Thursday, August 5, 2010
The struggle
Why do you think Irene repeatedly broke her firm resolutions to not see Clare? Even before she suspected an affair, her emotions for Clare were intense and ambivalent. Her instinct was to nip the relationship in the bud, but a stronger instinct to let the pushy Clare in prevailed. I never quite understood why she couldn't stick to her decision to not see her. Thoughts?
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More questions than answers here. I felt the vibe between the two women was more than friendship -- that there was an attraction between them, or at least a more intimate bond than childhood acquaintances. (Oh, and was Irene there when Clare's father died? I need to reread that.)
ReplyDeleteNo, I actually thought some relationship would develop between the women beyond friendship and that that was Clare's original aim and/or Irene's hope. But oddly, once Clare went to that first outing, she moved into the background and there were fewer exchanges between the two. But if Clare and Brian were supposed to be entangled, they sure had a lot less chemistry than the women.
I didn't really detect any romantic or sexual tension between the women. I thought Clare was just too charming, or so pushy that the more passive Irene couldn't say no. Irene seemed to have a fascination with Clare, too, going all the way back to their school days. Clare was different and sort of exotic and dangerous.
ReplyDeleteChristy, I totally agree that the women had more chemistry with each other! (I didn't see Brian as having chemistry with anything except his pompous self, which is one reason I doubted the affair). The nature of it was hard to assess, though. I didn't see it as specifically erotic, but it was some kind of "fascination," as Erin phrases it. Irene found herself taken aback several times by Clare's beauty and she seemed to experience a thrill the first time Clare was shown unexpectedly to her bedroom. That whole scene with the greeting kiss on the shoulder (why the shoulder?) seemed slightly romantic to me, but, like so much in the book (and in life) it wasn't clear.
ReplyDeleteErin, I do agree Clare was very pushy -- that maybe she could just persist and persist until she wore Irene down, and maybe that sense of danger or change was too irresistible for Irene to turn down. I think she might also have turned on some of her allure around Irene to make things happen, that that strategy had worked for her before and trying it on an old friend was just as useful, maybe.
ReplyDeleteTheir dynamic was very complicated and ambiguous.