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| Plot Summary of The Marriage Bed |
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Touchstone, Jun 2004, 23.00, 289 pp.
ISBN: 074325497X
Up until 1907, Dierdre O'Coigligh lived on the impoverish Great Blasket Island off the Irish Coast until she was fourteen when her parents died. She feared the sea and never crossed it until her grandmother left her with no choice. The teen orphan was dumped at the Enfant de Marie Convent on the mainland because her grandmother insisted that she was too old to raise a young lass.
At the Convent, Dierdre meets wealthy novice Bairbre O'Breen, a widowed mother who is a key benefactor. Through Mrs. O'Breen, Deirdre meets Bairbre's brother Manus, an architecture student. He falls in love with Dierdre-and his mother feels she is acceptable as a daughter-in-law. Instead of becoming a nun, seventeen years old Deirdre agrees to marry Manus. After the ceremony, they move to a house in Dublin that his mother furnished. They have two delightful daughters, but Mrs. O'Breen demands a grandson who will be a priest regardless of how the lad or his parents feel because the matriarch has secret scandals that she feels need heavenly intervention to remedy.
THE MARRIAGE BED is a look at Ireland in the years just prior to World War One. The story line provides the reader with a glimpse at middle class life and the influence of family on members.
Harriet Klausner
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Harriet Klausner, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of The Marriage Bed |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Tone of book?
- thoughtful
Time/era of story
- 1900-1920's
Inside culture (main char)
- Irish
Family, struggle with
Yes
Struggle with:
- In-laws
Culture clash?
- family young v. old guard
Is this an adult or child's book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Outside culture (society)
- Ireland
Ethnic/regional/gender life
Yes
Main Character
Gender
- Female
Profession/status:
- homemaker
Ethnicity/Nationality
- Irish/McCourt
How sensitive is this character?
- soggy whimpering jelly muffin
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- very athletic
Main Adversary
Identity:
- none
Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings?
- 3 ()
Europe
Yes
European country:
- Ireland
Style
Person
- mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death?
- no torture/death
Unusual Style:
- a lot of stream of consciousness
Amount of dialog
- significantly more dialog than descript
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Click here for more information about this book
Regina McBride Resident Scholar Profiles
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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