Analysis Of Surprise By Jane Kenyon

Does anyone like surprises? Whenever media portrays a surprise party, it is typically in a manner that has the recipient insisting on not having any surprise party. Something usually goes wrong to prove them right. If it is not something at the gathering, it is the guest of honor turning into a horrible metaphorical monster because of being forced into the situation. It is a mistrust in surprises that create this kind of reaction, and it is also mistrust that is left behind when someone decides to throw the party anyway. In Jane Kenyon’s poem “Surprise,” she uses female imagery, regression, and active reversal to relay the theme of mistrust.

Marriage has been a heated controversy for the past few years because people often marry for the wrong reasons. Anyone who thinks of an ideal marriage would think of two people loving each other and sharing a personal bond or goals together. Marriage is regularly defined as the legally or formally recognized union of two lovers as partners in a personal relationship. This definition remarks there is an actual connection between two people in marriage, but do people actually consider this when committing to “love” and “support” their partners forever? As research and studies have shown, people ultimately get married for many reasons, except love. This philosophy can be easily applied to the short poem, “Marriage” by Gregory Corso. In this emotional poem, the author argues marriage is more effectively understood or known for culture and convenience rather than through the abstract considerations of love. Here, we can identify people generally decide to marry for the incorrect reasons, for instance the story of the author himself. Corso finds himself confused multiple times, wondering if he should marry to not be lonely, for tradition and for his physical and mental health. He disregards love, a relationship or a connection with his future wife. General ways of convenience like loneliness, health and economic status between cultural stereotypes and religion are usually the true reasons of why people chose to have the commitment of marriage with another person.

Marriage is oftentimes praised for all its good qualities, but people tend to avoid discussing the downsides of marriage in order to avoid discomfort. Confronting the problems that many couples face in marriage is hard, and most people find it easier to simply overlook any issues they may face to avoid furthering the problem. In “My Problem With Her Anger,” Eric Bartels elaborates on the struggles he and his wife face and what experiencing the effects of spousal anger feels like from a husband’s perspective. Through emotional appeal and anecdotes, Bartels semi-successfully argues that husbands are too often, and unfairly, on the receiving end of their wives’ anger and stress.

In “Sex, Lies and Conversation” Deborah Tannen argues that the problems of men and women in marriage are caused by a misunderstanding rather than lack of communication. Throughout the passage she discusses theses misunderstandings and reveals the solution to the problem.

Paul Newman once said, “People stay married because they want to, not because the doors are locked” (74). There is no such thing as the perfect relationship, however, being involved in a healthy relationship is essential for a person to feel valued, safe, and happy. Unfortunately, in the situation of Kelly Sundberg’s personal essay “It Will Look Like a Sunset,” and Kate Chopin’s short story “The Story of An Hour,” include extreme examples of unhealthy relationships. The essay “It Will Look Like a Sunset,” shares painful experiences of Sundberg’s physical and emotional abusive relationship with her husband Caleb, while “The Story of an Hour,” shares a rare reaction of a married woman, Louise Mallard, who explores her emotions cautiously when hearing about the death of her husband. Each woman faces their own prison created by their husbands. The two marriages represent the figurative meaning of doors being locked in a marriage. Both pieces of literature convey the theme of confinement by using the literary devices of foreshadowing, imagery, and conflict.

A literary device used in Jane Kenyon’s poem is selective perception .The first instance of selective perception is in the first two lines of the poem when the narrator says, “He suggests pancakes at the local diner, followed by a walk in search of mayflowers….” This is selective perception because the wife is only seeing what she wants to see, which is a husband who tells her exactly what he wants. The husband can be conceived as demanding because of the line, “He suggest…” Though the wife at least knows exactly what he wants. Thats why when she starts seeing another side of her husband it is so scary for her. She is starting to see a husband who is not direct or honest with her. In lines 4 and 5 the narrator says, “their cars pulled close along the sandy road…” This line could represent the selective perception beginning to crumble, like the road. The lie the husband created is starting to reveal itself. By the end of the poem the wife’s selective perception is gone. This is evident from the line, “The gather itself is not what astounds her, but the casual accomplishment with which he lied.” The fog has been lifted and she is starting to see the person she married.

