In the novel To the Lighthouse, two main characters named Mr. and Mrs. Ramsay have an intriguing relationship with one another. Throughout the novel, Mr. and Mrs. Ramsay appear to have alternative viewpoints on life, and they tend to disagree. However, there are certain times where the two of them have an unspoken interaction where they seem to reveal their true feelings for one another. While one may question the status of their relationship and as to whether it is good or even healthy, Mr. and Mrs. Ramsay appear to be normal human beings who show various emotions and perceptions on life. Since the Ramsay’s marriage is complicated and shows various levels of attraction towards one another, someone could sum up the status of their relationship and Mrs. Ramsay’s relationship entails a sense of regret and lack of expression of their feelings for one another. There are moments in the novel where Mrs. Ramsay realizes her own faults in her relationship but also seems to ponder how her life could have been better. During that period of time, she has a what if moment:“She thought to herself that possibly she might have managed things better -- her husband; money; his books” (4). Mrs. Ramsay takes it upon herself to ponder her approach to life and whether there is a simpler route that she could take. It is interesting that Mrs. Ramsay uses the word managed in this paragraph because it portrays the connotation that she attempts to get through life as though it is a hassle. To describe her life as being more complicated, she portrays her husband as a thing. Normally a thing is merely an object that people do not tend to mention the actual name or cannot remember the correct name. When she refers to her husband as a thing, it could be possible that simply views him as an object with no special meaning to whatsoever; therefore, illustrating that the relationship between Mr. and Mrs. Ramsay is complex because Mrs. Ramsay looks at her husband like an object rather than a person. In order to further complicate their marriage, Mrs. Ramsay holds a different perspective on life than Mr. Ramsay. While she seems to believe that life should be private, her husband does not share that same point of view. Mrs. Ramsay also says that “life was always trying to get the better of her” (54). Therefore, Mrs. Ramsay struggles with the idea of her life and the purpose behind it. She believes that she struggles with her life, and one aspect of her life is her marriage. However, the relationship is not completely doomed because Mrs. Ramsay does see a glimmer of hope. Even though Mrs. Ramsay struggles to find the point behind her marriage and life, she has moments that make it worthwhile because: “there were… great
Passage One, portrays the relationship between Marianne and Willoughby. Marianne was blinded by her love, ‘He was exactly formed to engage Marianne’s heart.’ Marianne is someone who can show no concern for wealth if she believes she has found true love. Willoughby was estimated to be ‘Faultless as in Marianne’ Willoughby was all that Marianne fancied, her affection for him was beyond everything else. This is rather ironic for Willoughby the man she loves holds a wholly contradicting viewpoint on the matter. Willoughby is willing to sacrifice even the greatest of loves if it cannot secure status and wealth.
Furthermore, Mrs. Dempster’s “hysteria” and deviation from such society norms by way of abnormal sexual behavior, and wandering nature, are comparable with her journey to sainthood; and this is made explicit when Ramsay sees “Mary wandering by herself” (Davies 143). The act of wandering, according to Goldman, is a perversion of the proscribed female role in society, and is thus an affront (Goldman 992). Mrs. Dempster’s non-conformity is key to understanding her transformation with the process of sainthood, as her being seen as a simple woman, reduced to “a series of hysterical crying fits” after being hit by the snowball, essentially sets her down the path to social deviance and eventual sainthood in the eyes of the Ramsay. This notion of “hysteria” is attributed to Ramsay as well, and Goldman writes that the isolation and loneliness generated from Ramsey’s time in the army, causes him to suffer from a kind of
Helen is a disgruntled housewife, she doesn’t support Harry in his plans to create a safe haven inside of the cellar. When Harry attempts to set a plan in motion, she seems to be against him and proceeds to scold him. The scenario of Karen, their daughter being ill, may have contributed to her attitude towards Harry. Unable to come to a unanimous decision on the appropriate approach to handle Karen’s illness and as well as the ongoing crisis around them, they foster a bitter attitude towards one another. According to the authors Thomas N. Bradbury and Frank D. Fincham there is a reason for that. It states that… “One explanation for this apparent gender difference is that, compared to husbands' attributions, wives' attributions are rooted more firmly in the events and circumstances of the marriage. If wives' attributions are indeed more accurate or well developed representations of partner behaviors, then their attributions will be linked more closely to the behaviors they display in interaction when discussing some of those partner behaviors.”(Bradbury and Fincham 574). All things considered, Helen’s and Harry’s portrayal cast their marriage under the ‘dysfunctional marriage’ category.
