Religion and Art
Religion or the church and art play a critical role in the story, as they are a source or rather a point of conflict in the plotline. The Bentleys have just moved into a new parish when the story begins and their attempts to navigate the new waters. As a pastor, Mr. Bentley suffers from major shortcomings such as his hypocrisy in his belief in God and the word. Akin to his wife he is an artist in his own right but chose ministry in order to provide for the family even though his heart is not in it. To an extent, they are both ‘failed’ artists who still have the thirst to create but are trapped in their ministry life. As the minister’s wife Mrs. Bentley is the object of judgment and gossip for the townspeople and consequently she harbors contempt towards them. Furthermore, since they are Protestants a conflict arises when they adapt a Catholic boy and the priests discover this fact.
Marriage Life
A childless marriage with an emotionally-distant husband and an obsessive and manipulative wife is bound to have issues. Due to his occupation with his vocation and lack of affection and adoration for the wife Mr. Bentley is not emotionally available in the marriage. Whereas Mrs. Bentley is obsessed to find out the problems that make his husband unavailable and tries to solve them. They adopt a child to fill the gap of not bearing children of their own but their joy is short-lived as he is taken away from them. Because of the loveless dynamic in their marriage even though Mrs. Bentley still loves him very much she starts a friendship with Paul. On the other hand, Philip supposedly has been having an affair with Judith even siring a child together. Therefore, the story explores the bittersweet dynamic of marriage life and the up and downs the couple have to endure because of each other.
Loneliness and Depression
From Mrs. Bentley’s point of view as the narrator, the reader finds a lonely woman who battles with depression from the issues in her marriage and community. She feels estranged from Philip and he is emotionally unavailable for her while she is obsessively in love with him. Hence the pressure of unrequited love and her inability to bear children for him, Mrs. Bentley feels isolated. These translate into her contempt for the congregation and the townspeople, as his husband’s attention seems to be taken over by them. She also has to deal with judgments from other people, in her current neighborhood as much as the previous one.
