The Purple Dress (Henry)
Short summary
In an American town, presumably early 20th century, Maida, a clerk at the Bee-Hive Store, eagerly prepared a beautiful tailored purple dress for the annual Thanksgiving dinner held by her employer. She carefully saved eight months to afford the $8 cost from the tailor, determined to impress Mr. Ramsay.
Mr. Ramsay, the store's admired head clerk and future partner, was known for eccentric health beliefs and gentlemanly manners. All the female clerks dreamed of marrying him, prompting Maida's friend and coworker Grace to create a red dress intended to attract Ramsay. On the night before Thanksgiving, Grace tearfully revealed that she faced eviction for owing rent money she had spent on her gown. Selflessly, Maida gave her the $4 she had carefully set aside for completing payment on her own cherished dress—meaning she would not wear it to the dinner.
After missing the store's Thanksgiving dinner, Maida humbly explained her situation to the tailor, who kindly allowed her to take the dress, trusting her to later pay. Wearing her purple dress in the pouring rain, Maida drew admiring attention, joyfully indifferent to the storm around her.
I say you do not understand it, ladies of the full purse and varied wardrobe. You do not know what it is to live with a perpetual longing for pretty things--to starve eight months in order to bring a purple dress and a holiday together.
When Mr. Ramsay encountered her, he praised her beauty and admired her boldness in braving the elements, warmly offering to walk with her. Overjoyed, Maida blushed and sneezed, happily fulfilled in her purple dress.
Detailed summary
Division into chapters is editorial.
Introduction to the symbolism of purple and the main characters
The story began with a reflection on the color purple, a shade associated with royalty and nobility throughout history. It was a color in fashion at the time, seen frequently on the streets, particularly on Twenty-third street in the afternoons. The color held special significance for Maida, a clerk at the Bee-Hive Store, who had set her heart on having a purple dress for Thanksgiving.
We are to consider the shade known as purple. It is a color justly in repute among the sons and daughters of man. Emperors claim it for their especial dye. Good fellows everywhere seek to bring their noses to the genial hue.
Maidas plans for her purple dress and the rivalry with Grace
Maida had been saving for eight months to afford her purple dress. She had accumulated $18, which bought the fabric and paid $4 to Schlegel, the tailor, as a down payment. She would have just enough to pay the remaining $4 on the day before Thanksgiving. The dress was to be a tailor-made creation with a plaited skirt, blouse coat, and other fashionable details.
Grace, another clerk at the Bee-Hive Store and Maida's roommate, preferred red and had chosen that color for her own Thanksgiving dress. She teased Maida, suggesting that Maida's choice of purple was influenced by Mr. Ramsay's supposed preference for the color. Maida insisted she simply preferred purple regardless of others' opinions.
Danger is near when a maiden thinks she can wear purple regardless of complexions and opinions; and when Emperors think their purple robes will wear forever.
The annual Thanksgiving dinner at the Bee-Hive Store was a significant event. Old Bachman, the proprietor, hosted this dinner for his employees every year. It was held in the store itself, with the front windows covered with wrapping paper and food brought in from a nearby restaurant. Mr. Ramsay, the head clerk, always served as master of ceremonies for these occasions.
Grace borrows Maidas money and Maida misses the Thanksgiving dinner
The night before Thanksgiving, Maida hurried home to retrieve the $4 she had saved for the final payment on her dress. She planned to pay Schlegel and take the dress home that evening. However, when she arrived, she found Grace in distress. The landlady had locked Grace out of her room because she owed $4 in rent and had put her trunk in the hall.
Grace explained that she had spent her money on her red dress, expecting the landlady to wait until the following week for the rent. Seeing her friend's distress, Maida reluctantly gave Grace her precious $4. Grace promised to repay it at a rate of one dollar per week and went upstairs to try on her new dress.
"You blessed darling," cried Grace, now a rainbow instead of sunset. "I'll pay the mean old thing and then I'm going to try on my dress. I think it's heavenly. Come up and look at it. I'll pay the money back, a dollar a week--honest I will."
On Thanksgiving Day, Grace came to Maida's room already dressed in her red outfit. She was surprised to find Maida still in her old clothes. Maida explained that her dress hadn't been finished in time, so she wouldn't be attending the dinner. She refused Grace's suggestion to wear something else, insisting that if she couldn't have her purple dress, she wouldn't go at all.
Schlegels kindness allows Maida to get her dress
Maida spent the morning alone in her room, imagining the festivities at the store. She could picture the girls laughing, old Bachman telling jokes, his diamond-adorned wife who only visited on Thanksgiving, and Mr. Ramsay moving about attentively, ensuring everyone's comfort.
In the afternoon, Maida went to Schlegel's shop with a heavy heart to tell him she couldn't pay the remaining $4 for her dress. To her surprise, the tailor was understanding. He recognized her as someone who passed his shop daily for two years and trusted she would pay when able. He insisted she take the dress anyway, saying it was well-made and she would look pretty in it.
"Gott!" cried Schlegel, angrily. "For what do you look so glum? Take him away. He is ready. Pay me some time. Haf I not seen you pass mine shop every day in two years? If I make clothes is it that I do not know how to read beoples because?"
Maidas walk in the purple dress and unexpected encounter with Mr. Ramsay
As Maida left the shop with her dress, rain began to fall. Despite this, she smiled, too happy with her acquisition to be bothered by the weather. At five o'clock, she ventured out onto the street wearing her purple dress. The rain had intensified into a steady downpour, and people hurried by with umbrellas and buttoned raincoats, many turning to look at the serene girl walking through the storm in her purple dress.
Many of them turned their heads to marvel at this beautiful, serene, happy-eyed girl in the purple dress walking through the storm as though she were strolling in a garden under summer skies.
Maida had no umbrella or overshoes, but she didn't care. After eight months of saving and longing, she finally had her purple dress and was determined to wear it regardless of the elements. The rain soaked through the fabric and dripped from her fingers as she walked.
Suddenly, someone turned a corner and blocked her path. Looking up, Maida found herself face to face with Mr. Ramsay. He complimented her magnificent appearance in the new dress and expressed disappointment at her absence from the dinner. True to his health enthusiast nature, he praised her for braving the weather, calling it healthful and invigorating. He asked to walk with her, and Maida blushed and sneezed in response.
"Why, Miss Maida," said he, "you look simply magnificent in your new dress. I was greatly disappointed not to see you at our dinner. And of all the girls I ever knew, you show the greatest sense and intelligence."