We have changed our privacy policy. In addition, we use cookies on our website for various purposes. By continuing on our website, you consent to our use of cookies. You can learn about our practices by reading our privacy policy.

Chicago Society and Class Quotes

How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from Chicago.

Quote #1

VELMA: Come on babe, why don't we paint the town. And all that jazz.

The 1920s is an era with society obsessed with partying, drinking, and jazz music, and the first line of the movie's opening song inducts you into this not-so-secret society. Get ready to party… and to face the consequences.

Quote #2

MISS SUNSHINE: Do you have any advice for young girls seeking to avoid a life of jazz and drink? […]
BILLY: Stay away from jazz and liquor, and the men who play for fun.

Miss Sunshine's paper has a way of reporting things that the public secretly loves—jazz, liquor, murder—but in a way that seems to moralize or critique it. Is Miss Sunshine concerned with correcting society's downward spiral in addition to selling papers? Or is she only concerned with sales?

Quote #3

ROXIE: There's men everywhere, jazz everywhere, booze everywhere, life everywhere, joy everywhere, nowadays.

"Nowadays" emphasizes how the Jazz Age is a new age. Society wasn't always like that, and it's shocking to some people. But there's no going back.