Summary
“The Fourth Commandment” unravels a multi-generational saga steeped in the corrosive nature of familial ambition and possessiveness. Following a financial downturn for the esteemed Graham family, young Gordon Graham’s burgeoning romance with Marjorie Miller is abruptly severed by Marjorie’s socially climbing mother. Gordon eventually weds Virginia, with whom he fathers a son, Sonny. Years later, Virginia’s professional aspirations lead her to entrust Sonny’s care to her mother-in-law, Mrs. Graham. This arrangement, however, ignites a fierce maternal jealousy in Virginia, who perceives Mrs. Graham as usurping her child’s affections, culminating in a bitter ultimatum to her husband. Virginia departs with Sonny, subsequently marrying her employer, Stoneman. Her life takes another tragic turn when Stoneman's imprisonment leaves her destitute. The narrative then fast-forwards to Sonny, now grown and married to a different Marjorie, taking in his impoverished mother. Yet, history grimly repeats itself as this new Marjorie succumbs to the same possessive jealousy Virginia once harbored. As the younger couple relocates to Paris, Virginia, in a poignant act of self-sacrifice, chooses to fade from their lives. Her story culminates in a fateful encounter in Paris, where a now-haggard Virginia recognizes Gordon and Marjorie (the second, now his wife) at an architectural convention, only to tragically collapse and die before she can reach them, a final, unfulfilled yearning for connection.
Synopsis
Following a reversal in the Graham family fortune, a childhood love affair between Gordon Graham and Marjorie Miller is frustrated by the socially ambitious Mrs. Miller. After he graduates from college, Gordon marries Virginia and has a son with her. Four years later, Virginia is so eager to return to work that accepts her mother-in-law's offer to live with them and care for Sonny. However, Virginia soon becomes jealous of Mrs. Graham for stealing her child's affections, and gives her husband an ultimatum that either she or his mother must go. In the end, Virginia leaves with Sonny and then marries Stoneman, her employer, but when he is imprisoned on embezzlement charges, she is left destitute. Years later, Sonny and his wife Marjorie take Virginia into their home, but in a repeat of family history, Marjorie soon becomes jealous of Virginia. When the couple move to Paris, Virginia decides to pass out of their lives. While attending an architectural convention in Paris, Gordon and Marjorie (now his wife) are recognized by the haggard woman, but she dies in the street before she can reach them.
