54 pages • 1 hour read
Terry McMillanWaiting to Exhale
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1992A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Character Analysis
Savannah Jackson
Savannah Jackson is one of four protagonists in Waiting to Exhale. Savannah is a 36-year-old professional woman who begins the novel hoping to find love. Savannah wants to be married, primarily due to pressure from her mother and sister that adds to her sense that she is missing out on something by not having a husband and children. Savannah’s sister accuses her of putting her career first and that her career ambitions have caused her to miss out on finding love. Savannah does have ambition, hoping that she will one day become a TV producer, but she actually takes a pay cut in order to move to Phoenix to be closer to her former college roommate, Bernadine Harris.
Savannah is strong and independent. She goes out, meets new people, and opens herself up to the possibility of love. However, each of the men she meets let her down in one way or another. The first man is Lionel, a former acquaintance of her brother-in-law whom she is told is an ambitious businessman. However, as Savannah gets to know him, it becomes clear that he is a conman who indulges in one get-rich-quick scam after another. The second man Savannah is involved with is a former lover with whom she broke up because he was never clear about his feelings for her. However, now that he is married and has a child, he is open about his affection. Savannah sleeps with him and regrets it, eventually cutting him off despite pressure from her mother, her sister, and even Bernadine to continue seeing him despite his marital status. Finally, Savannah meets a man in Las Vegas she believes could be exactly what she’s been looking for, but Charles ghosts her, leaving her heartbroken. Savannah experiences a turning point when she realizes she doesn’t need a man as much as those around her have convinced her she does, which leads her to set firm boundaries with people who pressure her and to pursue happiness on her own terms, such as exploring adoption.
Savannah’s character is similar to Robin’s in that they are both single women who have never been married but would like to be. However, Savannah is more realistic in her expectations. Savannah doesn’t use astrology to choose men or base her desire on a man’s looks or prowess in bed. While physical attraction is important to Savannah, it isn’t a dealbreaker like it is for Robin. Savannah is able to conclude that, although she would like to have a companion, she is okay with her solitude as well.
Bernadine Harris
Bernadine Harris is the second of four protagonists in Waiting to Exhale. Bernadine begins the novel learning that her husband of 11 years wants a divorce to marry another woman. Bernadine looks back on her marriage in the first few minutes of his request and sees how she gave up her own wants and needs in order to give John what he wanted. Bernadine can also see that what John wants is something she never wanted. Bernadine’s subsequent meltdown—in which she sets fire to her car with his belongings inside—is not the result of a broken heart, but anger that she gave up her identity for something that didn’t matter.
Bernadine is similar to the other protagonists in that she is looking for a man who will support her dreams and be a partner. She did not find this in her marriage. However, Bernadine also finds herself struggling to find her identity again and to understand who she is in relation to not only a man, but in relation to all other aspects of her life. Bernadine is a mother, but she struggles to balance spending enough time with her children and having time for herself. At the same time, Bernadine works as a controller for a real estate management company. She doesn’t enjoy her job, but it gives her a sense of routine and purpose. In the end, her decision to use the divorce settlement to open a bakery fulfills the dream she had throughout her marriage to John.
Bernadine experiences distrust for men throughout the novel. The fact that John lied to her and hid his assets, as well as the way in which he cast her aside after she gave up everything to help him build his businesses, leaves Bernadine feeling bitter toward men. However, he also left her feeling as though she is no longer desirable, which inspires her to move on to another man to prove to herself that she is worthy of being loved. Unlike the other protagonists, Bernadine has known love and known commitment with a man. Just like the other women, though, Bernadine struggles to find a partner who can live up to her expectations and give her the sort of partnership she believes will fulfill her.
