Happy Endings is an oddly structured, metafictional story; a series of possible scenarios all leading the characters to the same ending. Atwood uses humour and practical wisdom to critique both romantic fiction and contemporary society, and to make the point that it is not the end that is important, it is the journey that truly matters in both life and writing.
Metafiction is fiction that deals, often playfully and self-referentially, with the writing of fiction or its conventions (website 1). Margaret Atwood is clearly mocking the conventions of romantic fiction throughout the entire story, beginning with the third line "if you want a happy ending, try A." Each scenario includes the idea that "you'll still end up with A" despite the rest of the story, and this indicates that romantic fiction lacks creativity and gives us the ending we want and expect; a happy one. Atwood is also taking a stab at the readers of this genre, who are not only satisfied, but blissfully content with an ending that may not be realistic, but is easy and fun to take in. With statements like "this is the thin part of the plot, but it can be dealt with later" in scenario C, she demonstrates how romantic fiction is full of fluff. In scenario D she writes "they clasp each other, wet and dripping and grateful" a wonderfully hokey idea. Situation E clearly shows how this genre lacks character development, and one could fill in the blanks with manufactured ideas to form a piece of work. She considers romantic fiction and the belief that these lame stories are realistic, ridiculous.
The very structure of Atwood's story is a critique of literary form, as she completely abandons convention. This piece has no real structure, and plots are laid out as a list ...
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...tructure, including the complete lack of realism of romantic fiction in less than 1500 words. The "stretch in between...is the hardest to do anything with" is doctrine that applies to fiction writing as much as it does to life. With the statement "[plots] are just one thing after another, a what and a what and a what. Now try How and Why" Atwood is solidifying her case that it is not the ending that matters, it is how we, or the characters get there. The ending is unimportant because no matter how you slice it, "John and Mary die. John and Mary die. John and Mary die." And so do the rest of us.
Sources:
Margaret Atwood: "Happy Endings" from Good Bones and Simple Murders, 1983, 1992, 1994 O.W. Toad Ltd.
Web site 1: Source: The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company- (definition of metafiction)
_______. Critical Review of Short Fiction. Vol. III 4 vols.. Pasadena, California: Salem Press, 1991.
In Atwood's "Happy Endings", story A, John and Marry fall in love, get married, have several "stimulating and challenging" activities and then they die. Then the story continues with several different variations of this basic love story plot, however, a twist is added to each one. In Story B, Marry loves John, but John does not love her. John is in love with Madge. Mary then tries to kill herself to get Johns attention, but he does not notice, and she dies. In the end, John and Madge get married and live like the first story. Story C begins will John (who is older) loves Mary and Mary loves James (who is a young free spirit). John is married to Madge in this one, so he can only get together with Mary on Thursday's...and they do. One day, John walks in on Mary and James high and in bed. John's response is shooting them then himself. Madge then finds a respectable man and they live the rest of their life like A. In D, Madge and Fred have all of A, however, their house is hit by a tidal wave they survive and then continue with A. In E, Fred has a bad heart, dies and Madge does charity until the end of A. In F, Atwood leaves more to your mind and your own interest.
Staels, Hilde. “Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale: Resistance Through Narrating.”Critical Insights (227-245) From English Studies 76.5 (1995): 455-464. Web. 10 Apr. 2014.
Newman, Karen. "Can This Marriage be Saved: Jane Austen Makes Sense of an Ending." ELH 50.4 (1983): 693-710.
Pure Love in Happy Endings by Margaret Atwood Margaret Atwood, through a series of different situations, depicts the lives of typical people facing various obstacles in her short story “Happy Endings”. Despite their individual differences, the stories of each of the characters ultimately end in the same way. In her writing she clearly makes a point of commenting on how everybody dies in the same manner, regardless of their life experiences. Behind the obvious meaning of these seemingly pointless stories lies a deeper and more profound meaning. Love plays a central role in each story, and thus it seems that love is the ultimate goal in life.
