Victorian Stained Glass Symbol Analysis

The old Victorian-era stained glass window on Bendrix’s door symbolizes Sarah and Henry’s marriage—something that perhaps should have been destroyed but somehow remained intact. Likewise, the stained glass window on Bendrix’s door has somehow survived all the turmoil and air raids that rocked the building during World War II, during which Bendrix and Sarah had their affair. It is notable that Greene specifically describes the stained glass as “Victorian,” an era famous for being especially traditional and conservative and which placed a huge emphasis on the sanctity of marriage. The Victorian era is also notoriously considered a “sexless” era when sexual relationships outside of marriage were prohibited and even sex within marriage was a taboo subject. In keeping with this reference, Henry and Sarah’s marriage is sexless; Henry cannot satisfy Sarah, so they no longer have sex. In 1944, on the night that Sarah and Bendrix’s affair ends, a bomb destroys the front of Bendrix’s building and knocks out just about all the glass from the windows, but the stained glass remains intact. Bendrix, in a way, is a bomb in Sarah and Henry’s marriage, destroying everything but the marriage itself, which Henry is determined to keep alive and which Sarah agrees to stay in.

Furthermore, the stained glass makes an appearance at key moments having to do with Sarah and Henry’s marriage in the book. The first time it appears is when Bendrix leaves his apartment and sees Henry for the first time since the affair ended. That same night, Henry tells Bendrix of his suspicion that Sarah is having an affair and that he’s looking into hiring a private detective. Even though Bendrix encourages Henry to either contact the detective or to let him go to the detective in Henry’s place, Henry decides to burn the detective’s address in a symbolic gesture of renewed trust in his wife’s faithfulness. The second time the window makes an appearance is when Bendrix’s apartment is hit by a bomb and he notices that even though there is glass all over the floor, the stained glass window remains undamaged. Little did Bendrix know that at this moment, Sarah was inside praying to God and promising to end her sinful affair with Bendrix and do the right thing by returning to her husband. The stained glass window’s last appearance is when Bendrix return to his apartment after staying the night with Henry the day Sarah passed away. When he enters his room, Bendrix sees a letter from Sarah on his desk. In the letter, Sarah tells Bendrix (who had recently asked her to run away with him) that she can’t see him ever again because of her marriage. The final mention of the stained glass window then, coincides with Sarah’s final verdict: she will remain committed to her marriage. The stained glass window thus highlights Greene’s belief in the strength of traditional marriage to withstand anything when both partners are committed to maintaining it.