Robin Stokes
Introduced third in Waiting to Exhale, Robin Stokes is one of four protagonists. A foil for Savannah, Robin is a professional in her thirties who desires to marry and quit her job to stay at home and raise children. Robin has specific desires in a partner: She wants a man who is good-looking, has great prowess in bed, and is willing to support her as a stay-at-home mom. However, Robin continually becomes involved with men who display a fear of commitment, emotional immaturity, or an inability to rise to Robin’s standards. Robin initially falls in love with Russell, a good-looking charmer who lives off the generosity of his lovers and claims to be afraid of commitment. The second man Robin meets is Michael, who is steady and faithful, but Robin doesn’t find him attractive or suitable in bed. Finally, Robin meets a man who is both good-looking and clearly wants a relationship, but he uses crack cocaine.
Robin is an only child with aging parents who are ailing. Robin’s father has Alzheimer’s, and her mother is a breast cancer survivor. Robin’s status as an only child gives her a sense of entitlement that influences Robin’s struggles in her love life. Robin finds it difficult to adjust her expectations. At the same time, Robin also struggles with responsibility, using shopping as a way to soothe hurt feelings, a habit that causes Robin a great deal of stress when she cannot pay her regular bills or help her mother financially. Robin also believes in astrology and allows an astrologist’s advice to guide her relationship choices, but she ignores the advice when it doesn’t reinforce what she wants.
Robin is outgoing, beautiful, and lonely. Robin is also self-aware, often arguing with herself over her infatuation with Russell and her inability to get past Michael’s physical inadequacies. In the end, Robin shows personal growth in her determination to rely on herself. She breaks up with Russell and refuses to settle for Michael, outside of friendship. When Robin gets pregnant, she chooses to have and raise the child alone even though she has always wanted to share the responsibility of parenthood with a man. Robin also outgrows astrology, learning to lean on her own instincts as well as her friendships for support and advice.
Gloria Matthews
Gloria Matthews is the fourth and final protagonist introduced. Gloria is a 37-year-old single woman when the novel begins. Gloria owns a hair salon and is the mother of 16-year-old Tarik. When the novel begins, Gloria admits to never having been in a relationship. Tarik’s father was a college acquaintance who took advantage of Gloria when she was drunk during a party her senior year. As a Catholic, Gloria refused to give up her baby and raised him alone. Gloria lost both her parents when Tarik was young, causing her to become independent by necessity rather than choice.
There are two sides of Gloria Matthews. She is a strong, independent woman who stepped up to the challenge of motherhood even though it meant living a solitary, lonely life. Gloria put her son ahead of everything else and put love on the back burner when it became clear it wasn’t going to come for her. Gloria is somewhat emotionally stunted when it comes to love and romance, searching for it primarily in a man who never really wanted a relationship with her: her son’s father, David. At the same time, Gloria is the shoulder all her friends cry on and the one who is always there with whatever is needed when someone else has a crisis.
The other side of Gloria Matthews’ character in Waiting to Exhale reflects a stereotypical trope via her depiction as an overweight woman who is inherently unhealthy. McMillan paints Gloria as a person who buries her feelings in food and continuously either eats large, unhealthy meals or skips meals altogether when under stress. Gloria has high blood pressure and doesn’t follow her doctor’s orders to change her diet and take her medications the way in which she is told to do. While other characters smoke excessively, drink to excess, and eat high-fat foods such as pizza, Gloria only drinks on occasion, doesn’t smoke, and eats home-cooked meals. Nonetheless, Gloria is the only character depicted as being overweight, and her storyline’s climactic moment entails a heart attack.
When it comes to her search for love, Gloria’s continued affection for her son’s father is depicted as pitiful. In the past, she’d begged her former lover to stay with her when he came to visit Tarik because she couldn’t find any other men to love her. Throughout the novel, Gloria’s attempts to dress up and find men are tempered by her affection for food and her desire to be home in time for her television shows, and her friends berate her for not dieting. When Gloria does find love with her new neighbor, the romance takes place behind the scenes—unlike the experiences of other women, especially Robin and Savannah—and she doesn’t experience a sexual encounter at all in the novel. Gloria’s character development is thus hindered, at least somewhat, by McMillan’s reliance on tropes based on stereotypes.
