Love and Relationship in Literature Free Essay Example

January 29, 2021 by Essay Writer

In every story, characters experience challenges which change the outcome of a story. The plot of a story is determined by what decisions are made with each character and most of the time decisions are based on what is best for a relationship. There are different representations of marital relationships in the short stories of “The Birthmark” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant, and “The Chrysanthemums” by John Steinbeck. The character’s decisions are influenced by their partner in each of these stories.

This topic will be discussed and explained to give more insight on how the characters were affected based on their circumstances.In “The Birthmark” Georgiana is a loyal wife who wants to please her husband. In the beginning, Georgiana’s relationship with Aylmer is normal since they were just married. Aylmer’s view of their marriage differs. Hawthorne describes him, saying, “He had devoted himself, however, too unreservedly to scientific studies ever to be weaned from them by any second passion” (Hawthorne).

This quote explains that although Aylmer loved his wife, science was his second love.Aylmer’s relationship with his wife went downhill after he noticed the birthmark. Aylmer’s goal then was to make his wife perfect which was something Georgiana couldn’t be at the moment. Georgiana became more self-conscious when she noticed Aylmer’s constant disgust of her face. She says “Danger is nothing to me; for life, while this hateful mark makes me the object of horror and disgust, life is a burden which would fling down with my joy.

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Either remove this hand or take my wretched life” (Hawthorne). This quote explains that Georgiana would rather die than let her husband see her birthmark. Aylmer though had consumed himself with thoughts that nature was to blame and that science can fix the problem.

Aylmer also struggled with accepting what nature did to his wife. Aylmer becomes so crazy that he takes a blind eye to the risks of what he could be putting his wife through. He says “I have already given this matter the deepest thought, a thought which might almost have enlightened me to create a being less perfect than yourself. Georgiana, you have led me deeper than ever into the heart of science…what will be my triumph when I shall have corrected what Nature left imperfect in her fairest work!”(Hawthorne). This quote sparks the madness that Aylmer has felt while also wanting to dive deeper into more science and probably doesn’t want to stop, and he yearns to go beyond just removing the birthmark from his wife’s face. If his wife didn’t die Aylmer might’ve accomplished more experiments on her and discover more imperfections, but because of Georgiana’s death, Aylmer can be satisfied with his accomplishment.This particular representation of a marital relationship is not healthy because the two characters have differences in which one is seemingly imperfect and the other is normal. If Georgiana was sensible she should’ve divorced her husband because no one deserves to be treated differently based on appearance.

In “The Necklace”, Mathilde becomes obsessed with wealth. She is extremely unhappy because she wants to be with the elite and walk among them. In the beginning, Mathilde’s marriage is at ease but given another chance to marry, she would marry someone who had a better job instead of being a clerk for the Department of Education. Mathilde is uninterested in her husband until he gives her money for the dress. Monsieur is grateful for what he has and doesn’t feel worried about his social standards. He says “Ah, the good soup! I don’t know anything better than that”(Maupassant). In this quote, Monsieur is represented as being perfectly content with whatever he has, even if it isn’t much. In this relationship, there are common differences which set these two apart, with Mathilde wanting more and Monsieur wanting no less.Before the incident occurs Monsieur says “Very well. I’ll give you four hundred francs. But try to get a really nice dress with the money” (Maupassant).

Monsieur surrenders his happiness, so his wife could be happy. The couple even endured poverty and as a result of what happened Mathilde changes, her attitude and her husband can see that since she isn’t boasting about being rich. If Monsieur wasn’t committed he may have just left Mathilde to pay the necklace back on her own He really wanted a good relationship with his wife even if the problem didn’t involve him.The dynamic of this relationship represents a committed husband but uninterested wife. Monsieur’s commitment to Mathilde ended up being the main solution for them getting through their years of poverty.In “The Chrysanthemums” Elisa’s relationship with her husband also didn’t appear romantic because they’re constantly working with each other and in isolation and it can be tiring seeing the same person every day. Elisa and Henry have a normal marriage, Elisa is uninterested in her husband. From Analyzing this story it’s clear that Elisa really sees her husband as a friend than a lover.

In the story, Henry says, “I thought how it’s Saturday afternoon, and we might go into Salinas for dinner at a restaurant, and then to a picture show—to celebrate, you see”(Steinbeck). This quote suggests that the marriage between Elisa and Henry was content, Henry really wanted to treat his wife to a nice dinner and show. Henry is the breadwinner of the two but doesn’t let Elisa play a big part in their business within the farm. Their relationship consists of the wife being the maid for the husband as well as preparing his food and his bath. The time and setting in which these characters were living it wouldn’t be deemed unusual for a wife to be a maid for her husband.When The Tinker arrives, Elisa forgets about her current living situation because, she says, “That sounds like a nice kind of a way to live” (Steinbeck).

Her suggestion was probably based on her marriage because Elisa was probably tired of having an uninteresting life. It’s uncertain whether she would’ve left her marriage for The Tinker, but she didn’t mind leaving her farm for an adventurous life. With the outcome of the ending, Elisa feels the sadness of how the chrysanthemums were just tossed. Elisa being unaware of the situation will just continue his normal life with Elisa on the farm.Each story has a different representation of a marital relationship. In “The Birthmark”, the marriage depends on whether Aylmer can remove the birthmark. Aylmer wants his wife to be perfect despite what nature has done. In “The Necklace”, the characters establish a stronger marriage by working together. In “The Chrysanthemums” there is another account of a marital relationship where the character Elisa appears tired of her dull life on a farm and would even travel with a stranger to have some adventure in her life. The isolation also affects Elisa making her more susceptible to fall for another man.

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