Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Tender Is the Night, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Excess, Destruction, and the Failed American Dream
Gender, Mental Illness, and Psychiatry
The Pursuit of Youth and Innocence
Racism and Otherness
Summary
Analysis
Finding Nicole in the garden, Dick tells her that he saw Mrs. Speers in Cannes. They joke briefly about starting rumors to prevent unsavory types coming to spend their summers on the Riviera, but Dick isn’t in the mood for talking. Nicole can sense Dick’s desire to brood and plan his work, and she hates him for drawing away from her. While playing the piano, Dick worries that Nicole will realize he’s still yearning after Rosemary, and he stops playing immediately.
Although Dick and Nicole still share occasional jokes and moments of honesty, their relationship has become sour and strained. Dick resents Nicole for distracting him from his work, and she resents him for putting distance between them.
Themes
Dick feels suffocated by Nicole’s wealth. At the beginning of their marriage he had gone to great lengths to live within his own means, but as time has passed, it has become impossible to support their luxurious lifestyle without using her vast inheritance. Dick believes that Nicole has encouraged any and all extravagances on his part, motivated by a desire “to own him.” Nicole’s income “seem[s] to belittle his work” since there is no need for him to financially support the family.
Nicole’s inheritance emasculates Dick, who hates the notion of his wife financially supporting him. Relying on Nicole’s wealth makes Dick feel unmanly and insecure, as if she has a power over him. It also belittles his profession, which could never earn him as much as Nicole receives from her inheritance.
Themes
Autumn on the French Riviera is dismal and “melancholy,” but it allows Dick and Nicole to settle into their new domestic life and routine. They meet interesting people, dine at nice restaurants, and care for their children. By December, Nicole’s health seems to have returned and they decide to spend Christmas in Switzerland.
Trying to forget Rosemary and the drama in Paris, Dick devotes himself in family life. It seems, at least for now, that he may be able to salvage his life and marriage.
Themes
