In Milan Kundera’s The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Tereza’s life experiences – such as her childhood – ultimately shape her into a heavy character. Her childhood memories of her mother can be considered the beginning of Tereza’s negative relationship in regards to the body. As the novel continues Tereza’s relationship with the image of bodies begins to evolve and shift. First her mother was the main person in her life that was causing this negative relationship, but it then shifts to her husband Tomas.
In The Unbearable Lightness of Being, the body – specifically the naked body – is crucial to Tereza’s characterization throughout the novel because it highlights the fears and hopes about individuality and vulnerability that she has throughout her life. Tereza’s first experiences as a child with the image of the body result in her fears regarding it. As a child she lived in a household that was filled with the image of nakedness because of her mother’s lack of modesty and shame about the human body. In Tereza’s home “there was no such thing as shame.
Her mother marched about the flat in her underwear, sometimes braless and sometimes, on summer days, stark naked. Her stepfather did not walk about naked, but he did go into the bathroom every time Tereza was in the bath” (Kundera 45). Tereza does not share the same ideologies regarding modesty as her mother, therefore the actions occurring in her house causes her to be uncomfortable. Tereza yearns for individuality, but her mother’s belief that “youth and beauty mean nothing” because everybody has the same body causes Tereza to view the world around her as nothing more han “a vast concentration camp of bodies… with [invisible] souls” (47). Tereza craves the feeling of individuality which she never experiences as she was growing up and maturing because of her mother’s brazen attitude. Her “long and frequent glances in the mirror” reflect her “longing to be a body unlike other bodies” which is precisely the opposite of the feelings she harbors in her mind. Throughout the remainder of her life Tereza’s mind is constantly plagued by the memories of her mother.
While in Switzerland Tereza was shown some photographic prints by an editor. The prints dealt with the topic of the naked body. Tereza had not thought of her mother until the editor explained that the naked body symbolizes maternal affection. Tereza has always “wanted [to] escape from her mother’s world” (70). Even during her daily routines or seemingly normal conversations Tereza’s mother still comes to mind whenever the body is mentioned because one of Tereza’s most important hopes for her life is to be the opposite of what her mother thought she was: an individual.
Tereza’s actions during her first sexual encounter with Tomas continue to portray the need for individuality caused by her childhood. During the moments leading up this encounter with Tomas, Tereza’s stomach begins to rumble causing her to panic. She was humiliated because she felt “as though she [was] carrying her mother in her stomach”, which sickened her (53). This feeling is deeply rooted from her mother’s shamelessness and lack of modesty. This causes Tereza to seek approval from Tomas. This approval symbolizes to Tereza that she is not like every other body.
Tomas, to Tereza’s surprise, disregards the noise. This causes her to feel “grateful to him”, therefore causing Tereza to begin to start discovering her own sense of individuality with Tomas (53). This feeling quickly dissipates because of Tomas’ infidelities with other women. He views her as a burden in his life, although he ultimately does truly love her. As a result of these infidelities he makes her feel the same way as her mother did. This impacts Tereza’s characterization because it shows her reasoning behind her actions and therefore influences her personality in the novel as a whole.
The infidelities further cause Tereza to search for a piece of individuality. Tereza’s subconscious need for individuality is apparent through her dreams. Dreams are said to reveal the true feelings of an individual. Her dreams are a result of a combination of an unhealthy relationship with both her mother and husband. To Tomas “making love with a woman and sleeping with a woman are two separate passions”; he is able to create a separation between sex and love which Tereza cannot (15). Throughout the novel Tereza has a series of dreams that showcase the effects of his infidelities.
In the first dream Tereza “[marches] around [a] pool naked with a large group of other naked women… the moment one of them did a faulty knee bend [Tomas] would shoot her” (57). This dream showcases the feelings of humiliation that nakedness causes Tereza to feel; which parallels her feelings of living in a concentration camp of bodies. Tomas has total control Tereza’s feelings. The dream symbolizes Tereza’s lack of control and uniqueness in her life. She fears that Tomas will view her as simply another body.
Tereza’s fears materialize once her dream is over and she understands that Tomas “[has] drawn an equal sign between her and the rest of them” (58). The body, specifically the naked body, shows Tereza’s other fear of vulnerability. Tereza’s vulnerability is apparent when she goes and visits Sabina; one of the women that Tomas has been cheating with. Tereza wants “her body [to] again become the first and only among all others”; and therefore decides to grow closer with Sabina (62). During the process of executing her plan she visits Sabina at her flat where she asks Sabina if she can take pictures of her naked.
This situation is supposed to make Tereza feel in control but because she is a vulnerable character she uses her camera “as both a mechanical eye through which to observe Tomas’ mistress and a veil by which to conceal her face from her” (65). Tereza longs to have a sense of individuality and feel different than one of his mistresses. The camera is serving a double purpose for Tereza; it allows her to view Tomas’ mistress in a different light while at the same time hiding her true feelings and emotions of vulnerability.
As the situation progresses Tereza grows more vulnerable when Sabina orders her to strip. “The two women were joined by the same magic word” because Tomas initiates an “erotic situation” with both women using the same word (66). Since Tomas uses the same word on both women it further exemplifies her lack of individuality within her relationship with Tomas. Tereza’s journey to search for individuality and avoid vulnerability throughout The Unbearable Lightness of Being is constantly evolving, but maintains a common centralized image: the body.
As a result of her traumatizing childhood experiences the idea of shame and humiliation being associated with the human body is ingrained in her mind. This causes Tereza to find search for her own self in order to be unlike other bodies. While on this search she is further reminded of her mother because of her husband’s unfaithful actions. Individuality is Tereza’s goal; she desires to be her own body with a visible soul. Tomas made her feel like an individual at the beginning of the relationship, but he then essentially “[sends] her back into the world that she [tries] to escape” (58).
