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The lyrics of the song Kiss with a Fist by Florence and the Machine relate incredibly to Lena and Harold’s rocky relationship in The Joy Luck Club. Although Lena’s marriage isn’t a physically abusive one like the one described in the song, it’s still emotionally and mentally defective. The physical pain detailed in the song is the equivalent of the pain Lena feels in this irresponsive, dull relationship. Lena and Harold’s relationship is based entirely on their attempts to be completely balanced and share everything equally with each other. If they’re dining out, they split the check. If they’re buying groceries, they have separate lists. One lyric in the song says, “You hit me once, I hit you back. You gave a kick, I gave a slap.” This correlates with the story in that their unsuccessful attempts to be “even” and “fair” that end in pain and resentment no matter what. Lena and Harold are trying too hard to save their relationship through the power of equality, but they’re just digging a trench between themselves and growing further and further apart. …show more content…
Your slaps don’t stick, your kicks don’t hit, so, we remain the same.” Lena’s passive character and Harold’s self-absorption both contribute to their distancing from each other (“Your red eye sees nothing.”). They never make any progress in improving their marriage; they merely continue fighting for something that they both want and don’t have (“…so, we remain the
Just like Hurston’s other stories, Spunk deals with the nature of marriage and the struggle between a strong man and a weak man. The setting of the story is in a rural all-black southern town whereby the people of the town speak in Southern African American dialect. Hurston wanted the reader to understand the kind of marriages blacks have and how adultery is apparent in the marriages. The themes in Spunk reflect the lives of the people in the South at the time the short story was written. Masculinity and power are common in the short story as Zora Hurston uses different literary devices for the reader to be able to analyze these themes in the story. Spunk and Lena are having an affair and they are not afraid to parade it for the town people to see them. In addition, Lena is ready to Marry Spunk even after he kills her husband Joe.
“Then we walked on into the forest,their hand in ours”(Rand 84) Golden one followed Equality into the forest so she could be with him instead of being at the city. After they settle in to where they live they had a baby and spoke about their love towards each other. For the story “Harrison Bergeron” things were way more different for the simple fact that family was more accepted. Having a family and loving was not a problem to do in “Harrison Bergeron”. “They remained suspended in air inches below the ceiling, and they kissed each other for a long, long time”( Vonnegut 6 ) before they were able to hit the floor they were shot because they were breaking rules of wearing handicaps and making a disturbance. George and Hazel were a married couple in this story. “George and Hazel were watching television. There were tears on Hazel’s cheeks, but she’d forgotten for the moment what they were about.” (Vonnegut 1) In this story George and Hazel both lived with each other. There was no problem with marriage, the only thing the city was concerned about was being equal and wearing the handicaps at all times if they were assigned to one
First, Mildred’s attitude toward Montag illustrates how the absence of emotional connection with others can strengthen external forces. Although married, the two are not affectionate with
Torvald and Alymer think they’re inlove with their wives but, they are not. Alymer and Torvald love their possessions, similar to loving a car. They love the feeling and the moments they get to spend on earth mesmerizing their beautiful uniqueness, but they do not care about the wellbeing of the other person. “Women define visibility as including communication, verbal and non-verbal, show the slipperiness of the slope, and raise question of consciousness.” (Deutsch, 1889) In both relationships there was a lack of communication, intimacy, and respect. Nora and Georgianna both wanted their loved ones to show concern for them even in rough circumstances, but both men failed either because of selfness or love of science. When Torvald received the IUE from Krogstat, his immediate response was “I’m saved!” Being selfish his first thoughts are of himself rather than, his kids, and Nora. Aylmer’s attention to his wife’s birthmark over time, drove Georgianna insane to the point where she would die trying to remove a little mark on her face. Alymer started to point out that she is no longer perfect because of the birthmark. After you marry someone you accept their flaws internally and externally, and both failed to do so therefore, they lost their wives.
First of all, emphasis is placed on the daily struggles endured on a daily basis by the middle-class. Much like George and Lennie, they worry about having enough money to survive, for shelter and for clothing. Also, there seems to be the fear of loneliness that seems to surface throughout the novel. Despite the on going quarrels between George and Lennie, the two men are afraid of being alone on their own. In addition, it seems the two main characters find themselves in positions that are beyond their control. These are the conflicts one finds in this novel.
In technical terms, Carver’s frame story ends on a rather happy note. “The boy looked down at himself, at everything stuck to his underwear. It has been said that the course of true love never did run easily, which is exactly what occurs within Everything Stuck to Him. “I was starved, he said, shaking his head. You were starved, she said, laughing. He peeled off the woolen underwear and threw it at the bathroom door. Then he opened his arms and the girl moved into them. We won’t fight anymore, she said. The boy said, We won’t.” Oh how refreshing it is to see two lover’s quarrel resolved in minimalistic, poetic lines. Normally, a person in my age group would think this is the absolute most unrealistic depiction of marital fights. However it is quite the contrary, I have found through my own exploration of personal relationships. It is beyond ridiculous, but when I find myself becoming bored in a relationship, I will let the other party boil to a solid simmer with all of the implications that come with hanging around me until I am given an ultimatum to shape up. Or vise versa. However when one is married, they should be a bit past that, especially in the case of the young married boy and girl in...
