How we cite our quotes: (Line)
Quote #4
"Okay. Look. I don't understand what you've got in your head anymore. I really don't. I don't get it. Now you desperately need me. Now you can't live without me. NOW you'll do anything for me. Why should I believe it this time?" (325)
May isn't buying into any of Eddie's song and dance about loving her and sticking around, since apparently she's heard it all before. She tries to get him to give one reason she should think this time is different from the others… but she doesn't seem to get one.
Quote #5
"It was supposed to have been true every time before. Every other time. Now it's true again. You've been jerking me off like this for fifteen years. Fifteen years I've been a yo-yo for you. I've never been split. I've never been two ways about you. I've either loved you or not loved you. And now I just plain don't love you. Understand? Do you understand that? I don't love you. I don't need you. I don't want you. Do you get that? Now if you can still stay, then you're either crazy or pathetic." (327)
Even though May is telling Eddie that she's not ambivalent about him, that's not really true—if she really doesn't love or need him, then why does she keep losing her mind every time he leaves the room? Seems a bit suspicious to us. However, perhaps her real point is that she wasn't unfaithful or split in her affections like he appeared to be—he was the one running around with the Countess and kind of dividing his heart, like their dad did with their mothers some years before. What a family tradition to maintain, right?
Quote #6
EDDIE: You miss the whole point, Martin. The reason you're taking her out to the movies isn't to see something she hasn't seen before.
MARTIN: Oh.
EDDIE: The reason you're taking her out to the movies is because you just want to be with her. Right? You just wanna' be close to her. I mean you could take her just about anywhere. (413-415)
In one of the only moments in the play that is almost (but not quite) sweet, Eddie coaches Martin about his date with May. Instead of fretting about their actual activity, Eddie suggests Martin should be focused on just enjoying May's company. It's one of the very few moments in the play that doesn't make you want to take a mental bath.