Yiyun Li, a celebrated author known for her insightful novels and winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award, joins to explore William Trevor's "The Piano Tuner’s Wives." They dive into profound themes of love, jealousy, and the intricate dynamics between two women linked by a blind piano tuner. Li reflects on memory and identity, discussing how past relationships shape the present. The conversation also highlights Trevor’s subtle storytelling, revealing emotional depths and the complexities of human connection amidst beauty and heartbreak.
The intricate relationships in 'The Piano Tuner’s Wives' reveal deep themes of love, jealousy, and the lingering presence of the past.
Memory profoundly affects Belle's identity as she Coping with Violet's legacy, fostering feelings of inadequacy and competition in her marriage.
The piano symbolizes both connection and emotional turmoil, illustrating how the characters' lives are intertwined through shared memories and unresolved dynamics.
Deep dives
Exploring Relationships and Jealousy
The story delves into the complex relationships between the piano tuner and his two wives, Violet and Belle, highlighting themes of love, jealousy, and regret. Violet marries the piano tuner when he is young, while Belle enters his life later when he is old and physically deteriorating. The narrative demonstrates how Belle's long-standing jealousy of Violet profoundly shapes her actions and feelings, leading her to harbor resentment and envy over opportunities she feels she lost. This jealousy drives Belle to feel as though she has been wronged by fate, as she believes her beauty and potential to give him children were overlooked in favor of Violet.
The Impact of Memory and the Past
Memory plays a critical role in the story, with Belle constantly grappling with the presence of Violet's memory in her marriage to the piano tuner. Despite Violet’s death, her influence is palpable as the piano tuner reminisces about their shared experiences, which leaves Belle feeling inadequate and overshadowed. Even in everyday tasks, Belle finds herself competing with Violet's lingering presence, feeling compelled to measure her worth against her predecessor. This creates a continuous tension where Belle struggles to carve out her own identity within a marriage that feels haunted by past memories.
The Role of the Piano and Music
The piano serves as a potent symbol of connection and separation in the lives of the characters, representing both their artistic expressions and their emotional turmoil. The piano tuner’s profession not only defines his identity but also links the two marriages as he continues to tune pianos that belonged to both wives. He finds solace and purpose in his work, which is intricately intertwined with Violet's nurturing nature that helped him thrive. However, as Belle assumes the role of his new wife, the joy tied to music diminishes, suggesting that the vibrancy of their relationship is overshadowed by the unresolved dynamics of the past.
Beneath the Surface: Subtle Power Dynamics
The story exemplifies subtle power dynamics between the characters, particularly in the way Belle seeks to establish her identity within the shadows of Violet. While she tries to assume control over her new life and marriage, the weight of Violet's legacy creates barriers to her self-assertion. The conflict escalates as Belle tries to erase Violet’s influence in their home while simultaneously contending with her husband's unfulfilled memories. This interplay reveals how Belle's attempts at dominance paradoxically lead to feelings of inadequacy, suggesting that her efforts to replace Violet may instead reinforce her sense of loss.
The Fragility of Dreams and Human Relationships
The conclusion highlights the fragility of dreams and human relationships, leaving readers to ponder the losses endured by both women. Belle, in her pursuit of love and recognition, becomes a hollow reflection of the life she seeks, betraying both her desires and the piano tuner's unspoken grief for Violet. In the end, Belle's struggle to cultivate her own identity amidst the remnants of Violet's life reveals the cost of love marred by jealousy and competition. This nuanced exploration of their intertwined existences underscores that true fulfillment may remain perpetually out of reach, as each character grapples with the emotional scars their relationships leave behind.
Yiyun Li joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss “The Piano Tuner’s Wives,” by William Trevor, which was published in The New Yorker in 1995. Li has published eight books of fiction, including the novels “Must I Go” and “Book of Goose,” a winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, and the story collection “Wednesday’s Child,” which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 2024. A new nonfiction work, “Things in Nature Merely Grow,” will be published this month.
