Husbands & Lovers

Several characters, in addition to the gold cobra bracelet, illustrate how deceptive appearances can be, in both good and bad ways. Lucien and Hannah hide their religious and cultural identities in an era and political setting in which revealing them could be dangerous. Lucien conceals his family’s Jewish history so that he can protect his mother and work as an Israeli intelligence operative without arousing suspicion. After he introduces Hannah to his mother and reveals this history to her, he says, “It’s not something you go about proclaiming, these days” (293). Hannah is quite familiar with this feeling, as she chose to hide her own background for the same reasons. During the war, despite Jànos’s opinion that she would be safe in their home in the country, Hannah thinks, “Don’t you understand, there is nowhere safe on this earth” (398). Her father was deported to an extermination camp for being a Jew, and Hannah knows that a similar fate could befall her. This is implicitly the reason why she makes the decision, after the war and the demise of her family, to conceal her background and marry Alistair, who knows nothing of her past and has no interest in it. When Hannah tells him that she’s pregnant, he knows it’s Lucien’s baby and already knows that Lucien’s family is Jewish, musing about how upset his father would be to think of “Jew blood in the ancient family line” (395). Alistair exhibits similar bigotry throughout the text, which fuels Hannah’s motivation to keep her background a secret. This subplot therefore suggests that oppression forces people into deceiving others by keeping up appearances.

The most significant and symbolic object in the text, the cobra bracelet, reveals how deceptive appearances can be. What looks like a detailed and lovely, if unusual, piece of jewelry possesses a hidden compartment that can be used to conceal messages. Even the shape it takes reflects the thematic idea that appearances should not be taken at face value, as cobras can remain hidden until they strike. An area might look safe, allowing a person to relax, until the animal “crawl[s] directly into your house or tent or trouser leg, so you’d bloody well better watch your step” (19), according to Alistair. This is, of course, what happens when Hannah is bitten.

For his part, Alistair’s appearance is deceptive as well, like Mr. Adams’s, and both men manipulate others under the guise of being something they are not. Alistair may seem doddering and oafish, but he is smart enough to figure out that Hannah is having an affair and to have Lucien investigated in secret. He relishes telling Hannah what he’s learned, suggesting “smug[ly]” that Lucien won’t be around long enough to cause any trouble for him and “smil[ing] at [Hannah’s] shock” when he reveals what he knows (395). Likewise, Monk’s father works hard to ingratiate himself with Mallory, sharing her work with colleagues and asking her to “think of [him] like a godfather” (308). He gains her trust enough that she never suspects the lengths to which he would go to prevent his son from squandering his “Adams” privilege. He assures her that they are “[o]n the same team” (306), and then he drugs and rapes her when she doesn’t do as he wants. His fatherly guise disappears when Mallory refuses his wishes, revealing a calculating and Machiavellian manipulator.