Structural analysis, chapter one

From reading chapter one I under stand some important elements that characterized Edward and Florence's personality and the social status that they leaved in their time. In particular chapter one tells about the idea of sex in 1962, so in the characters ‘ mind.

In 1962 telling about sex was very difficult, maybe impossible, because it was considered a taboo. So, or you spoke about sex with your mother or sister, or with your friends, or you consult books about sex; if you haven't any of that possible you was forced to affront your problems on tour own.

Florence is an example of that case, she is young, virgin and marries with Edward. She can't tells about her fairs and doubts neither with her mother, because she adopts a formal behaviour in front of the subject, nor with her friends, because they are not reliable people.

So Florence must to affront her fairs alone.

Florence loves Edward, but she conceives the physical contact like an obstacle. She is afraid of the idea of sex with her husband, but she doesn't affront the problem with him, she tried to hide it not to disappoint his expectations, when marriage is not consider like a communication space, but like the conquest of the personal freedom.

Like Florence, even Edward is worried about his sexual experience with his wife, but if Florence tries to overcome herself, Edward try to keep his head. So both Florence and Edward respect their respective partner, but they doesn't respect their selves, because they don't communicate their problems and fairs.

They conceive their firs sexual act like a conventional act that they have to affront in the wedding night, like they consider marriage the conquest of freedom, but they don't understand that they can get an aim only with a "journey" of experience together.

Florence and Edward hide their inconveniences, they try to control their selves, so they pretend to be another person and they forget their nature, so all the actions that they do will be interpret in a wrong way by the partner. The problem is the communication and their not very self - confidence.

Why don't Edward and Florence tell about their problem? They are afraid to appear fragile, they think that they can find out a solution alone. They are afraid of the Judgement of the partner, in other words they pretend to have an intimate confidence even they can't build a dialogue relationship.