Essay Questions

Sheba is seen as the villain of the novel, but is she a victim herself?

Sheba is a victim of emotional abuse by the central characters in her life. Her mother always favored her brother, and after Sheba drops out of college to marry her professor her mother constantly berates her for letting the family down. Probably because he is older, her husband has a tendency to talk down to get and she is definitely expected to defer to him; interestingly, she seems happy to defer and defends his overbearing behavior by saying that as she is so lucky to have been chosen by him she has a duty to be the kind of wife whose needs are secondary. Lastly, although he is her student, Steven Connolly seems to be running the show in a way that Sheba never has; in certain respects she is also a victim of his manipulation.

Are any of the characters in the novel truly likeable?

None of the characters in this book are particularly likeable. Sheba, although not the sexual predator she has been painted as on the media, is nonetheless exceptionally self-absorbed and also almost delusional in her belief that the rest of the world would think her behavior was acceptable if she could just make them truly understand the depth of their feelings. Barbara, although initially a sympathetic figure because of her friendship with Sheba and her tremendous loyalty to her is actually fairly manipulative herself, using her friendship to make sure that she enables Sheba to remain dependent on her thereby making sure that she is never on her own again.

Barbara is also very envious of Sheba and was really the cause of the affair becoming public. Even peripheral characters such as the school principle Pablom is hellbent on creating a legacy that has nothing to do with improving the standard of education at St. George's but everything to do with positioning himself as a progressive innovator. Finally Steven, the perceived victim, is actually a rather conniving and forward young man who pursues Sheba as if he was the same age as her and discards her as soon as he loses interest. Not one of the characters actually seems likeable, or in any way sympathetic.

Would Sheba's relationship with Connolly have come to light if Barbara had not told Bangs about it?

The relationship was exposed mainly due to jealousy and hurt pride; Barbara was upset with Sheba and upset that Bangs had only invited her to lunch to ask her about Sheba, solidifying Barbara's feelings of envy that Sheba was the type of woman men noticed and reacted to. Bangs' pride was hurt because Barbara intimates that he wasn't Sheba's type and tells him that far from being a secret crush, the entire faculty realizes he is very attracted to Sheba. Had Barbara told him more gently, he might not have wanted to get his own back on Sheba by reporting her, but that notwithstanding it is unlikely that the affair would have come out without Barbara telling Bangs since Connolly had not told anyone and the lovers had manages to avoid being caught in the act by anyone who knew them.