Ciara Keane Post 2

Much like Camille, Dean has no respect for Marylou, treating her like a disposable, emotionless pleasure toy that he only calls upon when it is convenient; naturally, he has no problem being unfaithful to her.  At one sharp he would rush from “Marylou to Camille, of course neither of the knowing what was going on.”  While he was still married to Marylou, he would have sex with her and head over to Camille’s to have sex with her immediately after.  He showed no sense of remorse or guilt concerning the fact that he would express his love to his wife through the ultimate act of love, only to turn around and have sex with another woman shortly only hours after.  He took advantage of both of them, making sure he got his daily dose of sex form both of them, disregarding the idea of faithfulness.  When Sal is describing the situation, he says that Dean was “going to get the necessary papers for their divorce.  Marylou’s all for it, but she insists on banging in the interim”.  This explanation makes Marylou seem desperate and senseless.  It makes it seem like she asks for this treatment; like she is to blame for Dean’s solely sex-based relationship with Marylou.  Maybe Marylou thought that she could win Dean back by providing him with consistent sexual opportunity, but naturally, Sal and Dean’s phallocentric lens only allows them to see that Marylou is a stupid slut without standards or morals.  Dean even takes his objectification of Marylou so far that he asked Sal to sleep with her so he could “see what Marylou was like with another man”.  Not only does he not mind his wife having sex with another man; he offers her up to Sal like she is his possession to give.  Though Sal denies the request, they never discuss Marylou’s opinion in this because in their eyes, she has no say.

            Dean’s values become apparent through the way he treats Marylou.  After he broke up with her once, he realized he wanted her back, but knew she wanted nothing to do with him.  Therefore, he “wanted absolute proof that she was a whore” so he could provide himself with an excuse for why he didn’t need her, and why he shouldn’t want her back.  He tarnishes her name, manifesting lies so as to make himself feel better about the irreparable mistakes he has made.  “For to him, sex was the one and only holy and important thing in life”, so worrying about how the things he said and did affected Marylou was not a priority, or even a matter of consideration.  Dean’s head is crowded nyphomanic thoughts; however, men like Dean seemed to think this was a legitimate excuse for the wrongs they did onto women, when that is all it really was: an excuse.

When he was with Marylou, the way he spoke to her when he had her was reflective of what he considered her to be.  When he was attempting to decide his next move, “he decided the thing to do was to have Marylou make breakfast and sweep the floor”. It is the small details that speak the loudest: he didn’t ask her to, he was going to ‘have her’ do it. She was nothing more than a vehicle of convenience, always available to fulfill his physical needs.