Suggestions
Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select.Please wait while we process your payment
If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. Sometimes it can end up there.
If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. Sometimes it can end up there.
Please wait while we process your payment
By signing up you agree to our terms and privacy policy.
Don’t have an account? Subscribe now
Create Your Account
Sign up for your FREE 7-day trial
Already have an account? Log in
Your Email
Choose Your Plan
Individual
Group Discount
Save over 50% with a SparkNotes PLUS Annual Plan!
payment page
Purchasing SparkNotes PLUS for a group?
Get Annual Plans at a discount when you buy 2 or more!
Price
$24.99 $18.74 /subscription + tax
Subtotal $37.48 + tax
Save 25% on 2-49 accounts
Save 30% on 50-99 accounts
Want 100 or more? Contact us for a customized plan.
payment page
Your Plan
Payment Details
Payment Summary
SparkNotes Plus
You'll be billed after your free trial ends.
7-Day Free Trial
Not Applicable
Renews September 29, 2023 September 22, 2023
Discounts (applied to next billing)
DUE NOW
US $0.00
SNPLUSROCKS20 | 20% Discount
This is not a valid promo code.
Discount Code (one code per order)
SparkNotes PLUS Annual Plan - Group Discount
Qty: 00
SparkNotes Plus subscription is $4.99/month or $24.99/year as selected above. The free trial period is the first 7 days of your subscription. TO CANCEL YOUR SUBSCRIPTION AND AVOID BEING CHARGED, YOU MUST CANCEL BEFORE THE END OF THE FREE TRIAL PERIOD. You may cancel your subscription on your Subscription and Billing page or contact Customer Support at custserv@bn.com. Your subscription will continue automatically once the free trial period is over. Free trial is available to new customers only.
Choose Your Plan
For the next 7 days, you'll have access to awesome PLUS stuff like AP English test prep, No Fear Shakespeare translations and audio, a note-taking tool, personalized dashboard, & much more!
You’ve successfully purchased a group discount. Your group members can use the joining link below to redeem their group membership. You'll also receive an email with the link.
Members will be prompted to log in or create an account to redeem their group membership.
Thanks for creating a SparkNotes account! Continue to start your free trial.
Please wait while we process your payment
Your PLUS subscription has expired
Please wait while we process your payment
Please wait while we process your payment
Played by Woody Allen
An anal-retentive, extremely self-conscious Jewish comedian and the protagonist of the film. Alvy’s quick wit is hilarious and often endearingly self-effacing. He claims his adult life is based on the joke “I would never want to belong to any club that would have someone like me for a member.” He also claims to be alienated by the “intellectual” climate of New York City of which he himself is so much a part. Obsessed with death, sex, and anti-Semitism, among other things, Alvy has been seeing a psychoanalyst regularly for fifteen years, with little success. He has a wry, pessimistic outlook on life that informs his actions, especially as pertains to his relationships with women.
Played by Diane Keaton
The flighty, giggly woman whose relationship with Alvy is the focus of the film. Although Annie is smart and can keep up with Alvy’s wit, she is insecure about her intelligence. She is a photographer and singer and, with Alvy’s guidance, becomes increasingly more confident and independent. Originally from Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, Annie is the antithesis of a “New York girl” and has a positive, fairly healthy outlook on life. She has a generally good-natured, albeit quirky, personality and a kooky but stylish fashion sense. Her trademark expression is “La-dee-da.”
Played by Tony Roberts
Alvy’s mellow, somewhat superficial sidekick. Rob takes Alvy’s anal-retentiveness in stride, his own coolness providing a balance to his buddy’s hyperactive aggression. Although Rob often serves as a target for Alvy’s venting, he largely lets it roll off his back. Unlike Alvy, he is enamored with Los Angeles and wants a shallower life than is prevalent in New York. In some ways, Rob is Alvy’s mirror image, understanding his friend’s actions and concerns but reacting in the opposite direction. Alvy and Rob call each other “Max.”
Read an in-depth analysis of Rob .
Played by Paul Simon
A music producer and Svengali figure to Annie. Tony is symbolic of the glamour and self-indulgence of L.A. Tony has hip parties in his house in Hollywood. He is charming and takes an interest in Annie both artistically and romantically. Annie is intrigued by him, and Alvy is repelled.
Played by Carol Kane
Alvy’s first wife, whom he reduces to a cultural stereotype: “New York, Jewish, left-wing, liberal, intellectual. . . . ” Allison is always willing to have sex with Alvy, but he loses interest, unable to desire a woman who desires him in return.
Played by Janet Margolin
Alvy’s second wife. Pretentious, snobby, and intellectual to the point of coldness, Robin is concerned primarily with academic schmoozing. She refuses Alvy’s attempts at lovemaking and blames distractions like street noise for keeping her from reaching orgasm. She cites her analyst when complaining about tension and reaching for Valium.
Played by Shelley Duvall
A Rolling Stone reporter who has a one-night relationship with Alvy after his separation with Annie. The strikingly thin Pam has great interest in spiritual transcendence and tells Alvy at a gathering with the Maharishi (of Transcendental Mediation fame) that she is a Rosicrucian who follows a Christian mystic philosophy. Alvy goes out with her at Rob’s suggestion but is underwhelmed by their sexual experience, which Pam describes as “Kafkaesque.”
Played by Colleen Dewhurst
Annie’s mother. A proper WASP wife and mother, Mrs. Hall does not approve of Alvy and does not get any of his jokes. Polite and gracious, Mrs. Hall steers the dinner conversation around safe topics like Christmas and a swap meet.
Played by Christopher Walken
Annie’s disturbed brother. Duane has fantasies of crashing his car into oncoming traffic and does not hesitate to tell Alvy this, with all seriousness, before eventually driving Alvy and Annie to the airport.
Played by Helen Ludlam
Annie’s anti-Semitic grandmother, whom Alvy describes as a “classic Jew hater.” Grammy Hall doesn’t speak to Alvy.
Played by Joan Newman
Alvy’s loudmouthed mother. Mrs. Singer is effusive, neurotic, and argumentative. She runs a lively, informal household as a staunchly Jewish matriarch figure.
Played by Mordecai Lawner
Alvy’s father. Like Mrs. Singer, Mr. Singer is argumentative and lives out Jewish traditions. Although he is more rational than his wife, she is the one in control.
Played by himself
A Canadian media theorist whom Alvy pulls onscreen for the benefit of the audience and the obnoxious man behind Alvy and Annie in line for a movie. McLuhan’s appearance proves Alvy’s point and adds a tongue-in-cheek fantasy layer to the film.
Please wait while we process your payment
