Frank And April Wheeler In The Movie Revolutionary Road

Mr. Rogers, the children’s TV host, once said, “Love isn't a state of perfect caring. It is an active noun like struggle. To love someone is to strive to accept that person exactly the way he or she is, right here and now.” When it comes to Frank and April Wheeler in the movie Revolutionary Road, Mr. Rogers’ definition is exactly right. The Wheelers’ relationship was a struggle, but unfortunately, in this story of immense expectations, hopeless reality-checks, unfortunate events, and hasty reactions, the lovers could not accept their differences, causing them to separate. This demise of the Wheelers’ relationship results from their unmet expectations for themselves.
To begin, the Wheelers had high hopes for their future life together. For …show more content…
First off, Frank did end up like his father, for he works at Knox too. Similarly, April did not become a successful actress. At the beginning of the movie, April acts in a play; neither the audience nor the actors believed it was a good play, and some of the audience members even specifically critiqued April. When Frank walks backstage, he sees April with puffy, red eyes and running makeup. He says, “I guess it wasn’t a triumph or anything, was it?” April agrees, showing how she has realized her dream of becoming an actress is not coming true. The next evening, she proposes an idea to Frank—finally moving to Paris. At first, Frank believes this is unrealistic, but then April admits, “Our whole existence here is based on this great premise that we're somehow very special and superior to the whole thing, and you know what I've realized? We're not! We're just like everyone else. Look at us! We've bought into the ridiculous delusion. This idea that you have to resign from life and settle down the moment you have children.” This suggests that what April believed was inferior about other people was the fact that they believe having children is the end to an exciting life, and she realizes that is why she and Frank are not superior to everyone else, for they fell into the same trap. Hearing this, Frank decides to give the trip to Paris a shot, one last chance at achieving …show more content…
On one hand, Frank tries to reconcile their marriage and do the best in their current situation, but on the other hand, April realizes Frank has not lived up to her expectations of being the “most interesting person” and still wants to go to Paris. First, after all the previous issues, Frank tries to talk out their tensions, but April refuses and asks not to talk about anything. However, Frank still goes on to tell April about his affair; this shows he wants to be honest to her and come clean about his mistakes. Conversely, the night before, April cheated on Frank, and instead of confessing like Frank did, she brushes it off. Then Frank tells her he wishes she cared, to which she replied, “I know you do. And I suppose I would if I loved you. But you see I don't think I do anymore.” In other words, hearing that Frank cheated on her with some young, naive girl from the office proved to April that Frank was not so interesting anymore, because to her, what he did was stereotypical, just like taking the promotion and settling down after having kids. This goes to show how handling their adversity differently clearly divided Frank and April’s