Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses emotional abuse.

The primary first-person narrator and the protagonist of the book, Ariane is “the wife” to whom the titular husband belongs. Ariane describes herself as slender, tall, and beautiful, resembling the actor Nicole Kidman. Her husband considers her “sublime” (254). Ariane has pale skin and dyed blonde hair; her natural hair color is brown. She takes care to assume a straight, proper posture at all times, and dresses in an understated, chic way. 

According to Ariane, her hairstyles and fashion choices have fluctuated over the years, reflecting her search for an authentic identity. Ariane’s parents are working class, and she grew up in economy housing—facts which makes her uncomfortable. Nevertheless, she is thankful to her parents for the good looks they passed on to her. Although Ariane appears to be ambivalent about her parents, she notes that she has a stable relationship with them and her sisters. Ariane is similarly ambivalent about her two children, an 8-year-old daughter and a 10-year-old son. Like her husband, her children remain unnamed in the novel, reflecting Ariane’s self-absorption.

While Ariane may have an ambivalent relationship with most of her loved ones, Ariane is unabashedly in love with her husband, to whom she has been married for 13 years.