The Bridges of Madison County

List two good things and two drawbacks for Francesca in choosing to have an affair with Robert. Explain why each of those things is good or bad.

Aside from the sense of freedom that she gets from him, what is it about Robert that Francesca finds so alluring? Describe three ways he attracts her and explain how those attributes enhance each other in her mind.

What is it about Francesca’s personality that Robert so loves? Why does that attract him?

Why does Robert believe he’s the last of a dying breed? List two attributes that mark him as an old-fashioned personality and explain why each makes him a man not of his time.

Robert often quarrels with magazine editors over their use of his photos. What causes these rifts? What is it in Robert’s character that drives him to get into these arguments?

Why are the covered bridges so central to the love affair between Robert and Francesca? Why, as well, are they important specifically to Robert, and how are they uniquely meaningful to Francesca?

What’s lacking in Francesca’s marriage to Richard? Suggest three reasons why she’s dissatisfied, and for each explain why they are problems unlikely to be resolved. 

Robert’s magazine editors sometimes prescribe a photographic aesthetic he does not find truly beautiful, yet his own sense of beauty is not always profitable. Consider Robert’s sense of photographic merit and compare it to how he sees Francesca’s beauty.