Click here for an introduction to the Round and Square series "Beginnings."
Evan Connell, Mrs. Bridge
Evan Connell, Mrs. Bridge
But where is what I started for so long ago?
And why is it yet unfound?
—Walt Whitman
1 Love and Marriage
Her first name was India—she was never able to get used to it. It seemed to her that her parents must have been thinking of someone else when they named her. Or were they hoping for another sort of daughter? As a child, she was often on the point of inquiring, but time passed, and she never did.
Joanne Woodward as India Bridge. [a] |
India Bridge. [b] |
Mr. and Mrs. Bridge (Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward). [c] |
She was not certain what she wanted from life, or what to expect from it, for she had seen so little of it, but she was sure that in some way—because she willed it to be so—her wants and her expectations were the same.
The Bridges in Europe. [d] |
Mrs. Bridge and her daughter, Carolyn. [e] |
For a while after their marriage she was in such demand that it was not unpleasant when he fell asleep. Presently, however, he began sleeping all night, and it was then she awoke more frequently, and looked into the darkness, wondering about the nature of men, doubtful of the future, until at last there came a night when she shook her husband awake and spoke of her own desire. Affably he placed one of his long white arms around her waist; she turned to him then, contentedly, expectantly, and secure. However nothing else occurred, and in a few minutes he had gone back to sleep.
This was the night Mrs. Bridge concluded that while marriage might be an equitable affair, love itself was not.[1]
[1] Evan Connell, Mrs. Bridge (New York: Viking Press, Inc., 1959), 1-2.
Images [a] Joanne Woodward as India Bridge.
[b] India Bridge.
[c] Mr. and Mrs. Bridge (Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward).
[d] The Bridges in Europe.
[e] Mrs. Bridge and her daughter, Caroline.
Images [a] Joanne Woodward as India Bridge.
[b] India Bridge.
[c] Mr. and Mrs. Bridge (Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward).
[d] The Bridges in Europe.
[e] Mrs. Bridge and her daughter, Caroline.
No comments:
Post a Comment