The Ladies of Missalonghi by Colleen McCullough

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The author of the book, The Ladies of Missalonghi, by Colleen McCullough describes to the reader how Missy, an unattractive woman, in a small town differs from Alicia.
Missy, the daughter of Drusilla did not really have any self-confidence in herself. "She would begin by wondering what she really looked like. The house owned only one mirror, in the bathroom, and it was forbidden to stand and gaze at one's reflection. Thus Missy's impressions of herself were hedged with guilt that she might have stayed too long gazing. Oh, she knew she was quite tall, she knew she was far too thin, she knew her hair was straight and dark, that her eyes were black-brown, and her nose sadly out of kilter due to a fall as a child. She knew her mouth drooped down at its left corner and twisted up at its right, but she didn't know how this made her rare smiles fascinating and her normal solemn expression a clown like tragicomedy"(Pg.35-36). Missy didn't really pay close attention to what she really looked liked. It didn't matter how women appeared in those days as how it does today. They seem to think that it's evil to look at oneself in the mirror, and that it's forbidden for a woman to look at her own image. "Life had taught her to think of herself as a very homely person, yet something in her refused to believe that entirely, would not be convinced by any amount of logical evidence. So each night she would wonder what she looked like"(Pg.36). She knew what she really looked like, but her conscious was telling her different. It was like she had something in her that was really setting her apart from her family and friends.
Even in her mid-twenties she was still treated unfairly. Her mother looked down at her and did not appreciate any of the things that she did. "Any pip-dreams Drusilla might have harboured about Missy's growing up to snatch the ladies of Missalonghi out of penury via a spectacular marriage died before Missy turned then; she was always homely and unprepossessing"(Pg. 39). What her mother pictured Missy to be had been vanished when Missy was about ten. Her mother lost fate in her before she even had a chance to prove her decency. Missy also was living in her own fantasy world. Her mother was against her from reading romance books because it was a sin to know about love. She was shatter inside for she felt she will never experience...

... middle of paper ...

...ound. It seemed as though Missy had no social life, and that she never knew how the outside world was like. Her mother also treated her like a child as though she had nothing to live for. They seem to think that Alicia has it all, she has the look, the wealth, and the men kissing at her feet. Alicia had an intimate relationship and discovered what love was. She had romance and enjoyed her everyday life. She didn't care about what other people would think because she had her beauty to rely on. Even Missy's mother respected Alicia, she lost her dreams and hope for Missy therefore she transferred it towards Alicia. As pretty and smart the town thought Alicia was, she ran off with the chauffeur to get married.
As I have described the differences between Missy and Alicia, their roles change. Missy finally finds her romance and love, and the intimacy she always wanted. Her husband, a wealthy man, makes her part of his company and Alicia runs off with a chauffeur who makes less than what she made at her hat store. Missy finally leaves home and the torment from her mother and aunts.

Bibliography
McCullough, Colleen. The Ladies of Missalonghi. New York, New York. Avon Books, Inc. 1987

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