous and required activities” (121). The mansion thus symbolizes Marjorie’s struggle with society’s expectations. Ed Close’s earlier dismissal of her suggestion to buy a home in Florida dooms their marriage and symbolizes his commitment to the rigidity of class and gender expectations.
Eventually, Marjorie uses her properties to develop her sense of self. Building Mar-a-Lago, she brags that “I’d shown them all that Marjorie Merriweather Post did not follow trends—she set them” (213). Likewise, Hillwood enshrines Marjorie into American history, becoming a museum, a place of learning, and a repository of treasure.
The US Presidency
US presidents make both subtle and overt appearances in this novel. Marjorie’s father is described as a friend of President Abraham Lincoln; Marjorie’s own career includes interactions with many presidents. The novel also allows readers to glimpse the future, mentioning for example then-Congressman Gerald Ford, the eventual 38th Commander-in-Chief. Marjorie’s proximity to the Oval Office illustrates her prominence in US sociopolitical circles: “These commanders in chief keep changing every four to eight years, but I remain at my post to greet and host them all” (9). Her relationships with each chief executive vary from the fleeting to the longstanding; she has particularly close connections to Franklin Delano Roosevelt through her third husband Joe, and to John F. Kennedy, whom she knows since his childhood.
Marjorie’s philanthropic eagerness makes Mar-a-Lago a second White House, or as she puts it, “to make my offer that could change the lives of these presidents” (10) is bold and self-aggrandizing. However, her donation was indeed accepted, though the cost of running the estate ultimately caused Congress to return the property in 1981, as President Johnson predicts much to Marjorie’s amusement: “Never realized it’d take an entire government to manage what I myself have been doing all these years” (363). That the government would struggle to maintain her mansion only underscores the inconceivable wealth and luxury of Marjorie’s life.
Unlock the meaning behind every key symbol & motif
See how recurring imagery, objects, and ideas shape the narrative.
- Explore how the author builds meaning through symbolism
- Understand what symbols & motifs represent in the text
- Connect recurring ideas to themes, characters, and events