The person01–03
01·Who they are
Who is Mrs. Nasrine?
Mrs. Nasrine appears in Persepolis as the Satrapi family's maid, a working-class, religiously observant Iranian woman whose presence in the household makes the Revolution's social complexity visible on a domestic, human scale. Satrapi renders her without caricature or condescension. She is devout, sincere, and wholly genuine in her convictions, a woman defined by hard labour, maternal love, and a faith that the political upheaval swirling around Tehran will finally deliver justice to people like her. Though her page time is limited, her function in the memoir is outsized: she is the face of the millions of ordinary Iranians whose lived experience of the Shah's brutality gave Khomeini's promises their initial, undeniable appeal.
02·Arc & motivation
What is Mrs. Nasrine's arc and motivation?
Mrs. Nasrine's arc is one of hope and, implicitly, betrayal, though Satrapi largely leaves the second half of that arc unspoken, trusting the reader to complete it. Her driving motivation is maternal; her son Hossein was imprisoned and tortured under the Shah's regime, and this trauma shapes everything about how she interprets the Revolution. When political prisoners are released following Khomeini's rise to power, Mrs. Nasrine experiences what can only be described as joy as a form of justice. For her, the new order is not ideology; it is the return of her child. Her arc therefore moves from suffering under one authoritarian system to a desperate, sincere hope that the next system will be different, illustrating how personal grief can make even a theocratic revolution feel like liberation.
03·Key moments
What are Mrs. Nasrine's key moments?
The pivotal scene involving Mrs. Nasrine occurs when she learns that political prisoners have been freed. Her visible elation, contrasted sharply in the graphic panels against the Satrapi family's muted, wary reaction, is one of the memoir's most quietly devastating images. Satrapi does not mock Mrs. Nasrine's happiness; the panels present it as real and earned. Yet because the reader accompanies Marji's family through what follows — the veil mandates, the Iran-Iraq War, the executions of former revolutionaries — Mrs. Nasrine's joy becomes retrospectively painful. Another key moment is her consistent presence in the household during the early Revolution chapters, where her prayers and her relief form a countermelody to the Satrapis' increasingly anxious dinner-table conversations.
The cast04–05
04·Relationships
What are Mrs. Nasrine's most important relationships?
With young Marji: Marji observes Mrs. Nasrine with the frank curiosity of a child who has not yet learned to keep social class invisible. Through Mrs. Nasrine's story, Marji receives one of her first lessons in political perspective-taking, understanding that the Revolution is not a single event with a single meaning, but a prism that refracts differently depending on where you stand. This encounter quietly lays groundwork for Marji's later, more sophisticated political thinking.
With Tadji (Marji's mother): The relationship between employer and maid carries the weight of Iran's class divisions. Tadji's secular anxiety about the theocratic turn stands in understated tension with Mrs. Nasrine's devout optimism. Satrapi does not dramatise this tension into open conflict; these are women who coexist respectfully, but the ideological gulf between them represents the fracture lines running through Iranian society at large.
With Marji's father: Like Tadji, Marji's father belongs to the educated, secular middle class that viewed Khomeini's ascent with dread. Mrs. Nasrine's contrasting enthusiasm throws his scepticism into relief, reminding the reader that the Satrapis' position — educated, cosmopolitan, left-leaning — was itself a class position, not a neutral vantage point.
05·Connected characters
How is Mrs. Nasrine connected to the other characters?
Study06–07
06·Questions
Questions readers ask about Mrs. Nasrine
Who is Mrs. Nasrine in Persepolis?
Mrs. Nasrine is the Satrapi family's maid, a working-class, religiously observant Iranian woman whose personal history with the Shah's regime gives her a different perspective on the Islamic Revolution than her employers. Her son Hossein was imprisoned and tortured under the Shah, leading her to initially view Khomeini's rise to power as an act of justice rather than a dangerous theocratic shift.
Why does Mrs. Nasrine support the Islamic Revolution?
Mrs. Nasrine supports the Revolution primarily because her son Hossein was imprisoned and tortured under the Shah, making the new order's release of political prisoners feel like personal redemption. Her motivation stems from her role as a mother rather than from ideology — the Revolution symbolizes the return of her child. Satrapi illustrates how real suffering under one authoritarian regime made Khomeini's promises of liberation compelling to millions of ordinary Iranians.
What happens to Mrs. Nasrine's son Hossein?
Hossein was imprisoned and tortured during the Shah's regime and became one of the political prisoners freed after the Revolution. Upon hearing the news of the releases, Mrs. Nasrine experiences visible joy, creating one of the memoir's most quietly devastating moments, as the reader is aware that the Islamic Republic will become its own form of oppression.
What is the most important scene involving Mrs. Nasrine?
A pivotal moment occurs when Mrs. Nasrine learns that political prisoners have been freed, and her reaction is one of open elation, contrasting sharply with the Satrapi family's muted, wary silence in the same panels. Satrapi does not mock this happiness; rather, it is shown as real and earned. The scene gains further weight retrospectively, as the reader witnesses the veil mandates, the executions, and the war that follow.
How does Mrs. Nasrine's relationship with young Marji shape Marji's political understanding?
Through Mrs. Nasrine's story, Marji gains one of her earliest lessons in political perspective-taking, learning that the Revolution had different meanings depending on one's social standing in Iranian society. Observing Mrs. Nasrine's genuine hope lays the groundwork for Marji's later understanding that no single narrative, including her family's secular skepticism, is a neutral or complete account of events.
How does Mrs. Nasrine's relationship with Marji's parents highlight class divisions?
Mrs. Nasrine's devout optimism about the Revolution subtly contrasts with Tadji's secular anxiety and Marji's father's educated skepticism, reflecting the fractures within Iranian society. Satrapi does not turn this into open conflict; instead, employer and maid coexist respectfully, but the ideological gulf between them serves as a reminder that the Satrapis' critical stance is also a class position, not a universal or neutral viewpoint.
Is Mrs. Nasrine portrayed sympathetically in Persepolis?
Yes — Satrapi presents Mrs. Nasrine without condescension or caricature, depicting her sincerity, religious faith, and maternal love as wholly genuine. Her hope amplifies the memoir's tragedy: because her joy is real and earned, its implicit betrayal by the Islamic Republic becomes increasingly painful. Satrapi has received acclaim for humanizing working-class characters rather than reducing them to symbols of naivety.
Does Mrs. Nasrine appear throughout all of Persepolis, or only briefly?
Mrs. Nasrine appears only briefly, mainly during the early chapters that cover the Revolution's immediate aftermath. Despite her limited presence, her thematic function is significant — her consistent role in the household during those early chapters offers a working-class countermelody to the Satrapi family's increasingly anxious dinner-table discussions about Iran's theocratic turn.
07·Essay angles
Use this in your essay
Tool · Essay angles
The function of minor characters in memoir: Satrapi gives Mrs. Nasrine very little dialogue yet considerable thematic weight. Analyse how visual storytelling techniques
Representing the working class without condescension: Satrapi has been praised for not reducing Mrs. Nasrine to a symbol. Make a case