Claustrophobic conformity: Post-war suburbia in Revolutionary Road

Abstract

In considering narratives of confinement, one likely thinks of typical spaces: prisons, hospitals, care homes and the like. Rarely would one think of the American suburb, especially in the post-World War Two era, as a space of entrapment. Yet, Richard Yates’ 1961 novel, Revolutionary Road, offers an incisive interrogation of post-war suburbia. Focalized through Frank and April Wheeler, a young suburban couple, the narrative of Revolutionary Road examines how the pressures of social and cultural conformity gradually wear away the American psyche. The narrative follows the potent tension between the Wheelers’ individual desires to break free from suburbia and the sociocultural expectations thrust upon them. This chapter examines Revolutionary Road as a seminal example of an American narrative of confinement. It incorporates Frederic Jameson’s work on post-war consumerism, as well as Judith Butler’s work on gender and performance. In doing so, it argues that Revolutionary Road offers a powerful reminder that prisons do not always have cells and barbed-wire fences. Sometimes, they have green lawns and white-picket fences, held together by a web of social and cultural forces.