Later their arguments became so frequent, her anger so volatile, that Little Gene dreaded ever having to be there when they were together. Just as Nina was sarcastic and argumentative with her mother, she was, from the start, combative with her husband. An idolized athlete, a man of business and the world, Gene had little need for self-assertion. On the contrary, he effectively cultivated his natural penchant for understatement. Nina, though, had to keep repeating, loudly, her claim to attention. Her assumption of superiority, of sophistication, of importance far in excess of any reality often seemed abrasively irritating. Great fun with her friends, she was hell on those who lived with her. Whereas her mother thought her rude and selfish, Gene found her tediously devitalizing. One either fought back or quietly tolerated her addiction to scenes, histrionics. Her emotive pattern became unhappily predictable. With a cigarette between her fingers or lips, a beautiful woman whom one found either exciting or exhausting, she swaggered, she challenged, both verbally and physically. Initially, for Gene, the excitement dominated. Each was physically attractive to the other. Gene found his young brideâs youth a turn-on. Later, she was to say that she had been infatuated, not ever really in love, with Gene Vidal, happy to have the opportunity to get out from under her critical mother, eager for marital adventure and freedom. Their erotic pleasure in one another soon seemed outbalanced, at least for Gene, by their emotional incompatibility. Mostly, he refused to fight, even to raise his voice. Patiently, he would wait out her tirades or leave the room, often dodging whatever was thrown at him: always words, sometimes any handy object. His rarely raising his voice provoked her even more.
By the nature of his work, he was often away. At home, during the work week, he had little desire to socialize at night, especially at the late parties Nina had longed for as an adolescent, become used to during their Army years, and now embraced as the climax of mostly uneventful days. Gene had pleasure in work, Nina had no work to do. Mothering was not a sustaining activity. Also, it often proved incompatible with her social life. Mrs. Gore soon became a surrogate mother, unhappy with her daughter,delighted with the child. Whatever her talents, Nina had no education to speak of, no vision of herself she could translate into vocation. After her one week on the stage, she regularly referred to âthe brilliant stage careerâ she had given up because of her duties as wife and mother. Discipline, perseverance, follow-up were not her metier. She had already become very good at accusing others of the flaws she herself had: her husband, she claimed, was not ambitious enough, disciplined enough, persevering enough. In her sonâs later fictionalized account, her âone wish as a child had been to grow up and escape from her mother but, though she was grown now, she still had not escaped. If only Stephen [Gene] could find us a house in Washington. We have almost enough money now and Father is paying for the baby.â She reproached him âfor being incapable of making a home, of making money, of getting ahead.â She soon became as disappointed with (and critical of) his slow progress toward wealth as she would have been of her own insufficiences if she had allowed herself to be self-critical. Later she blamed all on her parents. She had been neglected, perhaps abused. Her mother had spanked her. She had also had, from the beginning, painful menstrual periods, which seemed to her relevant to an explanation of her emotional fireworks. She preferred, always, blaming others, sometimes loudly. Little Gene, apparently, heard her angry voice from earliest infancy.
His own words soon found voice. An early talker, by his second year he babbled a great deal, thereafter incessantly. At the beginning he had difficulty with some consonants. D and
By the nature of his work, he was often away. At home, during the work week, he had little desire to socialize at night, especially at the late parties Nina had longed for as an adolescent, become used to during their Army years, and now embraced as the climax of mostly uneventful days. Gene had pleasure in work, Nina had no work to do. Mothering was not a sustaining activity. Also, it often proved incompatible with her social life. Mrs. Gore soon became a surrogate mother, unhappy with her daughter,delighted with the child. Whatever her talents, Nina had no education to speak of, no vision of herself she could translate into vocation. After her one week on the stage, she regularly referred to âthe brilliant stage careerâ she had given up because of her duties as wife and mother. Discipline, perseverance, follow-up were not her metier. She had already become very good at accusing others of the flaws she herself had: her husband, she claimed, was not ambitious enough, disciplined enough, persevering enough. In her sonâs later fictionalized account, her âone wish as a child had been to grow up and escape from her mother but, though she was grown now, she still had not escaped. If only Stephen [Gene] could find us a house in Washington. We have almost enough money now and Father is paying for the baby.â She reproached him âfor being incapable of making a home, of making money, of getting ahead.â She soon became as disappointed with (and critical of) his slow progress toward wealth as she would have been of her own insufficiences if she had allowed herself to be self-critical. Later she blamed all on her parents. She had been neglected, perhaps abused. Her mother had spanked her. She had also had, from the beginning, painful menstrual periods, which seemed to her relevant to an explanation of her emotional fireworks. She preferred, always, blaming others, sometimes loudly. Little Gene, apparently, heard her angry voice from earliest infancy.
His own words soon found voice. An early talker, by his second year he babbled a great deal, thereafter incessantly. At the beginning he had difficulty with some consonants. D and
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