Comparing Relationships in Josephine Miles' Housewife and Cathy Song's Picture Bride

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Relationships in Josephine Miles' Housewife and Cathy Song's Picture Bride

Having a relationship is a very exciting and sense of belonging thing. A relationship between a man and a woman can have extremely great times and also can bring out the worst times. There are just certain things that you have to do and believe to have a relationship work out right. Times are changing rapidly, and so are relationships. Both people in the relationship need to have the same feelings, or else things just do not work out.

Before, women in the relationship were expected to do all of the housework and take care of the children. These days, women just do not normally do this by themselves. Our modern women believe in the 50-50 type of lifestyle. In Josephine Miles' "Housewife," the narrator is talking about a woman who basically is very unhappy. "Occasional mornings when an early fog/ not yet dispersed stands in every yard/ And drips and undiscloses, she is severely/ Put to the task of herself," explains how this woman gets up, before it is completely light out, and is already working on her daily work. (Pg. 285 lines 1-4) She does not get to sit and relax first thing in the morning, she goes straight for her chores, which she probably continues nonstop the whole day. "But when the fog at the glass pauses and closes/ She is put to ponder/ A life-line, how it chooses to run obscurely/ In her hand, before her," is basically showing how she wants to do something else with her life. (lines 9-12) She is wondering if she will ever be able to do something besides take care of the house and family.

Many people, not as much today, are set up with their future husbands/wives. In royal families and certain cultures, the parents pick who their child's spouse will be. This obviously in most cases will lead to a very unhappy married life. How could you spend your life with someone that you do not even love? Why should someone get to choose your mate for you? There are also what they call "mail order brides." These women usually come from poor communities, who just want to get away and come to the United States or elsewhere and make a better life for them. Cathy Song's poem, "Picture Bride" is about this type of marriage. "Did she simply close/ the door of her father's house/ and walk away," shows that the husband is questioning the type of life that his bride had.

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