The Women of Pal Joey

Abstract Pal Joey features four female character archetypes: the shrewd, wealthy woman of taste; the sleazy nightclub chorine; the innocent ingénue; and the hard-boiled reporter. All four of these types had appeared on Broadway (and in film) before. In Pal Joey two of them—the ingénue, Linda, and the nightclub singer, Gladys—are parodies. Linda serves as a foil to the typical ingénue trope, and doesn’t develop as a character. Gladys is a stereotype, albeit a funny one, of the tough-talking nightclub chanteuse. Vera is, truly, the only female character in Pal Joey to be afforded a complex inner life. The character Melba, however, offers the audience shrewd commentary on the conventions that Pal Joey sends up. This chapter looks specifically at the character Vera, played by Vivienne Segal, and the song “Zip,” sung by the character Melba and performed by Jean Casto and Elaine Stritch.