Alcoholism and the family

Because both Frank and April Wheeler drink heavily and often, the question of alcoholism and its effect on marriage and the family naturally presents itself. Although strikingly different personalities, April and Frank share more than escapist tendencies and seem to reinforce each other's sense of superiority and disdain for their suburban life that leads to the ultimate "geographical cure" of moving to Paris. April exhibits more pronounced mood swings than Frank, perhaps a result of a further progression into her disease of alcoholism than her husband. One day she tells Frank, while drinking, that she doesn't love him and never did. The next day, she is serenely sweet acting the role of the perfectly submissive middle class suburban station wagon wife.

But there is a corrosive core to their marriage in the form of alcoholic co-dependency. Frank acts out his escape fantasy by having a...