When most people get married, they go into the marriage with the expectations and hopes that everything will go as planned, that they will always get along, and that the responsibilities will be evenly divided between both spouses. And for two working spouses who have children, they share the expectation that no one parent will be more of a caretaker than the other. Eric Bartels, a feature writer for the Portland Tribune in Portland, Oregon, feels as if he has personal experience as to what it is like to be on the receiving end of his wife’s irrational—or at least in his eyes—anger. Bartels informs his readers of the anger his wife projects

In the poem, Surprise, Kenyon displays psychoanalysis by revealing the fear of betrayal through the main characters feelings. The female speaker in the poem unfolds her repressed feelings about her past experiences that now currently torments her mental state. She explains the kind suggestions of a man, such as dining together for pancakes and taking a stroll through a field of mayflowers. To her knowledge he offers her a morning of happiness, and an opportunity to spend quality time with this man who could possibly become a significant lover. At this point in the poem, she does not conclude more than a casual date with this man seeing that he only offers that much to her. She is unaware of his intent to surprise her and this is what causes her fear of being betrayed. Though this is normally an act of kindness, she receives it as a symbol of deception. He leads her to believe that he wants to spend time with her, when in reality he is hiding his actual intent. This subtle dishonesty reveals the repressed feelings she unconsciously has due to past experiences and therefore twists this kind gesture into a feeling of betrayal. This feeling then provokes her fear to be intimate with him, or in general.

Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” and Sinclair Ross’s “The Painted Door” are both stories about women protagonists who feel emotionally isolated from their husbands, who both go by the name John. Ann in “The Painted the Door” and the wife whose name may or may not be Jane in “The Yellow Wallpaper” are women who deal with emotional isolation. Emotional isolation is a state of isolation where one may be in a relationship but still feel emotional separation. In these two stories, both women feel emotionally isolated from their husbands due to lack of communication. In both stories, lack of communication results from one individual failing to disclose their true feelings and instead he or she are beating around the bush, hoping the other party will know what they want. If both parties directly disclose their desires and feelings to one another, there would be a better understanding of each other which as a result would help save marriages. This paper will look at how both women lack communication, how they both their approach their emotional isolation differently, and how their failure to communicate to their husbands and their approach, results in the failure to save their marriage. “The Painted Door” and “The Yellow Wallpaper” are stories that show how both women protagonists are emotionally isolated due to their failure to communicate their feelings and desires to their husbands. Instead of direct communication to their husbands, the women find other

“Will Your Marriage Last?”, by Aviva Patz, is a cohesive article about marriage and divorce. Aviva Patz is the executive editor of Psychology Today. Patz narrates the story of Ted Huston, a professor at the University of Texas, who followed the lives of 168 couples for 13 years after their wedding date. She was then able to draw conclusions about what makes a couple stay together or end up filing divorce papers. Although marriages and divorce are the themes of this article, it is really about society’s pressure on young people to be perfect.

Marriage unites two people for better or worse, in sickness and health, until death they do part. In earlier times, some people might say wedding vows were taken more seriously; other say divorce was different back in the day. Looking at Katie Chopin and Nathaniel Hawthorne, who both exemplify martial vows in their short stories, “The Story of an Hour” and “The Birthmark.” It is clear in one instance, it was because divorce was different but then on the other hand the stories demonstrate the seriousness of the wedding vows. However, these stories express a husband-dominated relationship, in which the men possess ideals such as possession, perfection, and being all knowing.

The myths surrounding marriage have now taken a place in modern times. We are often displaced in society based on the linear structure of societal mandates. American literature has portrayed issues based on social standards of certain eras. One of pioneers of American literature named Nathaniel Hawthorne published a short story named “The Birthmark”. The story that tells the odd behavior of human obsession. The short story surrounds the two characters named Aylmer and Georgina. Aylmer whom is brilliant scientist and natural philosopher decides to abandon his hobbies to marry his wife. The wife, known as Georgina is faced with oppression from her husband. Aylmer discovers a birthmark the shape of tiny hand on his wife cheek. He is confined to this birthmark he developed an obsession that turned into a

The stark divide between love and marriage shown right the way through cannot be comprehended fully by the twenty-first century reader: in today’s society marriage and love are mutually exclusive - you very rarely get one

The topic of polygamy is widely discussed these days, mainly because of reality television shows portraying the lifestyles of polygamists. Within the polygamous culture, women become possessions to men much like automobiles and real estate. The more wives a polygamist accumulates is a showpiece for his prosperity or standing in the community. Goodman describes how polygamy alters the very spirit of marriage once a couple’s intimacy and confidence have been removed unlike those of which are created in a monogamous relationship (Goodman, 2010, pg. 92).

When someone falls in love, how do they not let it fade out? Bernard Roth in The Achievement Habit believes that “It can be a great feeling to fall in love, especially if your love is reciprocated.” Meaning that people need love in their life, it is such an amazing feeling, why not. The problem is that people often confuse love with marriage. Falling in love is based on projection and marriage is free of projection. Roth’s purpose is to inform people on the difference of falling in love, and making a marriage work. Roth’s argument is effective because he understands what it takes to hold a marriage together, and what is a marriage without love.