Essay Questions

Support the author’s conclusion that extra-marital affair is one of the challenging facing marriages in society.

One of Winterson's main aims is to educate readers on the issues affecting society. The narrator of the book is a man who has unstable relationships with different women. For instance, the narrator is married to Jacqueline, but he is having an extra-marital affair with Louise. Louise is married to Elgin, but she is secretly having a relationship with the narrator. When Jacqueline discovers that the narrator is cheating on her, she takes everything that belongs to her and leaves. On the other hand, Louise is convinced that she is deeply in love with the narrator, and she wants to divorce her husband to commit her life to the narrator. Therefore, the characters in this book represent the unfaithfulness among couples in society.

Why is Elgin requesting the narrator to refuse to marry Louise?

Elgin is the husband of Louise thou she wants to leave him for the narrator. However, Elgin is concerned about the health of Louise, and he decides to request the narrator to reconsider his decision. According to Elgin, Louise has cancer, and she needs to continue receiving her care while with her. The narrator decides to stop marrying Louise. However, Louise is stubborn. She pleads with the narrator to marry her. At last, the narrator decides to halt the marriage for the sake of Louise's health condition.

What is the satire of the narrator’s love story?

The narrator recalls all the past women he has had sexual affairs with, which prevents him from moving on. For instance, the narrator remembers his relationship with Bathsheba, but he cannot get over it. The narrator remembers burning all the letters he sent to her, but the memories are still raw. The reader finds it ironic that the narrator equates the burning of letters to forgetting. Even after burning the past love letters, he always keeps on remembering the past relationships.