Sean Redding
asked:
Has anyone actually noticed that the girl is actually asexual? I seriously feel like everyone has overlooked that.
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Jackie L
I don't believe Florence is asexual at all. In fact, on her wedding night, there was a moment where her fear and anxieties were quelled and she began to think she might be able to be physical with her partner. She seemed to long for that feeling again. I think her issues are of trust and control.
I believe her trust was shattered by her sexually abusive father. Because she was so young when it happened, she wasn't able to control the situation and therefore as an adult she feels uncomfortable with situations she can't control. That's why she pours herself into her music.
She's in complete control of her violin. She won't even join an orchestra and chooses a quartet, so she can maintain all control in the quartet.
I believe her trust was shattered by her sexually abusive father. Because she was so young when it happened, she wasn't able to control the situation and therefore as an adult she feels uncomfortable with situations she can't control. That's why she pours herself into her music.
She's in complete control of her violin. She won't even join an orchestra and chooses a quartet, so she can maintain all control in the quartet.
Colette O’Connor
She has never experienced sexual attraction to anyone, which is the definition of asexual (and I should know because I am too)!
I also noted the hints of childhood abuse, but while this could account for her disgust about sex, it wouldn't explain her orientation. After all, most people who are abused as children still experience sexual attraction, even if they may have difficulty with sex and relationships.
I also noted the hints of childhood abuse, but while this could account for her disgust about sex, it wouldn't explain her orientation. After all, most people who are abused as children still experience sexual attraction, even if they may have difficulty with sex and relationships.
Silent_Song
I thought I was the only one who noticed!
Reading around, it seems writing Florence's character as asexual wasn't the writer's intention but eff it, "Death of the Author" and all of that.
I could relate a lot to her struggles and it frustrates me that people use the fact that she has been abused when she was a child as an excuse to say she is not asexual. Hello? Survivors of abuse are not "broken"? They can experience sexual attraction before and after being abused?
Also, the term was invented around 1820-30, and before that I am sure asexual people existed, exactly like people of other sexualities.
Reading around, it seems writing Florence's character as asexual wasn't the writer's intention but eff it, "Death of the Author" and all of that.
I could relate a lot to her struggles and it frustrates me that people use the fact that she has been abused when she was a child as an excuse to say she is not asexual. Hello? Survivors of abuse are not "broken"? They can experience sexual attraction before and after being abused?
Also, the term was invented around 1820-30, and before that I am sure asexual people existed, exactly like people of other sexualities.
Ian Mcalister
The sexual attraction Florence had with her father is the crux of this story. The understated, almost off-handed, references to the trips on the boat were telling us something important and they are key passage to the structure of the book.
The wedding night was a bad night all round, for the readers as well as for Edward and Florence. I was expecting something very different from what I read. What I did read confirmed my own opinion that the crux of the story was actually Florence's relationship with her father and that that's where her sexuality was deflowered. It's not an uncommon story, I'm afraid.
The post-coital descriptions of the wedding night parallel the sense of frustrations that played out in all the other scenes as the story itself unfolded.
He's a master story-teller and has inspired me to read more.
The wedding night was a bad night all round, for the readers as well as for Edward and Florence. I was expecting something very different from what I read. What I did read confirmed my own opinion that the crux of the story was actually Florence's relationship with her father and that that's where her sexuality was deflowered. It's not an uncommon story, I'm afraid.
The post-coital descriptions of the wedding night parallel the sense of frustrations that played out in all the other scenes as the story itself unfolded.
He's a master story-teller and has inspired me to read more.
Miz Bent
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Denise
No, I don't believe she is asexual. I think she is unsure of herself, sexually. I think the book she bought to try and inform herself about sex has frightened her more than comforted or educated her. I think if they had given each other time to come to terms with her fears and his expectations they could have dealt with all that married life was offering them. McEwan has written of them as innocents - I find them very believable. [So much of what we read in novels and see portrayed on the screen show lovers who are immediately responsive to each others bodies, able to give/receive orgasmic expression to their desires. This is not real life....usually!]
Chel
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Antonia Enache
The girl is NOT asexual! She is perfectly normal, only her father's abuse has done her tremendous damage. All she needs is patience and time. The guy is a total idiot, unable to control himself and blaming her for it. IDIOT. That's what he is. And after their separation, he is completely unable do do something with his life, just drifting aimlessly to his old age.
Luna Saint Claire
For me this book is about how we react to incidents and how that reaction combined with silence or a lack of communication may determine the outcome of our lives. Ian McEwan sets this book at the cusp of where our innocence converges with the late 60's sexual revolution. This couple has waited to consummate their marriage and typically a girl at that time was expected to be a virgin. Had this been seven years later, this incident may not have transpired. The unspoken, the silence, the secrets along with their pride, expectations and fears all converged to create disaster. For me, the message in this beautifully written book is to be open, honest, and talk about our fears and feelings. Ian McEwan's exquisite tightly crafted prose is a masterpiece.
