The White Hotel | Themes & Symbolism

The White Hotel Significant Topics

Sex and Sexuality

Lisa's real and hallucinatory lives often revolve around sex. As a child, she is witness to the sexual experimentation of her mother, aunt, and uncle, and carries the memories with her, repressed, until they are revealed through therapy. In her teenage years, Lisa has unpleasant personal experiences with sex that shape her later attitudes. At 15, she is forced to perform oral sex on a group of sailors, who tell her it is all she is worthy to do. At 17, she is raped by a stranger on a train, and it causes terrible hallucinations. Even when she has sex with her first love, Alexei, she is uncomfortable and the experience is unpleasant. When she gets married, she cannot bring herself to complete the sex act with her husband. After she leaves him, she forces herself to ignore her sexual desires. The few times she indulges, she feels terribly guilty...
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