As soon as Lena and Harold’s fight begins, the first verse of the song comes on “Right from the start / You were a thief you stole my heart / And I your willing victim.” This describes what Lena is feeling at the beginning of the argument. Her heart was stolen by Harold and fell in love with him, but now she sees that she has been a victim of marriage and hasn’t been treated fairly. “I just don’t think you should get credit for your ice cream anymore” (Tan 164). Harold doesn’t understand what Lena is saying and as the argument
At the center of each play is a relationship between a wife and husband, in one play Nora with Torvald, and the other Hedda and Ejlert. The relationships portray a woman 's attempt to establish herself in a society that only recognizes her as an attachment to a husband. Nora Helmer begins the play as an example of female submission and compliance to gender roles, “while in the last act she rebels...and assets her claim to full humanity...her transformation from submissive, self sacrificing woman...into a self-assertive person who rejects responsibility to her husband and children in the name of her duty to herself”(Paris 39-40). In Act Three, Nora yells at her husband, “You 've prevented me from becoming a real person”(A Doll House, Act III). Nora 's father also demonstrates the patriarchal society she is trapped in, as the father wishes for her to remain a “doll-child”(Doll House Act III). Nora 's husband Torvald has the same beliefs about the role of women as the father, as Torvald finds “something very endearing about a woman 's helplessness”(A Doll House, Act
In both Harrison Bergeron and today’s society, people struggle with equality. As shown in Harrison Bergeron the pushing of equality causes consequences. Equality is being pushed onto everyone by having handicaps to make them sure that no one person is better than another. Equality can also cause any type of hurt, both physical and mental. Physical hurt is what occurs with George. George is
...le that Nora expects and the miracle that actually happens are entirely different. Nora dreams of the day that her husband will sympathize with her and cease to be the dominating figure with the "upper hand" in their relationship. She expects him to understand her struggles with the law and to be willing to take some of the blame himself. However, when he reacts to Krogstad's letter by exhibiting more dominance and control than ever before, Nora becomes more aware of her own individual needs as a woman in society. She understands that in order to be free, she must develop her own view of the world, by setting herself apart from the control and determinism that males have over her life. Therefore, Nora's decision to leave her husband and family is ironic because it proves to be the "miracle" she is waiting for, rather than the one she originally expected. Nora becomes a feminist heroine in the play by showing what women can achieve, but rarely attempt. The determinism that many men force on their women partners in society (in forms of control, dominance, and power) restricts the women's ability to strengthen as individuals, and gain their own self-determinism.
The couples share a certain amount of love for each other but the disconnection was stronger. The protagonist’s disconnection is evident because her husband treats her like a little girl instead of a wife when he takes her “ …in her arms and called [her] a blessed little goose” (p121). The Mallard’s disconnection is also evident because her husband’s “face that had never looked save with love upon her, fixed and gray and dead” (p 15). This is not the emotion a wife wants to feel from her husband.
The poem refuses to idealize love in the manner that Arnold did instead optioning to take a more realistic approach. Not only does the poem take a more realistic stance there is a lack of emphasis on emotional intimacy and more on physical satisfaction, “But all the time he was talking she had in mind the notion of what his whiskers would feel like on the back of her neck”. The point-of-view has also shifted with the woman from Arnold’s thoughts being explored. Unlike her counterpart she is not focused on emotional intimacy instead her thoughts pertain to how her partner views her. Through her perspective her partner has reduced her to a last resort and implying that she needs to stay faithful in order to combat changing times. However readers learn that the woman has not been faithful and detest the ideas of what it meant to be a women in that time period. The author’s views on the world features blunt and non-romanticized ideals about relationships. That is to say that although the theme of relationships and how time affects them are presented in different perspectives they still have the baseline
Lee remarks, “The play set off a firestorm of controversy” (620). When this play was published many felt as if it was too controversial and improper. He was even forced to portray an alternative ending in which Nora did not leave her family. Nowadays, the most memorable scene is the slamming of the door. “Its depiction of a new, modern brand of human relationship promised exciting changes, while simultaneously causing deep anxiety about its lasting impact on women and family.” (Choi 60) This play changed the idea of a modern woman for a new generation. The conflict of this play was caused by Nora forging her father 's signature in order to receive a loan. In today’s time, it is normal for a woman to take out a loan. Perhaps even, if this play was set in the 21st century the characters of this story would not be in this predicament. Linde is a single woman in this story, but this does not give her much of an advantage. She is poor and because she is a female, she is only able to obtain a low paying job such as a teacher or a waitress. Single women of today’s time can hold a good income and are able to raise a family. In this story marriage is some sort of trap, something that does not hold any benefits but is rather a social stamp. Divorce is more of a social norm now, people are much more accepting. The nanny in this story considers herself lucky to have
This dialogue is more reminiscent of a father and young child than of a husband and wife. The realistic theme of women’s treatment by the men in their lives during this era is shown by the interaction of the couple. The dominating nature of Nora’s husband, which is shown by the example text above, in which Nora has to hide her macaroons from her husband, and the almost childlike manner in which Torvald treats Nora, continues throughout the play. The antagonist, Nils Krogstad, a lawyer and bank clerk at the bank where Torvald is employed and has just been promoted, adds te...
Throughout history men and women have had separate roles in and out of the family. Henrick Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House” and Tennessee Williams’ “A Streetcar Named Desire” are two pieces of literature placed within a timeframe in history where these gender roles were essential. From the outside, these two plays appear to be very different; however, a very similar theme runs through both. “A Doll’s House” and “A Streetcar Named Desire” have a very similar take on masculinity and femininity in a marital relationship; men must make all decisions and are dependent on the subordination of the women. Women are dimwitted creatures who must comply with what the men say sacrificing all other dreams. Ibsen and William make one idea evident: Daily life is often led by the stereotypical roles society places on the masculine and feminine genders.