The Bridges Of Madison County Sparknotes

Many people wish that their life will have purpose and meaning. In The Bridges of Madison County, the Italian farmer’s wife Francesca faces the daunting fact that she may have spent her life doing something she hates- living as a farm wife instead of traveling the world. When her husband and kids go to the state fair, Francesca is left home alone. A national geographic photographer, Robert, asks her for directions and the two end up falling in love. Francesca is faced with the moral dilemma of leaving her family to enjoy a more exciting life, or to stay with her family and support them. This inner conflict haunts her, until she makes the ultimate decision to stay with her family despite her love for Robert. In the play The Bridges of Madison County, dramatic lighting and the prop of the telephone develop Francesca’s inner conflict of deciding whether to

The telephone is first introduced as a way for Francesca to keep in contact with her husband Bud while he is at the state fair. Periodically, Bud will call the house to check on Francesca. However, as her affair with Robert progresses, she begins to lie to Bud more often and to have shorter conversations with him. This displays Francesca’s inner conflict as while her phone conversations are short, she still answers to talk to Bud, revealing that she still cares for her family but is beginning to love Richard more. The prop of the telephone is present in almost every scene, a constant reminder to the audience that Francesca has a family of her own as they are won over by her charming affair with Robert. Francesca’s increasingly fragmented telephone conversations and the constant presence of the phone develop her inner conflict and remind the audience that she does have a family that she is loyal to, further immersing the audience in the tough decision Francesca needs to