Comparing Relationships in Josephine Miles' Housewife and Cathy Song's Picture Bride

Woman who did not marry could really only look forward to living with her relatives as a dependent so that marriage is pretty much the only way of ever getting out from under the parental control. “Women married because they had a lack of options; they were not formerly educated, and were only instructed in domestic duties. They needed someone to support them, and were encouraged to marry and have children” (Ziegenfuss). If a woman were to remain single she would be contempt and pitied by the community she lives in. The rules for women were so strict it’s like she had to be a slave to her husband.

Social opportunities can be defined as having social goods, education, and healthcare. If a country neglects some of these social opportunities not only are they affecting th... ... middle of paper ... ...the nurture of their mothers. This leads to many children going into the wrong social path. ( idk about ur teacher but mine HATES it when i say shit i can’t back up. ) might want to consider deleting Another factor that is a cost is when the third world wife has to become the breadwinner for the husband either because there has been a depression or the husband is retired.Many wives are disillusioned when they don’t meet their expectations.

In Rita Dove’s “Daystar,” Dove describes an unnamed mother’s repetitive and exhausting daily routine to reflect the unsatisfying role that women play in society. The woman in the poem fulfills her duties as a mother by performing her chores and watching after her children, but at the end of the day, feels empty. Going through the same motions and actions day after day are not enough to fulfill the woman’s wants or needs anymore and she finds herself dreaming of a place other than the one she currently occupies. Dove switches tones frequently to express the emotions that the woman experiences throughout her day and uses disheartening words to mirror the mother’s displeasure with her life. Diction is an integral part of the poem because Dove manipulates certain words to elicit feelings of compassion from the reader.

Their female children experienced life in the traditional family and the effects it had on their mothers in a way that caused them to not become like their mothers. As these children grew into women, they longed to pursue higher education and seek employment outside of the home, but often society ostracized them if they did not marry and bear children. Ferdinand Lundberg and Marya Farnham, in their bestselling book, The Modern Woman: The Lost Sex portrayed the women that strayed away from the traditional life as being emotionally disturbed. This led most women to stay at home despite whatever dreams they had. In order to keep a reputation of a “good wife and mother,” independent or career driven women were forced to keep their lives outside of the home a secret.

Throughout the novel Esther feels discontentment with many aspects of her life which is amplified by psychological instability; however, her only concern that remains static throughout the novel is her uncertainty over the idea of marriage. Esther Greenberg’s concerns about marriage can be partially attributed to her witnessing the tribulations of the married women in her life. Esther fears that if she were to get married she would become an overworked housewife and spend her days cooking, cleaning, and caring for everyone accept herself. The author states, “I knew that’s what marriage... ... middle of paper ... ...tween settling down and raising a family, or going against societal pressures and pursuing a career. Esther felt that the last thing she wanted was to get married and be subject to the monotony of marriage as she had seen in the marriages around her.

More over her character is further developed through her interactions with Robbie from the letters she sends him. The reader feels that Cecilia is idle at the start of the novel. She goes to her home however she is not enjoying her stay and her family does not seem to enjoy her company She expects everyone to be pleased to see her and involve her in things, yet her times seems empty. Even her mother does not pay attention to her; this might be because of Cecilia's decision to go to Cambridge to try and pursue a career. Her mother holds the idea that women are supposed to look for a good husband, thus she wants her daughter to be a realistic product of the low regard in which girls were held during those times.

Commonly women are assumed to be housewives to “work” in their home kitchen and care for her children. House wives believe that no matter how arduous housework actually proves to be, they do not feel themselves to be at work. [xix] Housework is not a paid job, it is more of a responsibility burdened upon a woman. In today’s society these views have altered, women now have more job opportunities and it is normal for a woman to be employed. Although women do work, they are still seen as submissive because of the unequal treatment and salary they are given compared to men.

In the stories “Eveline,” “The Boarding House,” and “The Dead,” each one of the characters find some form of light at the end of the story which gives them a new start on their lives. “Eveline” is a story about a girl who wants to escape from her life at home and marry a man that loves her. However, she is torn between her promise to her mother to stay in this miserable place and her fiancé that wants to take her away from it all and give her a better life. With the story “The Boarding House,” Bob Doran has to figure out if he is ready to take the responsibility of marrying a girl and saving his good status. The final story, “The Dead,” is about a husband and wife trying to figure out their lives.

Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s story The Yellow Wallpaper demonstrates how women in the late 1800s felt trapped to their husbands, how men typically thought less of women, and how men made the house hold decisions. Before the women’s rights movement got started in the late 1800s woman had little rights causing them to feel trapped to men. One of the reasons that women would sometimes feel trapped to men is because women at the time could not own their own land, and society looked at them as either their father’s belonging or when they got married they belonged to their husband. Women wanted to be able to own their own land and to be able to form their own identity by what they have accomplished in life (Gender Issues and Sexuality). Since the fathers or husbands “owned” the women of that time this could sometimes make the women feel trapped.

Several women with children who struggled to play both mom and dad roles said their children have or might rebel in their father's absence, causing further difficulties for them as wives of soldiers. Sometimes the wives attempt to keep their husbands involved in decision-making to keep their children from rebelling and knowing their dad does play his own role as the parent. What becomes more common is when the wife tries to become a single parent and end up setting new rules or routines for the child or children. Some wives decide to get jobs to get out of the house, sometime they move back to their hometown, whereas other wives intend to focus more and put more into their marriages and maintaining a... ... middle of paper ... ... forward to partaking to in the near future. Operation PAL is known more commonly as Operation Prayers and Letters.