The Golden Bowl

The narrative of The Golden Bowl is structured around two marriages: Maggie and Amerigo and Adam and Charlotte. Importantly, these two marriages do not represent the most important relationships in the respective characters’ lives. For Maggie and Adam, the bond between father and daughter proves more important to them than either marriage, to the point that they each ignore their respective spouse out of fear that they are losing their previous closeness. For Charlotte and Amerigo, their passion for one another exceeds anything in their respective marriages. They were lovers previously and, despite their marriages to other people, they seek to become lovers again. Although the marriages are important to the structure of the novel, the marriages are not as important to the characters’ lives. In this way, The Golden Bowl distinguishes between marriage and love. Marriage is not merely an administrative expression of devout love; in fact, the most consequential loving relationships occur outside the boundaries of marriage. The Golden Bowl separates marriage from love and then explores the nuances and intricacies of how marriage and love are related but not codependent, just as the respective spouses are bound to one another, but not in the most consequential fashion.