How does Marjorie feel about Bernice?

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Marjorie Harvey

On the surface, Marjorie Harvey is the poster child for the new era that Fitzgerald loved to depict; she's relentlessly modern, trendy, and socially savvy. She's the Queen Bee of her town's youthful population – the Regina George, the Blair Waldorf, the Cher Horowitz of her time. Marjorie is the be all and end all of what guys want and what girls want to be; she's well-dressed, gorgeous, witty, and incredibly popular, even on a national scale (she's practically a superstar at the then-all-male Ivy League colleges she visits for parties and football games). Marjorie is truly a thing to be reckoned with.

The only thing that could possibly do any reckoning with Marjorie would have to be a force equal to Marjorie herself – which, oddly enough, turns out to be the underdog, Bernice. By fashioning her cousin in her own image, Marjorie creates the agent of her own downfall; in Bernice, she takes on a project that succeeds all too well. The new Bernice, as constructed by her cousin, has all of the traits that make Marjorie successful: beauty, wit, style, and ultimately, true ruthlessness.

However, Bernice has something Marjorie doesn't possess (and probably never will) – honesty and authenticity. Marjorie is kind of a major hypocrite, for though she claims to be as modern and contemporary as can be, she also upholds some elements of the traditional definition of women. While she has no qualms about bobbing Bernice's hair, she makes no mention of ever bobbing her own flowing, princess-like, golden locks. And likewise, while she proudly declares herself a fun-loving, hedonistic "gardenia girl," she eventually gives in to that old demon, jealousy.

Marjorie's possessiveness of Warren demonstrates her hidden connection to an older vision of womanhood; surely, if she were really wholly invested in living in the moment and not worrying about the future, she wouldn't care about losing her most faithful suitor (who she doesn't even love!) to her cousin. To make things even worse, she's something of a misogynist – she doesn't have any real female friends because she arrogantly thinks that all girls (with the exception of herself) are stupid. To that, we have one response: Seriously? Come on, Marjorie – what kind of liberated modern woman are you?

In conclusion, Marjorie is nothing but trouble, and when Bernice takes her revenge at the end, we just want to giggle wildly along with her.

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Part 3

• The next day, Bernice spills her angst out to Marjorie, admitting that she overheard the conversation the previous night.
• Bernice tries rather ineptly to guilt-trip the guilt-free Marjorie by saying that she should probably just go back home to Eau Claire. The grievances of the past few weeks all come back to her, including a nasty incident in which Marjorie insulted Bernice's dress sense (a touchy topic for many girls).
• Bernice's attempts to instill guilt fail miserably, though, and she is dismayed when Marjorie doesn't try to stop her from leaving. In fact, Marjorie obviously can't wait for her cousin to get out of town.
• Sobbing, Bernice flees. An hour later, she returns, hoping that Marjorie will coax her into staying. Nothing of the sort happens.
• The two cousins face off, and Marjorie unleashes a dizzying display of criticism. Basically, she tells Bernice, any old fashioned ideas of womanhood and daintiness are out the window these days, and a girl's got to be spunky and witty, as well as rich and pretty, in order to succeed.
• Bernice is overwhelmed by these new ideas. She disappears for a few hours, claiming a headache.
• Marjorie goes out for the afternoon, and when she returns, a determined Bernice is waiting for her.
• Bernice has decided that Marjorie might be right. She agrees to put herself in her cousin's care for the rest of her visit, promising to do whatever Marjorie tells her to.
• Intrigued, Marjorie tells Bernice to write home and say she's staying longer.
• The makeover begins immediately. Marjorie attacks everything from Bernice's eyebrows to her dancing, explaining that while she despises "dainty minds" (60), a woman has to be feminine and enticing on the outside.
• Marjorie also lets Bernice in on a big secret – in order to be popular, women have to be kind and considerate even to the lowliest of men. Marjorie urges Bernice to use the less popular guys she meets as "practice" for the big fish.
• A whole new world has opened up for Bernice over the past few minutes. She attempts feebly to thank Marjorie for this whirlwind lesson, but Marjorie will have none of it – she's too distracted wondering if Bernice should bob her hair.
• This last bit is too much for poor Bernice. She's overwhelmed.

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