Robert And Francesca In The Bridges Of Madison County

The film The Bridges of Madison County is about a four-day love affair that an Italian house-wife named Francesca and a National Geographic photographer named Robert shared in Iowa. Francesca was a bored and underappreciated house-wife in Iowa who decided to stay home when her family left for the city fair. Her life drastically changed after a traveling photographer stopped by her house to ask for directions. Robert and Francesca’s relationship started when Francesca helped Robert navigate her town to find the covered bridge that he needed to photograph. On the ride there, they started to learn about each other. After they spend the morning at the bridge, Francesca invited Robert to the house to have some lunch. Their relationship continues

Women typically want a partner who is kind and trustworthy. A woman wants a kind man because kindness signals that he will care for her (Buss, 2016). Furthermore, a woman wants a trustworthy man because she wants to ensure her own safety (Gottman et al., 2016). It is apparent that Francesca trusted Robert’s character since she was willing to go with him and show him the bridge even though they just barely met. This gave them a solid start in their relationship since the trip to the covered bridge enabled them to learn more about each other and deepened their trust. On the other hand, men typically desire youth from women. Even though Francesca already had children, she was still seemed younger than Robert which may have caused him to become attracted to her. Francesca exhibited all the classifications that portrayed health and youth such as clear and smooth skin, good muscle tone, animated expressions, and a high-energy level (Buss, 2016). Even though men tend to focus more on the physical aspect of a partner, women also tune into men’s physique, especially if they have body symmetry. Symmetry is important since it represents a healthier body that will be less prone to diseases (Buss, 2016). Francesca appreciates Robert’s body before they had lunch when he quickly washed himself outside. The way she looked at his form showed appreciation since her eyes were gleaming. She was almost shy to look at

The main constructs that they used include action mimicry, voice modulation, and responsiveness. Action mimicry is when a person copies another’s movement to make the conversation smoother. For instance, Francesca had the habit of touching her face a lot so Robert is sometimes inclined to do something similar to make her comfortable. Mimicry is important because it communicates one’s desired social distance - an increase in mimicry means that there is a desire to have greater affiliation (Farley, 2014). Voice modulation occurs when people change their voice so they sound more pleasant and romantically interested (Farley, 2014). Francesca modulates her voice at the beginning when she flirtatiously told Robert that she was “going to make some iced tea and split the atom, but that can wait” (Eastwood, 1995). Robert also modulates his voice when he picks flowers for Francesca to make her feel appreciated. Voice modulation enabled the two to charm each other. Gottman (2016) stated that “undivided attention is a powerful aphrodisiac,” and it is true since the responsiveness that Robert and Francesca had for each other led to them falling in love. Talkative people are perceived to be more attractive due to their openness and tendency to also be responsive in the conversation (Wheeless et al., 1992). Robert and Francesca start to fall in love with each