Thoroughly Modern Millie Literary Elements

Fiction, Musical

English

Manhattan, the 1920s

Omniscient Author. The point of view shifts between characters and the viewer is given access to each character's thoughts and feelings, especially during their songs.

Light-hearted, comic, optimistic

Millie, the upbeat, wannabe flapper, is the protagonist and Mrs. Meers, the human trafficker, is the antagonist.

Mrs. Meers attempts to kidnap Dorothy to sell her into slavery in Asia. She concocts multiple, elaborate plans to trap Dorothy and sell her against her will.

Mrs. Meers successful kidnaps Dorothy and prepares to send her to "the Orient" into slavery. Because Dorothy was taken by Mrs. Meers, she inadvertently stands up her date for dinner. When Millie, Jimmy, and Muzzy realize that Dorothy is gone and that she has supposedly checked out of the Hotel Priscilla, they know something is terribly wrong. They come up with a plan to rescue Dorothy and catch Mrs. Meers in her human trafficking scheme. Muzzy disguises herself as an orphan to reveal Mrs. Meers intentions while Dorothy is freed.

In the first scene at the Hotel Priscilla, the young, female tenants discuss the fact that orphans are seemingly disappearing. Soon after, one of the girls, Ethel, receives news that her uncle has died and she has no living relatives left. She is taken away by Mrs. Meers. When Millie asks Mrs. Meers why Ethel's room is now vacant, Mrs. Meers tells her that Ethel has taken a job acting in "the Orient." This sets up the ominous outcome for orphans and foreshadows Dorothy conflict in the show.

The song "Forget About the Boy," thrives on understatement. After being hurt by Jimmy, Millie attempts to put him out of her mind. She sings, "Is that a man I once adored? He's nothing but an albatross, no great loss." She clearly still has strong feelings for Jimmy, as revealed later in the song, but is trying to understate his admirable qualities.

Many of the songs in Thoroughly Modern Millie contain biblical and classic literature allusions. When Millie sings about embracing love in "Gimme Gimme" she sings, "Here I am, St. Valentine my bags are packed, I'm first in line. Aphrodite, don't forget me, Romeo and Juliet me!" This allusion packed phrase elicits strong connections to passionate love largely due to is allusions to Aphrodite and Romeo and Juliet. Similarly, the audience is able to understand society's feelings about flappers thanks to an allusion in the song "Thoroughly Modern Millie." The ensemble tells the audience that society thinks the roaring twenties, modern society is "is odd and "Sodom and Gomorrah"-ble." Thanks to this reference the audience is able to understand the extent to which traditional society opposes the flapper subculture.

This show largely relies on visual imagery to set the show and define the roaring twenties. There is a large focus on the hair styles and fashion trends that symbolize being a flapper. The modern, fashionable women in the show all sport bobs and straight cut dresses with hemlines above the knee.

The song "What Do I Need with Love" is a great example of paradox in Thoroughly Modern Millie. Jimmy tries to convince himself that he is not in love with Millie and that he is, in fact, better off without love. He uses paradoxical phrases like "flirting with disaster" to convey that while he is telling himself he is not in love, he is clearly head over heels for Millie.

The song "Gimme, Gimme" is built around parallelism. Millie sings verse after verse following the same structure. This serves to add emphasis to her desire to embrace love. Millie exclaims, "Gimme, gimme that thing called love, I crave it. Gimme, gimme that thing called love, I'll brave it. Thick 'n thin, rich or poor time, gimme years and I'll want more time. Gimme, gimme that thing called love." The repetition of the phrase "gimme, gimme" illustrates how desperately Millie wants love. She has turned a corner and decided that she loves Jimmy with her whole heart and is ready to share her feelings with him.

Thoroughly Modern Millie often uses personification to give objects a life and whimsy of their own. In the song, "Jazz Baby," Muzzy connects her childhood to her profession as a jazz singer. She sings, "The wailin' of the saxes when those fellas go mad, cannot compare with what I got from mommy and dad." The use of the word wailing connects a human ability to the sound that the jazz saxophones. This elicits a strong emotional connection and allows the audience to envision and hear, not only the saxes, but also an emotional person.

The chorus of the show largely serves to establish societal norms and culture "dos and don'ts." They help set up the difference between traditional society and the flapper subculture.