Feminist Critical Analysis: Elizabeth Gilbert's "Eat, Pray, Love"

Alice’s relationship would not go very far, constructing her ending for Henry, “Henry Reyna married Della in 1948 and they have five kids, three of them now going to the University, speaking calo and calling themselves Chicanos.” This quote essentially dispersed Alice’s hope for something more with Henry. Making Alice side with Henry’s parents in his potential marriage with Della due to his responsibilities, “If it was just me and you, Henry it might be different. But you have to think of your family.” This quote shows Alice’s understanding of what Henry must do. In the end Alice’s feelings are put aside due to what cannot be done and what must be

While many women fulfilled their "responsibilities", a large number of women responded to this attempt to define and limit their roles with their own literature and work in the feminist movement”(Ewell). So we are now thinking that Mrs. Mallard was unhappy in her marriage because behind closed doors she now expresses how she really feels, it says “she could see in the open square before her house the tops of the trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life. The delicious breath of rain was in the air…”(p.496). At this point of the story begins to twist, something completely different than the reader expected to happen! So we now come to understand that Mrs. Mallard is actually feeling like new human being, she is being reborn. She is now seeing everything in a whole new way now that her husband has passed she is now free, free of her husband’s shadow. In the same sense we can easily interpret that winter, meaning her husband has died and spring meaning her freedom is yet to come and has now been reborn. In the story Mrs. Mallard is standing before an opened window, an open window may mean several things I interpret it as being vulnerable since she was in despair but it may also symbolize many opportunities for her

Ever since the beginning of time, love has played an enormous role among humans. Everyone feels a need to love and to be loved. Some attempt to fill this yearning with activities and possessions that will not satisfy – with activities in which they should not participate and possessions they should not own. In Andrew Marvell’s poem, “To His Coy Mistress,” the speaker encounters an emotion some would call love but fits better under the designation of lust for a woman. In contrast, the speaker of Robert Herrick’s poem, “To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time,” urges virgins to marry, to make a lasting commitment in which love plays a

Mallard is unsatisfied with the limitations of her marriage, however, like Desiree, she is submissive and believes that the end of her duties as a wife will come at the death of her husband and her freedom will be given to her. Also, she experiences little or no feelings because of her marriage. This is shown when Mrs. Mallard, after hearing of her husband’s death, cries, but ironically she senses a moment of euphoric pleasure at the awaiting freedom in her remaining life. “She saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely.” Mrs. Millard is now aware of things that were not noticeable before such as: the beginning of spring, patches of blue sky through clouds, the twittering of sparrows and the smelling of the pending rain, which may signify the nature of her freedom. Mrs. Mallard would now be able to live her life outside the home and find her identity.

Stephanie Coontz is a sociologist who is interested in marriage and the change in its structure over the time-span as love became a main proponent of the relationship involved in marriages. In her article, “What 's Love Got to Do With It,” Coontz argues that the more love becomes a part of the equation the less stable the institution of marriage becomes. Marriage at one point was a social contract that bound two families together to increase their property and wealth as well as ally connections. Each party entered into the contract knowing their roles and if one partner failed to meet the expectations, they were still contractually obligated to one another and were not allowed to divorce. As love became part of the equation, each partner was less sure of their obligations and often chose to end their marriages if at all possible.

Upon hearing the news, Mrs. Mallard is overwhelmed with grief, which swiftly turned into hope. Mrs. Mallard’s reaction upon receiving the news of her husband 's death is considered to be unusually by society’s standards. In the beginning of the story it is revealed that Mrs, Mallard suffers heart problems; however, when it is revealed that her husband is dead her heart is relieved. She was thrilled that she was able to be her own person again. It was revealed through her reflection on her marriage that she “had loved him - sometimes” (16). Mrs. Mallard overcame is quick to overcome her grief after the realization that she has been set free of her horrible marriage. As a married woman, Mrs. Mallard is miserable, but as a widow she feels a sense of relief that she is free of her marital vows. At the end of the story Mrs. Mallard dies of a failing heart which it ironic because typically a woman would be filled with joy to find out

These characters grow as they suffer through marriage problems. When the woman leaves the man, which lets him learn his mistakes and to be grateful for the things they had. He writes, “Things to tell her. That I’m sorry. That I miss her. That all I want-all I ever wanted-is for her to be happy” (Dooley and Holzman 3). The man has learned and developed into a greater human being.

Suddenly she feels a sense of liberation. Nature also plays a part in Mrs. Mallard feeling the way she does, just as it did with Calixta in ?The Storm.? Mrs. Mallard has just learned of a horrible death but yet she could not help but see that the trees were blooming with new spring life; there was new fallen rain, and birds were singing. The rain, as it did in ?The Storm,? replenished and allowed nature to grow just as the news would allow Mrs. Mallard to grow as a reborn, liberated women, free from bondage. ?And yet she loved him ? sometimes. Often she had not. What did it matter!? (21) It seems as if she is trying to convince herself there is nothing wrong with her feeling this way. There was something about the thought of living for herself, she would no longer have anyone to answer to, she was free to be herself, and most of all free to love again. ?Free! Body and soul free!? (21) Mrs. Mallard was not making herself ill as her sister had thought. She was taking in an elixir of life. It was almost as is her body had been healed. The heavy weight that was once on her chest and heart had been lifted. Louise emerges from her bedroom a liberated woman and as she descends the stairs she is brought back to reality by Brently Mallard opening the front door. She collapses and dies perhaps from the shock of losing her freedom once again.

This implies that she’s lost all hope of communication and understanding between her and John in their marriage. She no longer holds the hope that she will get better with the help and support of her husband. This only throws the woman farther and deeper into depression in the prison of her mind. Because she lacked the feelings of fulfillment, love and support, she fell into a deep and dark depression that affected her both physically and emotionally.

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.

Mrs. Mallard was never physically unfaithful, but mentally and emotionally she lost herself in the idea of her new life without her

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

Write a 1-2 page essay that explores the paradox that when the film ends, Gilbert is in

The Gillison family has dealt with many emotional situations. Both Meshia and her partner Tahir have lost a parent, which has been very emotionally straining on their lives. Meshia was very close to her father. When he was diagnosed with end stage lung cancer and she had to witness him go through hospice treatment and care it took a toll on her. After her father’s death her mother and sister decided to move down south due to the new financial strains of being without her father’s income. Meshia decided to stay in Connecticut because she thought it would be best to raise her

In the midst of her grieving, Mrs. Mallard pictures the time that is to come, when she will be able to make all of her own decisions and will be given the freedom to live her life as she pleases. Suddenly, she feels relieved more than she is upset. “She knew that she would weep again when she saw the kind, tender hands folded in death…but she saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely (Booth 307). Her desire for freedom overcame the despair of her husband’s death.