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- The novel is a critique of the conformity and materialism of suburban life, and it presents a bleak and despairing portrait of the human condition. It is also a searing indictment of the societal pressures that prevent individuals from living fulfilling and authentic lives.
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Themes and Colors. LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Revolutionary Road, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work. Marriage and Selfhood. Revolutionary Road examines the way codependence can turn a disappointing marriage into a life-destroying one.
- Class, Taste, and Status
Revolutionary Road takes place during a period after World...
- Parents and Children
Revolutionary Road portrays parents and children as locked...
- Marriage and Selfhood
Revolutionary Road examines the way codependence can turn a...
- Manhood and Womanhood
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in...
- Characters
Need help on characters in Richard Yates's Revolutionary...
- Theme Wheel Theme Viz
The Revolutionary Road Theme Wheel is a beautiful super...
- Plot Summary
The novel begins in western Connectictut, with an...
- Revolutionary Road
In-depth summary and analysis of every chapter of...
- Class, Taste, and Status
Revolutionary Road navigates the tension between freedom and imprisonment, and how such themes functioned within the stifling containment culture of 1950s America. Ironically, although the Wheelers are financially free, they cannot escape the shackles of suburbia.
- Richard Yates
In-depth summary and analysis of every chapter of Revolutionary Road. Visual theme-tracking, too.
- Struggle to Overcome Isolation
- Masculinity, Femininity, and Gender Roles
- Mental Illness
- Dream Versus Reality
Yates once said the major theme of his work was the tragedy of human isolation. Characters in Revolutionary Road have families, lovers, and friends, but they still feel isolated. They seek false comfort from their environments, and they struggle to communicate their true needs and desires to others. Places designed to nurture human connection, like...
When April proposes the Wheelers move to Europe so Frank can discover his true calling, Frank is alarmed when she says she'll work to support the family. He's intimidated by picturing her in heels with her hair in a bun coming home from the office. Shep is also taken aback when he hears about the plan and tells Milly he doesn't think any man would ...
John Givings is the only character in the novel diagnosed with mental illness. But the theme of mental illness, sometimes referred to as neurosis or the more derogatory term "insanity," threads through other characters' stories. Feeling disconnected from the world and themselves, they question their grip on reality. Many people in the book secretly...
Dreams, fantasies, and imaginary personas often collide with reality in Revolutionary Road. People curate false personalities to act in a way they think will please others and knowingly deceive themselves into thinking better things lie in store for them. Since many characters perform and act out roles in their daily lives, it's thematically approp...
Revolutionary Road Analysis: themes. Three of the key themes that Revolutionary Road explores are gender roles, marriage, and the pressure for conformity. Let's take a look at all three of them in more detail...
- Richard Yates
- 1961
- Tragedy
Themes. Masculinity Against the Backdrop of 1950s Conformist Society. The immediate years following the end of World War II saw an unprecedented rise in American power and influence. It also witnessed the terrible consequences of mankind’s search for greater weapons, namely the advent of atomic weapons and the possibility of complete annihilation.
In a 1976 interview for the literary journal Ploughshares, Yates commented about the underlying theme of the novel as an indictment of American society in the 1950s, when there was a strong urge for conformity and desperation for safety and security at any price.
