How Marie Schrader’s Spitefulness in ‘Breaking Bad’ Is a Microcosm of the Motivations That Drive Walter White

For their ongoing series deconstructing the rich symbolism and character development within the sublime AMC series Breaking Bad, Debra Minoff and Susannah McCullough of ScreenPrism compares the spiteful personality of the purpetually purple clad kleptomaniacal narcissist Marie Shrader (Hank’s wife) with that of her increasingly dangerous brother-in-law Walter White. What they find is that the two characters have a great deal in common, albeit Marie’s motivations are on a microcosmic scale in comparison to Walt.

Marie’s character is designed to double the issues we see in Walt’s personality but in a smaller unthreatening form. …Walt wants the universe to look upon him with fear and awe. Yet this little yappy mirror of him and Marie undermines that mighty image and forces us to wonder his Heisenberg’s ego trip not a little bit silly and feeble after all.