Miranda Hobbes

Miranda Hobbes
First appearance Pilot
(episode 1.01)
Last appearance Sex and the City 2
Created by Candace Bushnell
Portrayed by Cynthia Nixon
Information
Gender Female
Occupation Lawyer
Family Mrs. Hobbes (mother; deceased)
Betsy (sister)[1][2]
David (brother-in-law; Betsy's husband)
Catherine (sister)[1][2]
John (brother-in-law; Catherine's husband)[2]
Unnamed niece[3]
Mary Brady (mother-in-law)
Paul Brady (father-in-law; deceased)[4]
Paul Brady Sr. (grandfather-in-law; deceased)[4]
Mr. Brady (brother-in-law)[5]
Mrs. Brady (sister-in-law)[5]
Patrick (cousin-in-law and godfather to Brady)[5]
Spouse(s) Steve Brady (husband)
Children Brady Hobbes (son)

Miranda Hobbes is a fictional character on the American HBO television sitcom Sex and the City and its subsequent film spinoffs. She is portrayed by actress Cynthia Nixon. Nixon received an Emmy Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award for her performance.

Character analysis

“ Do any of you have a completely unremarkable friend or maybe a houseplant I could go to dinner with on Saturday night? ”

Miranda Hobbes is a career-minded lawyer with extremely cynical views on relationships and men. A 1990 Harvard University law graduate from the Philadelphia area, she is Carrie's confidante and voice of reason. In the early seasons she is portrayed as masculine and distrustful and resentful of men, but this image softens over the years, particularly after she becomes pregnant by her on-again, off-again boyfriend, Steve Brady, whom she eventually marries. The birth of her son, Brady Hobbes, brings up new issues for her Type A, workaholic personality, but she eventually finds a way to balance career, being single, and motherhood. Of the four women, she is the first to purchase an apartment (an indicator of her success), which she gives up when she moves into a Brooklyn townhouse in the final season to make room for her growing family.

Sex and the City: The Movie

In the movie, Miranda is still married to Steve, and they are living in Brooklyn with their son Brady, who is now five years old. We learn that she is still employing Magda and that Steve's mother Mary is living in a nursing home, as she now suffers from advancing Alzheimer's. Miranda and Steve's relationship has become stale, with Miranda under pressure of her job and caring for Brady. After a shared laugh one night over Miranda having a milk moustache, the two have sex in a moment of newfound passion, but midway through Miranda tells Steve to hurry up because she has to get up early, which upsets him. At one of their coffee dates, Miranda tells the girls that she and Steve have not had sex in six months, and shortly afterwards Steve confesses he had sex with another woman one time out of frustration. Although Steve begs for forgiveness, Miranda insists on splitting up, and she moves to the Lower East Side. In a moment of shortsighted selfishness, she tells Big the night before his and Carrie's wedding that they are crazy to get married because it ruins everything, causing him to leave Carrie at the altar. Miranda wants to confess everything right after, but Charlotte convinces her it was not really her fault but Big's. The girls change the honeymoon trip into a vacation trip for themselves. Almost a (lonely) year passes by before Miranda confesses it on Valentine's Day to Carrie about her wrongdoing. Carrie berates Miranda for wanting forgiveness for her own mistake but refusing to forgive Steve. Miranda and Steve go to couples' therapy, during which they decide to meet on the Brooklyn Bridge in two weeks if they want to forgive and forget what happened and start over. Miranda starts contemplating her relationship with Steve by making a pro and cons list. She looks in the mirror and sees that she has a milk moustache. This makes her realize she wants to be with Steve after all and she hurries to the Brooklyn Bridge to reconcile with him.

Sex and the City 2

In Sex and the City 2, Miranda is an overworked lawyer who barely has enough time to show up to her son's school activities. She feels that she's being taken advantage of at work, overlooked because she is a woman. When Steve suggests she quit her job, she is reluctant but does after she is overlooked—then shushed—by her boss during a meeting. To get over the shock, she decides to accompany Samantha, Carrie and Charlotte to Abu Dhabi. While there, she is obsessed with learning the language and enjoying the traditions. She also sympathizes with Charlotte at her feeling inadequate, confessing that it's exhausting being a "good" mother. When she arrives home, after they're kicked out of the hotel, she looks for and finds a more self-fulfilling job. She is last seen at an outdoor staff meeting (having found a new position at another, more relaxed law firm) where she is obviously flourishing and appreciated.

