I want to be so important that if I fuck up, I’ll never get punished.
-- Madison (chapter 1)

Importance: Madison made this statement when she and Lillian were attending the same boarding school. Years later, when Madison hires Lillian as a nanny, it becomes clear that Madison is still driven by a hunger for power. The novel presents this aspect of Madison as unhealthy and insidious, as it is self-centered, and it degrades her ability to form positive relationships with people.

I went back to my awful public high school, which felt like returning to sea level after spending a year on the highest mountain peak.
-- Lillian (narration) (chapter 1)

Importance: After Madison was caught with drugs at boarding school, her father helped to frame Lillian, thereby causing Lillian to be expelled instead of Madison. This betrayal was not only emotionally harmful to Lillian, but it also robbed her of many future opportunities. Madison never showed remorse. This...