Essay Questions

What is ironic about Kate's relationship with Eugene?

One of the key differences between Kate and Eugene is religion; the main problem for Kate is that Eugene does not share her religious beliefs and is not a devout Catholic; far from it. However, this is somewhat ironic, because Eugene is still married, even though he and his wife are estranged, and geographically separated. This is seen as deeply wrong in the eyes of Kate's religion and she has been taught that divorce is morally wrong, yet she wants Eugene to divorce his wife so that they can be together.

Another irony is that she has been taught that to have a relationship with a married man is morally wrong and that she is tempting him away from his marriage, which is a sin. This does not seem to matter to her when it comes to Eugene and so although she believes that she is the one sticking more closely to the morality of their upbringing than the more promiscuous Baba is, the reality of the situation is that it is Kate who has strayed more wildly from the path laid out for her by the convent.

Why was the book so badly received upon its publication?

The book was badly received because it portrayed women as empowered and sexual, neither of which were qualities that the leadership of the nation wanted to see in its female citizens. Religious leaders condemned the fact that the two female protagonists enjoyed sex with different partners, sex outside of marriage, and had no real intention of becoming wives or mothers, the only two roles that were considered suitable for a woman at that time.

Politicians did not elaborate on why the book was considered so unsuitable other than to condemn it as "filth", which implies that again it was the sexual content that concerned the leaders of the country at the time. The novel is set at a time when women were returned to their pre-war societal role; during World War Two, they had been called upon to step in and quite literally man the home front, taking on the jobs and responsibilities that had traditionally fallen on the men, whilst the menfolk were fighting overseas. This was for most women a hugely empowering experience, but the government of the time was experiencing enormous difficulty in persuading women that this freedom was not something that they wanted moving forward. The goal of politicians and leaders in Ireland at the time was to return society to the way it had been pre-war. A novel about two young women striking out on their own without any thought of subservience to others was an image that the government was anxious to repress.