A Change of Opinion

In an earlier post, I expressed how much I thought Frank loved April and how April was so cold for not loving Frank back. While I still believe this to be true, Frank no longer shines in the light that he used to. I have read further into the story, and it is now very apparent that Frank has been cheating on his wife. So, who could blame April for not loving her husband?
On a personal note, I feel that April has every right to be an awful person towards her husband. Frank has not admitted that he has been having an affair, and I don't even think that April knows he is having an affair, but she still has a woman's intuition. April knows that something is not right and that she deserves more from her husband. Now one could argue that if April had been a little more compassionate towards her husband, then this whole situation would have been avoided. But where can one draw the line at compassionate enough, or not compassionate enough? This is the age-old question that probably every woman who's ever been cheated on asks herself. She might even blame herself. But April Wheeler is different; she does not blame herself for anything. While this can get annoying, I currently have a huge amount of respect towards her character for this reason.
I also think that Yates was trying to express his view of women's rights through April Wheeler's character. He makes her a strong character, who takes care of the household and makes most of the family's decisions. She even is the one to decide to move to Paris, so that she can work while Frank "finds himself". During the 1950's and 1960's, when this book was written, women were increasingly gaining more respect and power. More and more women were going to college and working before they got married. But I think that Yates is trying to express a more radical view of women's rights. In my opinion, Yates is telling his audience that it should be socially acceptable for women to be the ones to bring home the bacon, and that women are in many ways just as strong as, if not stronger than, men.