How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
Although Enid's ostensible foe was Alfred, what made her a guerrilla was the house that occupied them both. (1.9)
This metaphor clearly defines the Lamberts' power dynamic: Enid is a "guerrilla" trying to overthrow the rightful leader, Alfred. Revolution's coming, baby.
Quote #2
It occurred to her that Denise's rash act might even have been prompted, in some tiny part, by her wish to do the moral thing and please her mother. (2.964)
Enid should have been ecstatic about this, but Denise married the wrong kind of guy. As we see time and time again, she has a hard time dealing when reality doesn't measure up with her expectations.
Quote #3
Having attached so much meaning to the marriage, having struggled so hard to accept it, she felt that the least Denise could have done was stay married. (2.965)
We don't think it would be a stretch to say that Enid is trying to live through Denise here. After all, isn't she hoping that her daughter makes the same misguided choices as she has?
Quote #4
After she and Gary were married, she'd undergone five years of twice-weekly therapy which the therapist, at the final session, had declared "an unqualified success" and which had given her a lifelong advantage over Gary in the race for mental health. (3.275)
Here's a pro tip from us: Things are not going to end well if you approach everything in your future marriage as a competition.
Quote #5
Gary for his part wanted back the Caroline who just a few nights ago had clutched him in bed when there was heavy thunder. The Caroline who came skipping toward him when he walked into a room. The semi-orphaned girl whose most fervent wish was to be on his team. (3.567)
Again we see a marriage's power dynamic clearly laid out in a metaphor—Gary is the coach, Caroline is his most loyal player. Or, at least, he wishes she were.
Quote #6
He could have ended the crisis in a minute if all he'd had to do was forgive her; but to see mirrored in her eyes how repellent she found him—it made him crazy, it poisoned his hope. (3.642)
This scene echoes an earlier interaction between Enid and Alfred. Both couples get caught up in a cycle of resentment, each wanting to connect but neither willing to make the first move.
Quote #7
His lumbering forces of conventional domestic warfare were no match for this biological weaponry. He cruelly attacked her person; she heroically attacked his disease. (3.692)
Like father like son. Here we see Gary bringing his father's "guerrilla warfare" metaphor into the 21st century.
Quote #8
It wasn't a wonderful life, but a woman could subsist on self-deceptions like these and on her memories (which also now curiously seemed like self-deceptions) of the early years when he'd been made for her and had looked into her eyes. (4.6)
Enid has been in a loveless marriage for as long as she can remember. Was it always this way? Did Alfred love her more before? In the end, there's no way to know for sure.
Quote #9
Her mother had married a man who didn't earn and died young. Avoiding such a husband was priority with Enid. She intended to be comfortable in life as well as happy. (4.273)
Enid wants to have her cake and eat it, too. Even though this is a fundamentally childish viewpoint, we see Enid carry it with her to the present day.
Quote #10
What to believe about Al Lambert? There were the old-man things he said about himself and the young-man way he looked. Enid had chosen to believe the promise of his looks. Life then became a matter of waiting for his personality to change. (4.276)
Enid has spent her entire marriage waiting for a correction to transform Alfred's personality. This hope has blinded her to the real man that she married.