The Country Husband

“The Country Husband,” one of John Cheever’s most anthologized short stories, is an exploration of suburban life and the struggles of its inhabitants. It won an O’Henry award in 1956 and was included in the anthology The Stories of John Cheever, which won the 1978 Pulitzer Prize for fiction. Using a third-person narrator, it focuses on protagonist Francis Weed’s disillusionment with his life after a near-death experience, which manifests primarily as a romantic obsession with his family’s young babysitter. Cheever is one of the most celebrated writers of post-World War II America, and his work often explores suburban ennui and the conflict that can develop between one’s inner desires and outer projections of self. This guide refers to the version published in the November 20, 1954, issue of The New Yorker.

Content Warning: The source material alludes to the possibility of rape, including statutory rape, as well as domestic violence and alcohol addiction.

Francis Weed, a middle-aged man and father of four, is aboard a plane that crash lands in a cornfield. Although physically unharmed—he and the other passengers are ferried by taxi to Philadelphia, the nearest city—Francis struggles to convey the experience to his family and neighbors back in Shady Hill, the suburban New England enclave where they live. Upon returning home, Francis finds that his wife, Julia, and their children are consumed with the minutiae of their own lives and largely indifferent to his near-death experience. Frustrated by the children’s bickering and messiness at dinner, Francis likens the home to a “battlefield,” which upsets Julia. He retreats to his backyard garden and immerses himself in the familiar sounds of his neighborhood. He especially notices Jupiter, the high-spirited retriever who often causes mischief throughout Shady Hill.

The Weeds are known for their social engagement, and Julia is particularly invested in the social life of Shady Hill. The following evening, Francis and Julia attend a party, and everything appears normal on the surface. However, during the gathering, Francis recognizes the maid, who sparks a long-buried memory from his past. He recalls witnessing her in newly liberated France, being publicly humiliated for her association with a German officer. Francis keeps the revelation to himself, aware that everyone at the party is content with the façade of a pristine and unblemished existence.

Upon returning home from the party, Francis encounters Anne Murchison, the children’s new babysitter, who is crying on their stoop over her father’s abusive, alcoholic behavior. Francis comforts her with an embrace and, captivated by Anne’s “perfect” beauty, clutches her tightly to him. Anne extricates herself, but after Francis drives her home, she gives him a brief kiss. Francis returns home while fantasizing about running away with Anne. The following morning, he sees an unclothed, beautiful young woman pass by in a train’s sleeper car while he’s waiting on the platform. He is then deliberately impolite to his neighbor, Mrs. Wrightson, who is standing beside him, telling her to “shut up” after she relays a tedious story about her drapes.

Later that same day, Francis impulsively kisses Anne when he finds her once again in the entryway of his home, but she resists his advances. Gertrude, a neighborhood girl described as a “stray,” witnesses the incident. Desperate to maintain secrecy, Francis implores Gertrude not to reveal what she saw. While Anne babysits the children, Francis and Julia attend a party in which the hosts talk about how in love they still are after 16 years of marriage. All Francis can think about during his various conversations is the fact that he’ll get to drive Anne home after they leave. However, on the way home, Julia informs him that she told Anne she could leave at 11 o’clock: She’s already gone for the night.

The next day, when Francis comes home from work, the air “smells sharply of change” (44). He discovers his family dressed in their best clothing; Julia has arranged for a photographer to take pictures of them for a Christmas card. While he begrudgingly dresses for the event in their bedroom, he writes Anne a love letter. When Julia calls for him to come downstairs, he feels overwhelmed by the discrepancy between his fantasies and reality.

Later that night, Clayton Thomas, a young man from the neighborhood, pays a visit to the Weeds. Clayton is disenchanted with the artificiality of Shady Hill and plans to move to New York with his mother. He also intends to marry Anne once she finishes school. Francis “recoil[s]” at the mention of Anne’s name, and the thought of her marrying Clayton suddenly saps his life of all color and meaning.

Following Clayton’s departure, Francis and Julia have a heated argument over Francis’s rude comment to Mrs. Wrightson and the ostracization from Shady Hill social functions that their family will face as a result. Francis strikes Julia, and she goes to pack her things to leave him. He follows and apologizes, but she accuses him of no longer loving her, pointing to habits like leaving his dirty clothes lying around as evidence of “subconscious” hatred. Francis envisions Julia struggling to support herself as a single woman and begs her to stay, telling her that she is “dependent” on him. Julia is offended—she thinks he depends on her—but eventually relents and agrees to stay to “take care of [him] for a little while longer” (46).

On the way to work the next morning, Francis thinks he spots Anne on the train. He follows her only to discover it is a different woman entirely. At work, Francis is asked to assist Clayton with finding a job, but, still obsessing over his feelings for Anne, he instead undermines Clayton’s prospects. Overwhelmed by his own erratic behavior and conflicting emotions—he momentarily considers raping Anne—Francis seeks professional help and begins seeing a psychiatrist, who suggests finding a distraction.

To occupy his mind, Francis takes up woodworking and starts crafting a coffee table in the cellar. As he immerses himself in this new hobby, he contemplates the true solace he finds in the “holy smell of new wood” (48). Elsewhere, his young son Toby puts on a “space suit” consisting of tights and a cape and leaps off his bed. Julia is in the garden and notices an unhappy cat, dressed in doll’s clothes, and an ebullient Jupiter, carrying the remains of a slipper he has stolen. Evening falls: “a night where kings in golden suits ride elephants over the mountains” (48).