In class there have been many discussions over the relationships and marriages among the books we have read. When someone thinks of marriage, a fairy tale with a happy ending might come to mind, or possibly a safe haven for those looking for something stable. In The Awakening by Kate Chopin, and “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, marriage takes a turn for the worse. Marriage is no longer the happy memories in a lifetime. It can be the thing that hinders the women in these stories from developing their full potential or experiencing the world and other lifestyles. Through these texts and this time frame, we will analyze the meaning of their marriages, how they function, and the end result of both.
Terri, Mel's wife, was once married to an abusive man, who '...went on dragging me (Terri) around the living room. My head kept knocking on things.... What do you do with love like that?.... People are different, Mel. Sure, sometimes he may have acted crazy. Okay. But he loved me. In his own way maybe, but he loved me.'; (pp 110-111) To the reader, it seems hard to believe that there could be love in a relationship where one partner physically abuses the other. However, in Terri's case, both Terri and her ex-husband felt that they were in love. This coincides with the author's theme that early on in a r...
“Chains do not hold a marriage together. It is threads, hundreds of tiny threads which sew people together through the years.”Simone Signoret. In the novel Bone by Fae Myenne Ng, Ng gives the reader several opposing aspects of marriage. Bone uses marriage as a connection to the relationships of the characters within the novel.
Laura and Nick are almost positive that they know what the true meaning of love is. They do not specifically define love, however, they express it through holding hands and smiling at each other. Each couple has their own reasons to believe that they have loved, yet they cannot clearly express why. The dialogue that occurs between Laura, Nick, Mel and Terri reveal a lot about their perception on love. For example, the way the characters interact with each other not only helps the reader to understand the author’s purpose of the essay, but also suggests that there be a relation between the story and intellectual, spiritual, and sensual love.
This paper will analyze Harry and Sally’s relationship, focusing on normative attachment, while still considering the individual differences that play a part in their relationship. The paper will further divulge into how their relationship can be analyzed using themes such as, conflict, support, and capitalization.
Furthermore, the love that Heathcliff’s young niece and nephew share is one that echoes that of what his and Catherine’s love could have been, which provides even more ground for the fiend to tyrannize the two. The semblence in their relationships can be seen in comparable scenes, the first of which recounts Catherine uttering, “It would degrade me to marry Heathcliff now…” (74) Later, Heathcliff pronounces apropos of Cathy caring for Hareton, “Your love will make him an outcast, and a beggar.” (299) The similarities between their two relationships is therefore outlined in their alluded elements of shame and social degradation that can be found in both occasions , and this likeness further agitates the aching heart of Wuthering Height’s antagonist.
... said, for attention to any other objects" (Austen). The intensity of love that they grew for each other throughout the novel gave them the components of a consummate love.
The patterns or interactions between different types of relationships even family ones show that there are different types of dynamics. Every power dynamic is different and unique in its own way. No matter how close or distant the relationship’s parties are they are always influenced by their surroundings and what is portrayed around them. In her short story “Storms” Claire Keegan manipulates the theme of cruelty in order to explore power and family dynamics in a relationship.
Marriage is a powerful union between two people who vow under oath to love each other for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health. This sacred bond is a complicated union; one that can culminate in absolute joy or in utter disarray. One factor that can differentiate between a journey of harmony or calamity is one’s motives. Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is a novel of manners, where Elizabeth Bennet and her aristocratic suitor Mr. Darcy’s love unfolds as her prejudice and his pride abate. Anton Chekhov’s “Anna on the Neck” explores class distinction, as an impecunious young woman marries a wealthy man. Both Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and Anton Chekhov’s “Anna on the Neck” utilize
To the Lighthouse is an autobiographical production of Virginia Woolf that captures a modern feminist visionary thrusted in a patriarchal Victorian society, as embodied by Lily Briscoe. Lily’s unique feminist vision and her ability to transcend artistic and patriarchal conventions progressively allows her to locate her quest for identity as an aestheticized epiphany journey. However, no matter how Woolf attempts to present Lily’s aestheticized exploration of her identity as a radical opposition to patriarchy alone, therein lies a specific aspect of feminism that Lily secretly wants to achieve. Therefore, I argue that although Lily is a symbolic rebel of patriarchal conventions who strives for women individuality, she brings her struggles a
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”.
Mrs. Ramsay sees her role as a helper to men. Mrs. Ramsay feels that she has “the whole of the other sex under her protection”. Men “negotiated treaties, ruled India, controlled finance”. Therefore, Mrs. Ramsay feels that it is her duty to make the home-life easy for men. Men take care of the world, and women take care of men. Mrs. Ramsay pities men, because it seems “as if they lacked something”. A man needs a woman to make his life complete. Mrs. Ramsay notices that Mr. Tansley is left out; so she asks him to accompany her to town. She takes a sincere interest in Mr. Carmichael, asking him if he needs anything. During the dinner, she assumes the responsibility to ensure that everyone is comfortable and that the food is served well.