Relationships

Skipper Johnston

Skipper Johnston (Ben Weber) is a 27-year-old website developer with whom Miranda enters into a tentative relationship in the first season. Originally introduced by Carrie, Miranda finds Skipper young and immature, and is irritated by his romantic view of life and love, which contrasts sharply with her cynical outlook. Although they occasionally engage in an on-again, off-again sexual relationship, she never plans for him to become a serious interest.

In contrast, Skipper is terribly smitten with Miranda from the start, even going so far as to break up with a girl in mid-intercourse when Miranda calls, as he believes it means that "the woman he loves most" wants to be with him. Horrified at learning this, Miranda suggests dating other people but Skipper, angered by Miranda's attitude, breaks it off and leaves. He is next seen when his latest girlfriend ends things with him and as this has happened a lot, Skipper is angry - attracting Miranda's attention again.

Dr. Robert Leeds

Dr. Robert Leeds (Blair Underwood) is a successful sports medicine doctor for the New York Knicks, whom Miranda meets while interviewing him with fellow members of her building's tenant board to occupy a vacant apartment. Upon Robert's arrival, Miranda is instantly charmed by him, and somewhat hijacks the interview in order to learn more about him. Robert is eventually approved to move in, and in time the two begin a short but lively romantic relationship. Despite Miranda and Robert's sparks of chemistry, Miranda cannot control her longing for her current on-again, off-again boyfriend, Steve Brady. Eventually, at her son's first birthday party, Miranda professes her love to Steve, and her relationship with Robert is ended off-screen. After a few awkward encounters, Robert overcomes his anger towards Miranda and Steve, and is last seen in the series with two scantily dressed women in his apartment.

Steve Brady

Steve Brady (David Eigenberg) and Miranda meet during the second season when Miranda is waiting for Carrie at the bar where Steve works. Although Miranda simply sees Steve as a one-night stand after they meet, Steve senses a strong connection, and he asks to see her again. Miranda refuses at first, but they become a couple after she realizes her strong attraction for Steve. The couple's difference in economic status creates tension in their relationship, and they eventually break up. However, they remain on friendly terms, often leading to a sexual relationship between the two. After Steve loses one of his testicles to cancer, Miranda sleeps with him to convince him that having one ball will not prevent women from having sex with him. This union results in her pregnancy. She initially decides to have an abortion without planning to inform Steve of her pregnancy. At the clinic, she changes her mind, and decides to keep the baby. Miranda tells Steve she is pregnant and will take on full responsibility, including raising the child and providing all the related finances, but Steve can visit whenever he wants and generally be a part of the baby's life. Steve later proposes to Miranda, which prompts her to yell at him that she doesn't want to marry him, to which Steve responds that he doesn't really want to marry her. Miranda gives birth to Brady Hobbes (an homage to their respective surnames), and the two try to raise him together as platonic partners, with difficulty. Miranda initially pretends that she doesn't love Steve, but when she attempts to admit her feelings for him, she discovers he is now seeing another woman, Debbie. Eventually, at Brady's first birthday party, Miranda ends up blurting out her love for Steve and, to her delight and surprise, Steve admits that he, too, loves Miranda, and that she is "the one." They kiss, and within three weeks they are back together; they remain together for the rest of the series, eventually getting married in a simple ceremony with their closest friends and family in a community garden and purchasing a townhouse in Brooklyn for their growing family. In Sex and the City: The Movie, the pair go through a rough part whereby Steve cheats on Miranda. The couple split and then go through counselling and reunite at the end of the film.

References

  1. 1 2 Existence mentioned in season 1 episode 10.
  2. 1 2 3 Season 4 episode 8: actress Becky Ann Baker as Betsy and Elizabeth Canavan as Catherine.
  3. ↑ Mentioned in season 4 episode 17
  4. 1 2 Steve said that his father and grandfather had that name; season 4 episode 18
  5. 1 2 3 Mentioned by Mary Brady in season 5 episode 2
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