John is very much aware of his wife, the narrator’s mental insecurity. Simultaneously, he embraces a conscious ignorance of his wife, telling her that it would not benefit the situation “if I [she] had ... less opposition and more society and stimulus” (Gilman 1). The reader can assume that John is initially embarrassed and disillusioned by his wife’s illness. This is reiterated as he (“a physician of high standing”) “assures friends and relatives that there is really nothing the matter with one but temporary nervous depression” (Gilman 1). In this instance, John’s social standing as a husband and a doctor conspire against the narrator’s enunciation of her illness.
Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton “What I see is him that suffers most” was my initial thought toward Ethan’s life in the end. Edith Wharton’s ending of the novel filled my heart with such sorrow and compassion to Ethan’s situation. Wharton throughout the novel made subtle actions toward Ethan and his torn feeling to stay with his wife and his attraction toward his sister in law, Mattie Silver. I sympathize with Ethan Frome to an extent to the point in which I actually think his actions throughout the novel seemed like the right thing to do but, I feel little compassion toward him for he was the one to propose to Zeena without thinking of the consequences toward either him or Zeena. First of all, Wharton’s subtle action toward Ethan’s torn feelings for Mattie and being loyal to his wife.
John’s biggest downfall in this story is the fact that he is stuck with the unfortunate task of being not only his wife’s lover, but also her doctor. Instead of being a concerned husband and being there for his wife mentally, he took a more clinical attitude to the situation and there for our narrator was left to her own devises. Also John only knows the “pattern” of his wife and does not see the trapped woman with in. John truly care for his wife and is trying everything in his power to help and cure her. Unfortunately the only way he knows how to help her it by treating her as a medical patient or as an object and not as a person who needed love, not just care.
In his mind, he is providing for his family. His wife, Susan on the other hand, accepts the fact that “children needed their mother to a certain age,”(870) and relinquishes her independence, which turns out to be a larger sacrifice than she imagined. Susan’s frustration and consequent feelings of inadequacy break down their marital communication and they begin to drift apart. Likewise, Matthew’s affair and subsequent admission causes resentment between them. Although Susan forgives him somewhat, she states “that forgiveness is hardly the word.” (870) Matthew cannot understand his wife’s need for solitude and this crisis ultimately led to the isolation that greatly contributed to the dissolution of their
* Theme- Love: characters are in a love triangle which they never escape. Ethan loves Mattie and wishes to reveal this to her, but he never truly can, and in the end they are stuck back at the Frome’s house with Zeena forever. This novel shows how Ethan maybe never even loved Zeena, he only married her because she helped Ethan’s mother while she was sick. Then Ethan has a small glimpse of love with Mattie, but it is taken away from him, and at the end of the story, it seems that their love is completely
In the book both sisters had to deal with their spouse cheating on them but they both just wanted revenge on their husband and boyfriend at first but that wasn’t the right way to go about it. One of my favorite lines in the book is in the chapter where the spiritual counselors tell Vanessa and Thomas that just because god says its okay to divorce and adulterer doesn’t mean you should. I think that in this day and age, we are so quick to throw in the towel and sometimes god really wants us to look at the “for better or for worse” part. I think that if your husband or wife was to make a mistake we shouldn’t be so quick to get a divorce and try to work things out. This book taught me that divorce isn’t the way to solve your problems all though time.
Mrs. Mallard conflict started with her having health issues and finding out her husband had died. Then she doesn’t know how to feel about her husband’s death. During the story it seems that Mrs. Mallard was only at the will of her husband because her husband (society) expected her to be. When I read “Clever Manka” it left me with a sense of will to fight for what you wish for. I say this because when her husband told her to pick any one thing in the house to take with her.
Amir’s mother died in childbirth and at times, Amir feels like Baba resents him for taking the life of his beautiful wife. Throughout the novel, Amir continues to resent himself for not living up to his father’s reputation as a great man. Amir often backs down from confrontations, something Baba would never do. When Hassan is being raped for Amir’s kite, Amir watches only for a moment before running away. Baba on the
Body paragraph worksheet The gender roles in both the pieces increase marital problems for the married couples. In The Yellow Wallpaper, Jane tells her husband that she is sick and she wants to leave, but he doesn’t believe that she is sick. Even though John, her husband, is a physician, he doesn’t understand her feelings and how she feels. She doesn’t want to tell anybody about her husband not believing her, so she feels relief after writing, “You see he does not believe I am sick! And what can one do?”(Gilman 1).Gilman is using gender roles when she says that the husband John doesn’t believe that the narrator is severely sick and she could not do anything to make him believe her.
Anna was drowning in the misery of her marriage and in guilt from seeing another man on one side but is happy to be with Gurov. Anna states that, “for years now they had not been comfortable together, in their intimacy and at a distance… It was something they might have known once” (Oates 449), which explains that her unhappy marriage forced her to search for a person to fulfill the lost emotions at home. Committing adultery is more of an emotional fulfillment that it is a physical need but it derives from the want to find someone who means something more. If couple who married shows that they do not love each other mutually, it should be acceptable for the two to be involved in an affair because neither of them truly gets hurt, providing act of cheating to be meaningless and