“Between his skin and hers, there was the smallest of spaces, barely enough for air […] Even still, a third person, their marriage, had slid in.”

Mathilde and Lotto’s whirlwind marriage was brought about because of the intensity their infatuation and the sheer force of their love. However, they soon realize the scope of what they’ve just done. Taking their vows seriously turned out to be a far more significant promise in their union than how they felt towards one another prior to marriage.

“She’d be a teenager until they killed her off and then she’d play mothers and wives. Woman in narratives were always defined by their relations.”

Susannah’s early career as an actress describes the broader scale of women in western literature, especially when written by male authors, and examples of this can be seen in Groff’s novel. For instance, Mathilde is obsessed with finding a home through family and loses herself as a wife, as does Antoinette, who had professional dreams before becoming a wife and mother. Further, from Lotto’s point of view, both his mom and his Aunt Sallie do not seem to have any outside interests besides caring for his well-being because he is the center of his own universe.

“‘There’s a wife,’ Lancelot said. ‘Mathilde. She’s a saint. One of the purest people I’ve ever met. Just morally upright, never lies, can’t bear a fool’ […] ‘The grand love story then,’ Leo said lightly. ‘But it’s exhausting to live with a saint.’”

Mathilde and Lotto both harbor the false idea that their partner is viewed as perfect by others. The statement is ironic because Mathilde is the opposite of a saint while Lotto leaves in a dream world and lets those close to him take care of him.