The Price of Salt, or Carol Themes

The word lesbian is derived from the island of Lesbos, the birthplace of Sappho, who wrote poetry celebrating the beauty of female relationships. That's where the word "sapphic" comes from, too. Bu...

Will Ferrell and Chris Kattan aren't the only homoerotic duo asking "What is love?" and saying "Baby, don't hurt me." In The Price of Salt, Therese and Carol think the same things as they navigate...

When you think of a society where everyone is expected to conform—or else—you might think of some place like modern-day North Korea. But the United States in the 1950s was close. People wanted...

Perhaps the drive to conform, which we talk about in the theme of "Identity," came from the growing differences in the U.S. in the 1950s. After World War II, there was economic prosperity—but onl...

Hey, kiddo. What's up, junior? What's happenin', gramps? Yo, pruneface. No one likes being reduced to just their age. It's a lazy way to stereotype people, and you'd think people used to being ster...

Family sitcoms were a hit in the 1950s. Leave it to Beaver. I Love Lucy. Father Knows Best. Everyone was just so dang normal. But the characters in The Price of Salt exist outside the norm in almos...

Bad take-out. Cheap jewelry. And jealousy. What do they all have in common? They're all things that make you green. A road trip might have all three, with weird truck stop diners, strange roadside...

Everyone needs to find his or her place in the world, but it's harder to do so the more unique your tastes are. Football fans? They're a dime a dozen. People who like playing lacrosse while dressed...