The Maid Character Analysis

The maid plays a small but significant role in the story. Corley first met her one evening when he said goodnight to her. This led to the two of them taking a walk around the canal, during which she told Corley that she works as a domestic maid—or a “slavey”––in a house on Baggot Street. It is implied that Corley and the maid have sex after this initial meeting and then start seeing each other regularly. The maid is savvy enough to not get pregnant, though Corley is afraid she might. The maid seems to have genuine feelings for Corley, though, as she buys him good quality cigarettes and cigars and pays for Corley’s tram tickets. She doesn’t know Corley’s name but apparently thinks that he is “a bit of class,” according to Corley. At any rate, the maid seems to like Corley, though his behavior makes clear that he does not genuinely care for her. Corley’s treatment of the maid can be seen as standing in for his and other Irish men’s mistreatment of all Irish women. On the night when the story takes place, the maid wears blue and white clothes, which are the colors of the Virgin Mary. But unlike Mary, the maid isn’t a virgin, and she isn’t pure or innocent. Corley also doesn’t revere or respect her in any way, which parallels the way Great Britain was dominating and exploiting Ireland under colonial rule in the early 20th century (when the story is set). At the end of the story, the maid steals a coin from her employer’s house and gives it to Corley. Through this gesture, the depths of Corley’s manipulation and mistreatment of the maid become clear: he has used her for money and exploited her feelings for him to get her to commit petty crime.