Nottage has picked very poignant names for her characters. The meanings of each name and the stories connected to many of them provide another layer of meaning to the story being told in Intimate Apparel.
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Esther -
Persian name meaning "star". It is connected to the biblical story of Esther who risked her life to save her exiled people from annihilation. The biblical Esther kept her Jewish identity a secret from her husband, the Persian King, until the King ordered all Jews be executed. She saved her people after revealing her true self to her husband.
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Mayme -
Latin root meaning "star of the sea; pearl". It is a contraction of Margaret (pearl) and Mary (rebellion; sea of bitterness; wished-for child)
George -
Greek root meaning "farmer or earth worker". It is connected to Saint George, a crusader who saved the Libyan King's daughter, and the village, from a dragon. After capturing the beast, he told the people that he would only kill it if t hey all converted to Christianity.
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Marks -
A patronymic (derived from the father) Jewish name. It comes from the Latin name Marcus meaning "to harvest".
Van Buren -
Literally meaning "from Buren" a town in the Netherlands. The Dutch royal family's been known to use this name in order to garner some degree of anonymity form time to time
Dickson -
Means "strong leader" or "ruler"
