Mildred Montag is a character in Ray Bradbury’s novel Fahrenheit 451 who represents the dangers of an overly censored society.
In this blog post, I share 20 Mildred Montag quotes that highlight her character development throughout the novel.
Fahrenheit 451 Quotes With Page Numbers
Mildred Character Traits
Mildred Montag is the wife of Guy Montag in Fahrenheit 451. She’s a perfect example of the effects of a cold, controlling society. Mildred is self-centered, robotic, and unfeeling; society has made her this way.
Her suicide attempt shows how far she has fallen and how little she values her life. When confronted with the burning of a woman, Mildred claims that she “shouldn’t of had books,” showing her lack of empathy and disconnectedness from society.
She also cannot remember where she and Montag met, further proving her lack of connection with her husband. She also considers the parlor shows her “family” and cares more about her part in a meaningless play than their relationship.
Lastly, Mildred’s desire for a fourth TV wall in the parlor shows her focus on material objects and her immersion in the shallow world of technology.
Learn more about Mildred’s Character Traits in this article.
20 Mildred Montag Quotes With Page Numbers From Fahrenheit 451
Here are 20 Mildred quotes with page numbers that capture her character and what’s wrong with society.
1. “What? Did we have a wild party or something? Feel like I’ve a hangover. God, I’m hungry. ”
Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, Mildred Montag, Page 16
2. “Hey,” she said. “The man’s thinking!”
Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, Mildred Montag, Page 17
3 “Yes,” he said. “I wanted to talk to you.” He paused. “You took all the pills in your bottle last night.” “Oh, I wouldn’t do that,” she said, surprised. “The bottle was empty.” “I wouldn’t do a thing like that. Why would I do a thing like that?” she asked.
Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, Mildred and Guy Montag, Page 17
4. “Heck,” she said, “what would I want to go and do a silly thing like that for?”
Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, Mildred Montag, Page 17
5. “I didn’t do that,” she said. “Never in a billion years.”
Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, Mildred Montag, Page 17
6. “Well, this is a play comes on the wall-to-wall circuit in ten minutes. They mailed me my part this morning. I sent in some box-tops. They write the script with one part missing. It’s a new idea. The home-maker, that’s me, is the missing part. When it comes time for the missing lines, they all look at me out of the three walls and I say the lines: Here, for instance, the man says, `What do you think of this whole idea, Helen?’
Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, Mildred Montag, Page 17
7. “I think that’s fine!’ And then they go on with the play until he says, `Do you agree to that, Helen!’ and I say, `I sure do!’ Isn’t that fun, Guy?”
Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, Mildred Montag, Page 18
8. “It’s really fun. It’ll be even more fun when we can afford to have the fourth wall installed. How long you figure before we save up and get the fourth wall torn out and a fourth wall-TV put in? It’s only two thousand dollars.”
Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, Mildred Montag, Page 18
9. “It’s only two thousand dollars,” she replied. “And I should think you’d consider me sometimes. If we had a fourth wall, why it’d be just like this room wasn’t ours at all, but all kinds of exotic people’s rooms. We could do without a few things.”
Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, Mildred Montag, Page 18
10. “Is that all it was?” She sat looking at him for a long moment. “Well, good-bye, dear.”
Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, Mildred Montag, Page 18
11. “Will you turn the parlor off?” he asked. “That’s my family.”
Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, Mildred Montag, Page 46
12. “She’s nothing to me; she shouldn’t have had books.”
Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, Mildred Montag, Page 48
13. “Let me alone,” said Mildred. “I didn’t do anything.”
Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, Mildred Montag, Page 49
14. “I always like to drive fast when I feel that way. You get it up around ninety-five and you feel wonderful. It’s fun out in the country. You hit rabbits, sometimes you hit dogs.”
Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, Mildred Montag, Page 61
15. “Happiness is important. Fun is everything. And yet I kept sitting there saying to myself, I’m not happy, I’m not happy. I am.” Mildred’s mouth beamed. “And proud of it.”
Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, Mildred Montag, Page 62
16. Mildred kicked at a book. “Books aren’t people. You read and I look around, but there isn’t anybody! . . . Now. . . my “family” is people. They tell me things; I laugh, they laugh! And the colours!”
Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, Mildred Montag, Page 69
17. “Here! Read this one. No, I take it back. Here’s that real funny one you read out loud today. Ladies, you won’t understand a word. It goes umpty-tumpty-ump. Go ahead, Guy, that page, dear”
Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, Mildred Montag, Page 95
18. “Ladies, once a year, every fireman’s allowed to bring one book home, from the old days, to show his family how silly it all was, how nervous that sort of thing can make you, how crazy. Guy’s surprise tonight is to read you one sample to show how mixed-up things were, so none of us will ever have to bother our little old heads about that junk again, isn’t that right, darling?”
Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, Mildred Montag, Page 95
19. “Come on, let’s be cheery, you turn the `family’ on, now. Go ahead. Let’s laugh and be happy, now, stop crying, we’ll have a party!”
Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, Mildred Montag, Page 97
20. “Fool, Montag, fool, fool, oh God you silly fool…”
Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, Mildred Montag, Page 98
Quotes About Mildred With Page Numbers
“Mildred watched the toast delivered to her plate. She had both ears plugged with electronic bees that were humming the hour away. She looked up suddenly, saw him and nodded. “You all right?” he asked. She was an expert at lip reading from ten years of apprenticeship at Seashell ear-thimbles. She nodded again.”
Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, The Narrator about Mildred, Page 16
“She laughed an odd little laugh that went up and up. “Funny, how funny, not to remember where or when you met your husband or wife.”
Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, The Narrator about Mildred, Page 40
“His wife stretched on the bed, uncovered and cold, like a body displayed on the lid of a tomb, her eyes fixed to the ceiling by invisible threads of steel, immovable. And in her ears the little Seashells, the thimble radios tamped tight, and an electronic ocean of sound, of music and talk and music and talk coming in, coming in on the shore of her unsleeping mind. The room was indeed empty.”
Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, The Narrator about Mildred, Page 10
“No matter when he came in, the walls were always talking to Mildred.”
Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, The Narrator about Mildred, Page 42
“It was suddenly more important than any other thing in a lifetime that he know where he had met Mildred.”
Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, The Narrator about Mildred, Page 40
“There had been no night in the last two years that Mildred had not swum that sea, had not gladly gone down in it for the third time.”
Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, The Narrator about Mildred, Page 10
“We get these cases nine or ten a night. Got so many, starting a few years ago, we had the special machines built.”
Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, The paramedics about Mildred, Page 13
“We need not to be let alone. We need to be really bothered once in a while. How long is it since you were really bothered? About something important, about something real?”
~Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, Guy Montag about Mildred, Page 49
Mildred Quote about happiness
“Happiness is important. Fun is everything. And yet I kept sitting there saying to myself, I’m not happy, I’m not happy. I am.” Mildred’s mouth beamed. “And proud of it.”
Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, Mildred Montag, Page 62
Mildred watching TV Quote
“Will you turn the parlor off?” he asked. “That’s my family.” “Will you turn it off for a sick man?” “I’ll turn it down.” She went out of the room and did nothing to the parlor and came back. “Is that better?” “Thanks.” “That’s my favorite program,” she said. “What about the aspirin?” “You’ve never been sick before.” She went away again.
The converter attachment, which had cost them one hundred dollars, automatically supplied her name whenever the announcer addressed his anonymous audience, leaving a blank where the proper syllables could be filled in.”
Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, Guy and Mildred Montag, Page 46
25 Important Fahrenheit 451 Quotes Meaning Explained
Mildred and Montag relationship quotes
“There had been no night in the last two years that Mildred had not swum that sea, had not gladly gone down in it for the third time.”
Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, The Narrator about Mildred Montag, Page 11
“if she died, he was certain he wouldn’t cry.”
Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, The Narrator about Guy and Mildred Montag, Page 41
“That’s my family.”
Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, Mildred Montag, Page 46
“Nobody listens any more. I can’t talk to the walls because they’re yelling at me. I can’t talk to my wife; she listens to the walls. I just want someone to hear what I have to say. And maybe if I talk long enough, it’ll make sense.”
Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, Guy Montag about Mildred Montag, Page 78
“He burnt the bedroom walls and the cosmetics chest because he wanted to change everything, the chairs, the tables, and in the dining room the silverware and plastic dishes, everything that showed that he had lived here in this empty house with a strange woman who would forget him tomorrow, who had gone and quite forgotten him already, listening to her Seashell Radio pour in on her and in on her as she rode across town, alone.”
Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, The Narrator about Guy and Mildred Montag, Page 100
“She laughed an odd little laugh that went up and up. “Funny, how funny, not to remember where or when you met your husband or wife.”
Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, The Narrator about Mildred Montag, Page 40
“His wife stretched on the bed, uncovered and cold, like a body displayed on the lid of a tomb, her eyes fixed to the ceiling by invisible threads of steel, immovable. And in her ears the little Seashells, the thimble radios tamped tight, and an electronic ocean of sound, of music and talk and music and talk coming in, coming in on the shore of her unsleeping mind. The room was indeed empty.”
Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, The Narrator about Guy and Mildred Montag, Page 10
Quotes that show Mildred is unhappy
“Did you hear Beatty? Did you listen to him? He knows all the answers. He’s right. Happiness is important. Fun is everything. And yet I kept sitting there saying to myself, I’m not happy, I’m not happy. I am.” Mildred’s mouth beamed. “And proud of it.”
Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, Mildred Montag, Page 62
“We get these cases nine or ten a night. Got so many, starting a few years ago, we had the special machines built.”
Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, The paramedics about Mildred Montag, Page 13
“Mildred!” Her face was like a snow-covered island upon which rain might fall; but it felt no rain; over which clouds might pass their moving shadows, but she felt no shadow. There was only the singing of the thimble-wasps in her tamped-shut ears, and her eyes all glass, and breath going in and out, softly, faintly, in and out of her nostrils, and her not caring whether it came or went, went or came. The object he had sent tumbling with his foot now glinted under the edge of his own bed. The small crystal bottle of sleeping-tablets which earlier today had been filled with thirty capsules and which now lay uncapped and empty in the light of the tiny flare.”
Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, The Narrator about Mildred Montag, Page 11
What is a quote from Mildred in Fahrenheit 451?
“It’s only two thousand dollars,” she replied. “And I should think you’d consider me sometimes. If we had a fourth wall, why it’d be just like this room wasn’t ours at all, but all kinds of exotic people’s rooms. We could do without a few things.” Page 18
What does Mildred Montag symbolize?
Mildred Montag symbolizes the conformity, blind obedience, and fear of Bradbury’s oppressive society in Fahrenheit 451.
Her obsession with her television family, lack of curiosity, and willingness to turn in her husband to the authorities show how deeply rooted the oppressive societal norms are in her life. By representing the best this society offers, Mildred also reveals the negative aspects that make it oppressive.
What did Montag say to Mildred?
Montag asked Mildred where they first met ten years ago, but neither could remember. He then asked her about the last time something bothered her and tried to make her understand his guilt at burning the woman and at burning books. Finally, he baited Mildred by insisting on discussing books.
Why did Mildred betray Montag?
Mildred betrays Montag because she’s devoted to society and its standards. She knows she will lose everything if she remains loyal to her husband. Additionally, the rift between them and the influence of her friends made her decision to turn him in easier.
Why is Mildred depressed?
Mildred’s depressed because her life consists of hours of mindless television, the only thing society encourages and promotes. This monotonous lifestyle, coupled with her inability to express her unhappiness, has led to her attempting suicide as a cry for help, revealing the deep dissatisfaction she has with her society.
What did Mildred overdose on Fahrenheit 451?
Mildred overdosed on sleeping pills at the beginning of Fahrenheit 451. She had to have her stomach pumped and her blood replaced, which is common in their society. Later in the book, we also see her taking drugs as escapism.
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