Exactly how steamy is this story?
R
By Philip Roth novel standards the sex in American Pastoral is relatively subdued, though there's lots of sexually charged language. There are two main sections of the novel where sex comes into play.
The first is the scene where Rita Cohen tries to get the Swede to have sex with her, in Chapter Four of the novel. Even though no actual sex takes place, it's extremely graphic and more than a little uncomfortable for most readers—it's not sexy, it's menacing.
The second sexual section is in Chapter Seven when the Swede remembers his past sex life with Dawn. This is fairly graphic, though not overtly disturbing like the Rita Cohen sex scene. When reading that scene, keep in mind it's from the Swede's perspective. Do you think Dawn sees their sex life in the same positive terms as the Swede does? Why or why not?