Marriage is an institution. A happy wife makes for a happy life. Love and marriage go together like a horse and carriage. From the beginning of creation, these common schools of thought have contributed to the gender roles of men and women in relationships. Adam went out during the day to name all the animals that God created on the Earth, and Eve stayed home and had engaging conversations with reptiles. In any union the roles of each participant are either defined or assumed over time.
In literature, gender roles and marriage are portrayed in a wide variety of ways, ranging from the meek, silent wife to the husband who stops just short of breaking his back to provide for his family. This spectrum is evident in such short stories as The Secret Life of Walter MItty, I’m Going! : A Comedy in One Act, and The Story of an Hour. Women have traditionally been considered the weaker sex in marriage, and it is rare to have a fair and equitable relationship worth reading about. In the case of these stories, when women do possess, or attempt to hold more influence in the relationship, it does not always make for a happier coexistence.
Eve’s desire to gain wisdom ultimately led to the fall of man, so if the woman happens to be the more dominant partner, will that lead to the failure of her relationship? Mitty’s Meekness In The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Walter is a hapless, uncomfortable, spineless man who escapes to his daydreams to be the hero. It is assumed that he has been married for several years, yet he is so unhappy in his marriage and his life that he gets lost in his daydreams.
His wife has no clue about what he is feeling, she just thinks he’s sick, telling him “I wish you’d let Dr. Renshaw look you over” and I’m going to take your temperature when we get home. (Clugston, 2010). Walter’s wife is referred to as Mrs. Mitty throughout the story, which serves a symbol for her dominance in the marriage, and her characterization as an abstract figure that only appears to disrupt Walter’s secret life or tell him what to do.
He is also frustrated because he feels like he is treated like a child, not a grown man, but he doesn’t help matters much when he actually behaves like one. “Remember to get those overshoes while I’m having my hair done, she said. “I don’t need overshoes,” said Mitty. “We’ve been all through that,” she said, getting out of the car. “You’re not a young man any longer. He raced the engine a little. (Clugston, 2010).
Even though Mrs. Mitty doesn’t like that Walter behaves so peculiarly, the reader gets the sense that she delights in telling him what to do, since she believes that only she knows what is best for him. “Why don’t you wear your gloves? Have you lost your gloves? Walter Mitty reached into a pocket and brought out the gloves. He put them on, but after she had turned and gone into the building and he had driven to a red light, he took them off again. ” (Clugston, 2010). It is only in Walter’s daydreams that he can stand up for himself and be confident and assertive.
In reality his docile nature has him doing whatever is necessary to avoid confrontation with his domineering wife. However, when his manhood is challenged by someone outside of his marriage, like the parking lot attendant that corrected him for being in the wrong lane, he actually expresses anger, “They’re so damn cocky, thought Walter Mitty, walking along Main Street; they think they know everything. ” (Clugston, 2010). Unfortunately, he finds himself frustrated because yet again, because he does nothing. It is not until the next daydream that he stands up for himself, “You miserable cur!… (Clugston, 2010). I’m Going! (Or Not)
The relationship expressed in I’m Going! is a farce of a marriage between a manipulative, codependent wife and a jealous husband. This is a middle class, prim and proper couple who come off as materialistic and appears to value the opinions of others more than their spouse’s. When Henri makes the case to his wife, Jeanne, why he wants to go to the horse races alone, he says, “when I go with you, I don’t have a good time. ” she replies, “You are polite! ” (Clugston, 2010). Jeanne repeatedly argues against Henri going out and leaving her alone at home, which only makes him campaign harder to be “granted permission” to go.
After some time, the reader becomes aware that Jeanne is toying with her husband, as he uses the weather to convince her that her dress might get ruined at the races, she responds, “I’ll put on an old one. ” (Clugston, 2010). It’s obvious that Henri will not leave if Jeanne is not okay with it, “I won’t go if you’re going to be sulky. ” (Clugston, 2010). He encourages her to go out herself, thinking that if she’s busy, she won’t care if he goes out. However, he is very aware that he is being manipulated, and doesn’t like it, “you sulk merely to spoil my pleasure.
It’s absurd of me to allow myself to be affected. ” (Clugston, 2010). Even though he anticipates Jeanne’s responses, and is conscious of her exploitation of the situation, he continues to be sucked in by it. It’s no surprise that once Jeanne tells him to go, he no longer wants to! She wishes him a good time, and he says, “I think I’ll stay. ” (Clugston, 2010). His jealous nature comes out when he becomes suspicious of what she plans to do while he is gone. “This telegram to Juliette! It’s a signal, that’s what it is! It’s your revenge! ” (Clugston, 2010).
Jeanne’s manipulation shifts to playing coy, so as to further exploit her husband’s insecurities. At the same time, Henri is determined to not do what Jeanne wants, no matter how silly, so once she assures him that she wants him to escort her to Juliette’s house, he changes his mind again, to go to the races. Once he finally leaves the house Jeanne’s true intentions are revealed; she has no plans to go out at all, she’s very excited to be able to sew in peace. The Story of an Hour presents a marriage that is like a prison for the wife. It begins with the news that the husband, Brently Mallard, has died in a train accident.
Mrs. Mallard immediately becomes the grieving widow, weeping “with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister’s arms. ” (Clugston, 2010). The reader sympathizes with this woman who, judging be the intensity of her reaction, loved her husband very much. She takes some time alone to mourn for her husband and resign herself to a “physical exhaustion that haunted her body and seemed to reach into her soul. ” (Clugston, 2010). The physical description of Mrs. Mallard offers a subtle hint into her married life; “She was young, with a fair, calm face, whose lines bespoke repression and even a certain strength. ” (Clugston, 2010).
It is possible that the death of her husband is a fortunate turn of events for her? The reader does not have to wait much longer to know for sure, “She was beginning to recognize this thing that was approaching to possess her, and she was striving to beat it back with her will—as powerless as her two white slender hands would have been. When she abandoned herself a little whispered word escaped her slightly parted lips. She said it over and over under her breath: “free, free, free! ” (Clugston, 2010). Mrs. Mallard had been trapped in her marriage, and it is not until her husband is dead that she realizes this.
However, it is not to say that she cares nothing for her husband, she expects that she will cry again at her husband’s funeral, but eagerly anticipates living for herself. “There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow–creature. ” (Clugston, 2010). In reality, both Mrs. Mallard and her husband were trapped in their roles by the institution of marriage. The blind persistence is the notion that both people are forced to chase their own needs first, before they reflect on their spouse’s.
Considering Mrs. Mallard’s heart condition, her family is especially concerned that her health is in jeopardy as a result of her intense grief. It is ironic that on this day she prayed that her life might be long, and the day before she agonized that her life might be long. Even though she wants to celebrate and enjoy what lies ahead, she has to put on the mask of a widow and properly express grief over her husband. “There was a feverish triumph in her eyes, and she carried herself unwittingly like a goddess of Victory. ” (Clugston, 2010).
This triumph is what ultimately kills Mrs. Mallard, upon seeing her husband alive. She could not fathom going back to her old life of restriction and repression under her husband, after tasting freedom for the first time. The “joy that kills” (Clugston, 2010) is the thought that she would finally be able to have total control over her life, and when it was snatched back by her husband; her heart could not take it.
References
- Clugston, R. W. (2010). Journey into Literature. Various. (n. d. ). The Holy Bible: King James Version.
