Romantic Stories: A Literary Analysis

The best romantic stories are those with happy endings such as Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, Sleeping Beauty and many other similar stories. In these stories, the ending is so romantic and so content that they even state, “and the prince and the princess lived happily ever after.” Unfortunately, in reality, these ‘happily ever after’ stories do not exist, in contrary, many end up in distress. Some more realistic and mature are the stories by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman: “A New England Nun,” and Edith Wharton: “Roman Fever.” These stories are written in a very romantic way that they may appear similar to those with happy endings but at the end reality hits in its very cruel nature way of life.

The story written by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman: “A New England Nun,” is very much realistic compared to those fairy tales like

Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. This story may be fictional, but it very much relates to the real world. It is about a young lady named, Louisa Ellis, who is in love with a military man and he is in love with her as well. Her lover was gone far away, for many years, to work for a better future for himself and his future wife. He was gone for fourteen years during the moments when Louisa most needed him by her side. A sentence from the passage reads, “[b]ut the fortune had been made in the fourteen years, and he had come home now to marry the woman who had been patiently and unquestioningly waiting for him all that time” (Freeman p ). This type of case happen constantly in Central America and other countries, when men come to United States to work for a better future and end up leaving their lovers for years just to raise enough money to live a decent life and then return. Louisa learns to live and enjoy life by herself since she doesn’t have any relatives near. A line from the story states, “[t] hen there were some peculiar features of her happy solitary life which she would probably be obliged to relinquish altogether” (Freeman p). In real life many women learn to live alone but since they are compromised to a man who is far away, they cannot go find another lover.

Louisa’s feelings for her lover have disappeared throughout the years and when her lover returns to marry her, she feels very uncertain of the marriage. Similarly, many engagements are broken due to the fact that the feelings between couples fade after there is a distance between them, for years. Another example that relates to life is, “[i]n that length of time much had happened. Louisa's mother and brother had died, and she was all alone in the world” (Freeman p). When immigrants return to their country, many deaths have occurred in the time period of their absence and sometimes the deaths include their own relatives. To their misfortune, they never have a chance to say a last good bye. The story, A new England’s Nun is very similar to the lives of many people and in many cases the same.

Another story that is more realistic than fairy tales is the story by Edith Wharton: “Roman Fever.” This story is about two friends named Grace and Alida, who have lunch together on the terrace of a Roman restaurant. They both decide to spend the afternoon watching down at the ruins of a Romantic place that brought back

memories of their past. They both began chatting about their daughters romantic life, while their daughters go about to meet with a couple of handsome men. After a while of conversing, one of them starts talking about when they were the same age as their daughters were and when they were in the age of meeting men. So far the story is very similar to real life, because there are a variety of situations similar to where the friend ship lasts for years and even with resentment against one another involved. There is no magic involved that makes the story untrue. As the story continues, the author lets the reader learn that these two ladies were best friends who deep inside have hatred toward one another even after the “supposedly” friendship they have. The author also reveals that this hatred is because of a man they both met when they were young. Both friends realize that they really don’t know each other with the line, “the two ladies, who had been intimate since childhood, reflected how little they knew each other” (Wharton p ). Mrs. Slade, one of the friends, decides speak out the feelings she has against Mrs. Ansley, the other friend. Mrs. Slade tells Mrs. Ansley that she was aware of the feelings Mrs. Ansley had towards her lover and she also confesses with the line, “my dear, I know what was in that letter because I wrote it!" (Wharton p) about a fake letter she wrote to Mrs. Ansley, making her believe it was from her lover. In reality many women have fought over men and inversely. Many people do things to harm their opponent and some go so far they kill or attempt to or accidently attempt murder. In the story, Mrs. Ansley was in bed sick for days of a very bad cold for going to the invitation requested by the letter. Mrs. Ansley reacts to the attitude of her friend and admits that she did see Mrs. Slate’s lover at the meeting place requested by the letter, since she had answered back. It is usual for anyone to answer a letter, especially if it is requesting for a meeting. With jealousy, like any human would, Mrs. Slate spoke, “"[y]es, I was beaten there. But I oughtn't to begrudge it to you, I suppose. At the end of all these years. After all, I had everything; I had him for twenty-five years. And you had nothing but that one letter that he didn't write (Wharton p). Finally Mrs. Ansley confessed, “"I had Barbara" (Wharton p), in other words she confesses to Mrs. Slate that she had a daughter of the man who Mrs. Slate was married to. In reality, many women get pregnant from their friend’s husband, boyfriend, wife, or girlfriend, and the truth remains hidden until it is finally revealed or sometimes never revealed. In this story Mrs. Ansley reveals the truth to her friend as revenge but the story never mentions that Mrs. Ansley revealed her secret to her husband who was dead. Every part of the story, “Roman Fever,” relates to the lives of many people in the real world.
As you can see, happily ever after stories are just fictional stories that really never happen in real life. The magic that is involved also makes these fairy tales more unreal even though it does make the story more romantic and dreamful and naive. They are a dream that never comes true. The stories, Mary E. Wilkins Freeman: “A New England Nun” and Edith Wharton: “Roman Fever,” relate more to reality even though they are fictional stories. These stories don’t have a happy ending, but whether a sad or miserable ending. These stories are actual cases that have happened to many people in real life.