The Bob as a Symbol
The iconic bob haircut symbolizes modernity for Millie. When Millie moves to Manhattan, the first thing she does is get her hair chopped off into a bob. This marks her transition from a country girl from Kansas to a chic, modern New York woman. Similarly, she tells her friend Dorothy to cut off her curls. This is her way of helping Dorothy achieve the look and identity of a modern woman. The bob is an outward sign to society that Millie is embracing the roaring twenties.
Wealth as a Motif
The only thing Millie wants more than to be "thoroughly modern" is to win a rich husband. Throughout the show, Millie is on a quest to land herself a wealthy man. This is a recurring theme throughout the show, and Millie bases several important decisions largely on whether or not it will help her achieve this goal. She finds a job for a rich man who she sets her sights on marrying and is conflicted about her love for Jimmy because she doesn't believe he is wealthy. The motif resurfaces when we meet Muzzy. Muzzy marries for love rather than wealth and is a beacon of wisdom throughout the show. In the end, Jimmy and Dorothy are both revealed to be Muzzy's millionaire relatives. She set them out in the world to find love independent of their wealth.
Being and Orphan as a Motif
While Thoroughly Modern Millie is largely a light, comic show, it address the heavy theme of sex trafficking and slavery. Millie lands at the Priscilla Hotel, run by the human trafficker Mrs. Meers. Mrs. Meers preys upon young girls with no relatives, sending them off to "the Orient" to be sold into slavery. At the beginning of the show, one of the tenants at the Priscilla Hotel, Ethel, receives news that her last living relative has died and she is now an orphan. She is immediately taken away, presumably to be "comforted," by Mrs. Meers. Later, when Dorothy claims she is also an orphan, Mrs. Meers concocts elaborate plans to abduct her. This theme continues to resurface, so much so that by the end of the show, being an orphan can be equated to a death sentence.
