The Comfort of Strangers

"The Comfort of Strangers" is a 1981 novel by British writer Ian McEwan. It is one of his earlier and lesser known works, and is set in a city that is unnamed but is evidently Venice. It was adapted into a film in 1990 ("The Comfort of Strangers"), which starred Rupert Everett, Christopher Walken, Helen Mirren and Natasha Richardson.

Plot Summary

Mary and Colin are an English couple on holiday in Venice, although the name of the city is never made explicit. Mary is divorced with two children; Colin is her angelically handsome lover who has been with her for seven years. Although they do not usually live together, their relationship is deep, passionate and intimate.

One evening, the couple get lost amongst the canals and are befriended by a forceful native named Robert, who takes them to a bar. Later, he insists on bringing them to his house where they meet his wife Caroline. Although the guests are at first shown great hospitality, it becomes clear that the hosts have a peculiar relationship with each other - Robert is the product of a sadistic upbringing and Caroline, who is disabled, has an uncomfortable view of men as being masters to which women should yield.

The liberal English couple withdraw from the house, but the events of the evening have set in chain a series of ever-increasingly disturbing events which neither foresaw.

Themes

McEwan's novella explores the closeness that exists between Mary and Colin. They have known each other for seven years and "often forget that they are two separate people". As well as being an expression of their love, this closeness makes them weak and puerile. It causes them pain, and enables Robert to take advantage of them.

The disturbing climax of the narrative suggests that McEwan is concerned with two main themes. First, the masochistic behaviour of Robert and the subservience of Caroline are manifestations of a raw and haunting human sexuality. Second, Robert's acts are placed in the context of his adolescence, suggesting that his highly-sexed family upbringing was responsible for his behaviour.