A review of Four Letters of Love by Niall Williams
William Coughlin a grey and boring civil servant , with his wife Bette and son Nicholas, lives a mundane predictable existence in a boring city suburb. . "My father in a grey suit coming in the front door from the office in the fog of a November evenings, the brief case flopping by the telephone table, the creak in the stairs and across the ceiling above the kitchen as he changes into a cardigan and comes down for his tea". His only difference was that he painted and Nicholas was proud of the WC that was his mark in the corner of the pictures. Bette's life was centred on the household. But out of the blue William shatters the security and pattern of this existence by announcing to his family that God wanted him to paint full time. The family are thrown into turmoil - "God had moved in overnight".
Isobel looses interest in her studies and her family and enters into a loveless marriage. However the relationship between Isobel and Nicholas which was never fully realised is the strongest love theme. Nicholas arrives on the island in his quest for the painting the day after Isobel's wedding. Tragedy and misfortune strike both families. His children Isobel, an intelligent sensitive girl and Sean, a gifted musician, are their parents pride and joy. It develops the theme of family love - Nicholas with his mother , Isobel with her father and Sean with his mother have shades of Oedipus Complex. The credibility of the story line and the roles in which they were cast was very real until the illness of Nicholas in the island home. Meanwhile life for Nicholas and Bette became empty and poor. William abandoned his family and his secure life and took to the wilds of Ireland to paint. Nicholas' mother dies of sadness and depression. Sean has an attack that leaves him without speech or movement. Then one day God touches their lives. Romantic love relationships between all of the couples - Margaret and Muiris, William and Bette, Isabel and Peadar - form the main theme.
Common topics in this essay:
William Coughlin,
Isobel Sean,
Gore Isobel,
Isobel Nicholas,
Nicholas William,
Nicholas Isobel,
Muiris Gore,
Nicholas Bette,
Isabel Peadar,
Complex Romantic,
muiris gore,
children isobel,
isobel sean,
|
Acceptance Essays