Through the use of letters, and discussions about letters, Austen creates an intriguing plot. “Letters of invitation, letters of thanks, begging letters and those full of explanation, letters announcing dramatic events and letters of congratulation fill many
Everyone in life wants a happy ending. In “Happy Endings” by Margaret Atwood and Sure Thing by David Ives, there is a common theme of happy endings. In “Happy Endings,” the theme is referred back to the happy ending throughout the story; whereas, in Sure Thing, the characters are trying to reach a happy ending through multiple conversations. The characters in “Happy Endings” are all striving for a happy ending; however, in Sure Thing, the characters receive multiple chances at attaining their happy ending. The common theme throughout these two stories is a happy ending; however, in “Happy Endings” and Sure Thing, the faults and mistakes of the characters prove that a happy ending is not always possible or guaranteed.
In Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth Bennet’s journey to love and marriage is the focal point of the narrative. But, the lesser known source of richness in Austen’s writing comes from her complex themes the well-developed minor characters. A closer examination of Charlotte Lucas, Elizabeth’s dear friend in Pride and Prejudice, shows that while she did not take up a large amount of space in the narrative, her impact was great. Charlotte’s unfortunate circumstances in the marriage market make her a foil to Elizabeth, who has the power of choice and refusal when it comes to deciding who will be her husband. By focusing on Charlotte’s age and lack of beauty, Austen emphasizes how ridiculous and cruel marriage can be in this time.
Atwood tries to open our eyes by satirising our society with a brilliant contrasting novel. Dystopian in every way, the reader encounters a world in which modern values of our society seem/ are replaceable. Showing the worst of all possible outcomes, she demonstrates that our primarily heartless, just economical thinking could bring the downfall of our society. Altough satires are often used to be funny ;Atwood uses this instrument of literature for an attack on a society which she strongly disapproves of. With the intent to bring about improvement, she raises the question if our current lifestyle excuses the possible future problems.
Defining the novel is a challenging prospect because the act of naming means to circumscribe a genre that defies rigid codes. The novel's elasticity and readiness to incorporate other genres makes it slippery and untidy; nevertheless, the novelness of a text allows us to recognize a novel and distinguish it from other genres. As readers, we approach the novel with the expectation that it will possess novelistic attributes and judge the novel on its ability to master these. With this focus in mind, this essay explores how the following features in Jane Austen's Persuasion contribute to (or persuade us as to) the novelness of the text: the extensive treatment of its characters, a sense of cohesion and continuity present in a work of long prose fiction, and a vivid portrayal of the social order on the micro-level of the domestic scenes of everyday.
Reidhead, Julia, ed. Norton Anthology of English Literature vol. 7, 2nd ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2000.
The end of the book is not the usual ending as compared to most novels; Atwood decides it to end the whole story with some Historical notes which give information on the Gileadean regime and era. The ending of the book can be categorized as postmodern by its ambiguity, but this ambiguity also holds a strong approach into understanding the theme of the book. The ending allows the reader to question and know “what is the real essence and theme of the book?” Atwood’s use of Historical notes at the end forces that the reader understands the relation between history and stories and how both of them correlate to larger understanding of the themes in the story and in time. Questions arise within in a reader of “why they feel the way they do?” or the perspective given in the book, one can only judge from that perspective and the purpose of unusual ending in Handmaids tale allows the reader to re-examine and question judgements that are made in the story and life. Atwood’s ending puts question to the moral and philosophical issues that were also in the theme of the book, a vivid example of a postmodern text. The whole structure and form of the novel from beginning to end also reveals its themes in the relation between Offred and the reader. The first person point-of-view throughout
The writers of Much Ado about Nothing, Wuthering Heights, and A Streetcar Named Desire all incorporate conflict in relationships as reoccurring theme in their texts. There are a number of different forms of relationships in the texts such as marital, romantic and family relationships and they are all presented with complexity by the authors as their opinions on the subject matter will be influenced differently due to the era they live in and their personal experiences. For example, in Much Ado about Nothing marriage is a means of creating a happy ending which is typical in Shakespearean plays but it is also a means of social advancement similarly to Wuthering Heights where couples married to either maintain or advance social class or property and not necessarily because they loved each other, Catherine openly says she wants to marry Edgar because “he will be rich”. In contrary marriage in A Streetcar Named Desire is a means of survival for Stella and Blanch having “lost Belle Reve”.
Reidhead, Julia, ed. Norton Anthology of English Literature vol. 7, 2nd ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2000.
Rao, Eleonora. 'Strategies for Identity: The Fiction of Margaret Atwood'. New York; Peter Lang Publishing, 1993.