Ismail Kadare's Broken April
Thesis: Throughout Broken April by Ismail Kadare, Diana and Bessian’s physical proximity declines as Bessian devote fascination with the Kanun leads to the deterioration of their relationship as a married couple. In pages 61-86 of the novel, Diana and Bessian are fairly physically intimate with each other, with a clear developing distance forming between them as Bessian continuously speaks of the Kanun and the Blood Code, leaving Diana speechless. Although Diana is left speechless in more than one instance, she reacts physically to Bessian’s remarks. In one instance, Bessian explains the Blood Code to Diana and the merit behind it, Bessian waited for a “word of approval, but she was silent; her eyes, however, looked into his with the same