Stereotypes In Hope Springs

Hope Springs takes place in a town that ironically gives hope to to struggling couples. The couple, Kay and Arnold, have been married for 31 years. The only catch is they act like roommates rather than husband and wife. They do not touch each other, they hardly speak to each other, and there is no intimacy or connection between them. Kay and Arnold have two older children who are married that still come to visit, but no longer live with them. Stereotypes, steps to living longer, women’s initiative, confidants and companions, the effect of becoming empty nesters, and a women’s self concepts all play a role in Kay and Arnold’s relationship while there is a lack of some and a surplus of others. There is large quantity of stereotypes - from

In a session with Dr. Feld, Kay speaks about her and Arnold’s last time having sexual intercourse. She recounts the exact day and the exact season because it was the day their son left. As Kay speaks more about this with Dr. Feld, it is obvious that she had experienced “empty nest syndrome”. This syndrome is a phenomenon that explains a midlife depression experienced when a child leaves the home (Hiller and Barrow, 2014). On the contrary, this concept can also be used to describe a more positive outlook on becoming empty nesters and some couples take this time to do the things they previously could not, because of their obligation to their family, or they take them time to focus on their relationship with their spouse for improvement and renewal. Unfortunately, Kay expresses and experiences the more negative aspect of this syndrome when she explains that after their last child left, she felt like her and Arnold had nothing else to reach forward, there were no more milestones she felt they could hit. Arnolds reasoning for why him and Kay no longer shared a bed at night was that he threw out his back right after their son left and it was more comfortable for him to sleep alone. However, five years later after his back had been healed for sometime, it was his personal choice that kept him and Kay apart at night. The closer a couple sleeps together, the happier the couple is in their relationship. If a couple sleeps more than 30 inches away from their significant other, the happiness in the relationship declines from 94% to 68% (Passary, 2014). Not sleeping in the same bed with each other takes away sexual vulnerability reducing the intimacy between Kay and Arnold. The lack of sexual intercourse and intimacy between Arnold and Kay may also be the cause of why Arnold is so angry and they are not companions and confidants for one