The Virgin Suicides 2

"The fluttering wedding dress added to this circusy effect. Mr. Lisbon kept trying to lift her off, gently, but even in our ignorance we knew it was hopeless and that despite Cecilia's open eyes and the way her mouth kept contracting like that of a fish on a stringer it was just nerves and she had succeeded, on the second try, in hurliung herself out of the world."

At the beginning of the novel, I wasn't able to understand the significance of Cecilias wedding dress. Although I still don't fully understand it, I can make an educated guess as to why Eugenides made Cecilia wear the dress. I think that it signifies her youth, and that she will never be able to mature into a young woman and become married, but instead stay youthful. I think that Eugenides word choice was very simple and easy to understand, so that the reader can understand the sorrow of Cecilia's suicide. The word circus was used to represent Cecilias youth and her "open eyes" was Eugenides was of characterizing her as a child. Cecilia was never able to grow up and experience maturity.