What We Talk About When We Talk About Love Themes

In “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love,” two married couples spend an afternoon together drinking gin and debating the nature of love. Initially, they all believe that they know exactly what love is, and they feel certain that their own marriages are loving. However, as they struggle to define and defend their ideas about love, the conversation devolves into uncertainty and disagreement. Their heated (and at times cruel) debate, along with their…

At the beginning of “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love,” Mel McGinnis—a heart surgeon—insists that love and violence cannot coexist: “The kind of love I’m talking about, you don’t try to kill people,” he says. But the remainder of the story contradicts him. As the couples discuss love, they constantly invoke violence: Mel’s wife, Terri, believes that violence can prove the existence of love; Mel reveals his own violent fantasies…