Isolation In The Painted Door

“The Biggest Weakness”

The Canadian Prairies are notorious for its winter’s harsh, unforgiving climate. They represent not only humankind’s perseverance for survival, but unrelenting isolation, and the despair that can follow. In “The Painted Door” by Sinclair Ross, a discontent housewife gives into temptation after being left alone by her husband. A person will attempt to defy isolation, because when left alone, they will give in to temptatious thoughts, affecting their view on their relationships. Physical solitude will dictate if an individual choose to give into temptation, and when they do, it will change their amorous affairs forever. An individual’s independent reflection after giving into temptation will reveal their true feelings,

When Steven arrives, they are isolated together in the house, which allows Ann to truly give into her attraction. However, she insists that John will return, saying “He always comes.” John’s isolation from Ann greatly influences if she chooses temptation or not. If John came back, she could not have the freedom to choose Steven, as they would no longer be isolated. She hopes John will not return home, worrying that “it really might be John at the door.” Ann actively desires the isolation with Steven, so she can give into her temptation, reassured that there will be no consequence. Initially, Ann insists that John will come back so she does not have to be alone with Steven. If she accepts that she is alone with Steven and that they are isolated together, there will be nothing stopping her from following her temptation, as she already gave into her thoughts. As the night progresses, her temptation makes her cave into choosing him. However, the final push was the reassurance that John was not coming back and it was just Ann and Steven, alone together. When she conclusively decides to act on her temptation, she sees Steven differently, realizing “his smile…there seemed a kind of warmth…instead of his smile it was she had changed.” Their isolation is the deciding factor. If they weren’t alone together, Ann’s temptation would not have taken control and would not have changed

After sleeping with Steven, she alone thinks about John, admitting she “In retrospect, found them to be years of worth and dignity, until crushed by it all at last.” When she looks back, she realizes that her temptation ruined her marriage with John, making her regret her decision. Influenced by temptation, her marriage, which she now thinks of in a new light, is “crushed by it all.” it is from her private thoughts, which she isolated and kept away, that she finds new desire for her marriage. She was so certain that giving into her temptation with Steven was right, but when she thinks about her choice, she realizes that she had made a horrible mistake, that the “sense of guilt that even her new-found and challenged womanhood could not entirely quell.” in her isolation, she realizes that her love for John is greater than her temptation. She recognizes while standing alone, that temptation did not solve her loneliness. Even now, she is still isolated. Blinded by her isolation, she acts on her subsequent temptation. She comes to terms with these feelings by herself, accepting that her temptation was only temporary and her choices might have lead to the destruction of her marriage. When she goes back to Steven, she thinks “It would be easier were he awake now with her, sharing her guilt….she came to understand that for him no guilt existed.” she learns that Steven will never face