Saskia
I agree with many of the comments about the hint of sexual abuse by Florence's father, and also social mores of the times and Denise's observation that partners are usally not immediately responsive to each other.
What I'd like to add is that I feel that the dynamic between Florence and Edward plays a part too. Edward is very keen to progress their sexual lifes, and Florence would like to take things slower. And this dynamic seems to propel them into their roles of the one who wants sex, and the one who doens't. There is no room for Florence to takes things slower, and both of them are unable to talk aobut it. At one point in their wedding night, Florence is thinking she'd like to stay like this for a bit longer and seems to be actually enjoying that part of their physical exploration. At at flashback in time, she also says she's always the one having to say 'no'. And on the other side, Edward seems to have overstepped boundaries too quickly at some instances (with Florence jumping up in the cinema etc) .
This dynamic keeps Florence on edge, and forced into a role of slowing things down. And Edward always being the one pushing.
When Florence, as the slowest moving partner in their relationship, would have been allowed to set the pace, I do believe they would have ended up both enjoying their sexual relationship. There are hints in the book that Florence does feel sexual arousal -for example the scene with the pubic hair-, but the pace seems so fast, (perhaps because of her sexual abuse history).
What I'd like to add is that I feel that the dynamic between Florence and Edward plays a part too. Edward is very keen to progress their sexual lifes, and Florence would like to take things slower. And this dynamic seems to propel them into their roles of the one who wants sex, and the one who doens't. There is no room for Florence to takes things slower, and both of them are unable to talk aobut it. At one point in their wedding night, Florence is thinking she'd like to stay like this for a bit longer and seems to be actually enjoying that part of their physical exploration. At at flashback in time, she also says she's always the one having to say 'no'. And on the other side, Edward seems to have overstepped boundaries too quickly at some instances (with Florence jumping up in the cinema etc) .
This dynamic keeps Florence on edge, and forced into a role of slowing things down. And Edward always being the one pushing.
When Florence, as the slowest moving partner in their relationship, would have been allowed to set the pace, I do believe they would have ended up both enjoying their sexual relationship. There are hints in the book that Florence does feel sexual arousal -for example the scene with the pubic hair-, but the pace seems so fast, (perhaps because of her sexual abuse history).
Annie
As an asexual person myself, I strongly agree that she is asexual ;)
Sara Sherra
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Beth
An awful lot of references to those boat trips with her dad when she was 12 and her deciding that anything she was thinking about those days was something she had made up.
Joan Noble
She was sexually abused by her father at 12 and that turned her against sex. Any girl sexually abused by their father would feel the same way. She and her father avoided each other. She from fear and shame and he from guilt and shame. He wanted rid of her so he did not have to be reminded every day and she wanted away from him. She just could not overcome the fear and shame.
Jeanne
There was a very suggestive flick at the idea that she might have been sexually abused by her dad. She remembered being on the boat with him and keeping her eyes closed while he undressed and hearing the clink of his belt and the sound of the coins in his pants hitting the floor. Something was wrong between them and I got a serious abuse vibe, but it wasn't explored. Also the book said the father was too eager to get rid of her even to a boy with no prospects and no money and that Edward wasn't sophisticated enough to pick up on that. Like she was damaged goods somehow, but without specifically saying how. And that is why I didn't like the book. There was nothing said specifically about why she was frigid -- was she asexual? Had she been abused by her father? (and if so why was she so clueless about sex?)
Greg
Sean, Florence finds her tension and release, apparently, 100% through music. Yes, agreed, asexual-she doesn't like sex.
Summana
I know right! i think this is because of the fact that she did enjoy the sexual advances at some point, but i think she did identify as asexual but because of the time period of the story her sexuality was not as defined as it could have been had the book been set in the present ( i am sorry i am very sleepy and my grammar is pretty shit right now)
L C
I don't think she was asexual. I think at the time, sex was simply so taboo that no one knew what it takes to arouse and please a lot of women! In fact, she is aroused on the wedding night when he is not penetrating her, but basically some foreplay that might have helped her warm up to the act. Not to mention the absolute lack of communication, and the lack of years of experimentation learning what she liked. Then there is, as many comment below - the hints that her father sexually abused her, as well.
Jerie
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Sarah Guiloff
I think she has Vaginismus. I’m surprised the google search “Vaginismus on Chesil Beach” brings no results but I think it’s probably due to unawareness of the condition. It’s a condition where women have involuntary spams on their vaginal muscles, which notably affects women’s ability to engage in vaginal penetration, but can extend to tightly closing their thighs and to having visceral reactions such as trembling in fear before anything actually happens, depending on the degree of the condition. It can have diverse causes, of which sexual abuse, assault or attempts of it are common.
Dan Williams
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