Mary's mother has commented several times that she didn't want to be around Edith Potter or listen to Edith. Why her? I would think that if Mary's mother was going to dislike someone, it would be Sylvia. Edith was much nicer than Sylvia. Edith looked shocked when Sylvia told Mary about the manicurist.
She was a gossip, but not the worst one by far.
I'm thinking Mary's Mum thought Edith (and her brood) were a 'bad influence' (remember Olga's comment about the daughters being 'gangsters') and her gossip (about Mary and Crystal's fight) made headlines after she told the story to Dolly Dupuyster. So, even though Sylvia was vicious and did gossip, she didn't go 'public' with any of it to a reporter.
But, in the end, her information about Syvlia and Crystal attending the party at the end of the movie, does prove most useful for Mary for perhaps she was trying to 'redeem' herself as she was still welcome in Mary's circle but Syvlia certainly wasn't!
'There’s a name for you ladies, but it’s not used - Outside a kennel! (Crystal Allen in The Women)'
Sylvia mentions in the scene where she tells Edith about Stephen's affair and also during the hysterical fight in Reno that she and Mary are cousins. If that's true, perhaps Sylvia is Mary's mother's niece and that's why she doesn't totally trash her. Just a theory.
shareSylvia was nasty--but she didn't hide it. Edith was nasty in a sweet, butter-wouldn't-melt-in-her-mouth sort of way. She was the type of person who would stick a knife in your back, whereas Sylvia would just slug you.
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