April And Frank Wheelers Marriage In Richard Yates's Revolutionary Road

In chapter three of Revolutionary Road, Richard Yates gives us some insight into the history of April and Frank Wheelers marriage. After a night spent sleeping apart from his wife, Frank is doing yard work in the garden and the task gives him the time to reflect on a several decisions April made over the course of their relationship; the first being making the choice to love him, and the second being the decision not to have a baby. Although we only have Frank’s unreliable narration to tell us how April was motivated to make these choices, this passage clues us into one of many problems in this couples marriage; Frank does not trust April to be open and honest with him. It is this mistrust and lack of communication between the main characters …show more content…
It reveals much about the characters, including exposing the extent to which they are dissatisfied with suburban life, and outlining some of the characters personality vaults. Both Frank and April are prideful, and wanted to do more with their time and energy than raising kids and maintaining a house in Connecticut. The lingering resentment frank and April have for each other is exacerbated by the events of the novel, because April fails to find a viable creative outlet with community players, any hope Frank may have had about resolving these issues and having a happier wife are dashed and hey fall back into old habits of explosive arguing followed by stretches of play-acting as a happy couple. April is not happy for having allowed herself to be "trapped" in a house in the suburbs, forced to depend on a husband who 's away from her most of his waking hours. Frank has constant anxieties about April leaving, as well as anger at himself for landing them parenting roles so soon in life. A person cannot feel fulfilled or secure in their marriage if there is evidence that one or both parties aren 't happy where they