Marriage, By Thomas Hardy

"What a shame," she said. "You're not in love with anyone." "Yes, I am ! " "It doesn't show. " "I am very much in love!"

Thomas Hardy lived in a time when marriage was the expected practice for young men and women. He had a very distinct view of the institution and the implications that came along with it. He himself was married twice in his long life, both times not very happily, and had progressive views about the union of the sexes, most particularly regarding divorce. His ideas and opinions are not too carefully concealed in his literary works, though he contested that he kept his own views out of his fiction.

In today’s society, the notion and belief of growing old, getting married, having kids, and a maintaining of a happy family, seems to be a common value among most people. In Kevin Brockmeier’s short story, “The Ceiling,” Brockmeier implies that marriage is not necessary in our society. In fact, Brockmeier criticizes the belief of marriage in his literary work. Brockmeier reveals that marriage usually leads to or ends in disaster, specifically, all marriages are doomed to fail from the start. Throughout the story, the male protagonist, the husband, becomes more and more separated from his wife. As the tension increases between the protagonist and his wife, Brockmeier symbolizes a failing marriage between the husband and wife as he depicts

Americanization is a process immigrants and first-generation American children encounter when shocked with the potent culture and mannerism of American society. In Abraham Cahan’s short story “The Imported Bridegroom,” Americanization and its various influences of different people are highlighted. Within the story, the audience is introduced to Flora, a first-generation Jewish American who is heavily influenced by the luxurious aspect of the American Dream and projects this romantic and unrealistic goal onto her future ideal husband, leading to her unhappiness. On the other hand, Shaya, an immigrant from Pravly, evolves from reading Jewish books and prayers to all sorts of higher Gentile books, including philosophy and mathematics.

Weddings are meant to be a time of happiness and joy for both families of the couple who intend on joining their lives together. This cultural normality does not prove true for Frankie Addams, in the novel The Member of the Wedding written by Carson McCullers. Frankie is a young, twelve year old girl full of jealousy towards her older brother who will be wed towards the end of the novel. Despite being a tomboy, Frankie dreamed and eventually became obsessed with her wedding and the thought of getting married. The novel, set in southern United States in 1944, focuses on Frankie’s lack of a crowd to classify with and her desire to change herself to fit in with those around her. The reader learns of Frankie’s plans to run away with her brother because she feels she will fit in with him and his fiancé due to the love she has for the two of them. The author develops this novel by creating a “fascination with the breaking apart of the individual and social body” (Thurschwell 109) and sharing this fascination with the reader. This character analysis will show how the novels plot is guided by the transformations of the protagonist, Frankie, shown primarily through her identity changes which separate the novel into three separate parts in order to develop the main theme of losing innocence.

In The Great Divorce, C.S. Lewis provides an allegorical description of a dreamers journey from hell to heaven. The Narrator of the book takes a journey on a bus from the grey town, hell, to just outside of heaven. While he is making this trip from the grey town to heaven, he converses with some of his fellow travelers. These travelers are all different, yet all have the mindset of not being able to leave the darkness of the grey town and go to the joy that is heaven.

The aspects of marriage was the first of the three criticized by Irving. Irving does this by showing the physical abuse between the main character Tom and his wife. It is mentioned that whenever people walk past their home and hear the arguments between the two, they appear thankful they aren’t married. An example from the story to show this is “Her voice was often heard in wordy warfare

From Joan Didion’s description of marriage in Las Vegas in her essay “Marrying Absurd,” the whole idea of marriage seems superficial and the values associated with it are completely lacking. Far from being a special union of love, marriage in Las Vegas simply became a rushed through process, leaving little to no room for love and affection between couples. One of the things that encouraged this lack of affection were the very few and lax requirements for marriage. The rules simply stated that: “A bride must swear that she is eighteen or has parental permission and the bridegroom that he is twenty-one or has parental permission” (Didion 119). In addition, the couples were often united for the purpose of personal and social advantages and not

“Wish for a Young Wife”, by Theodore Roethke, may seem to be more than just a simple epithalamium, for the way the poet presents his writing compels the reader to question his true intentions. Nevertheless, although it is easy for the reader to trip down this path, a closer reading, in which one pays particular attention to aspects such the poem's imagery, rhyme scheme, meter, and parallelism, allows them to acknowledge that as the poet appreciates his wife and elaborates on what he wants for her, it is in fact the ambiguity of the poem that doubles the effect of his sincerity and love for his young wife.

Jane Austen’s novel is commanded by women; Pride and Prejudice explores the expectations of women in a society that is set at the turn of the 19th century. Throughout the plot, Austen’s female characters are all influenced by their peers, pressures from their family, and their own desires. The social struggle of men and women is seen throughout the novel. Characters, like Elizabeth, are examples of females not acting as proper as women were supposed to, while other women like Mrs. Bennett allow themselves to be controlled by men and society. Mr. Collins is a representation of the struggles males deal with in a novel dominated by women. The theme of marriage is prominent during Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Marriage can be examined in

Christopher OchoaProf. OsborneEnglish 12028 January 2015 A Strange Love Affair In his article “A Strange Love Affair”, Jan Myrdal narrates about his strange love affair. This event happened in 1949, and he published it in 1968.

In fact, in several of his poems “Hardy emphasizes instead the tragic lateness of all knowledge, so that the wisdom won through retrospection is less often a gift than a torment” (Miller). In doing so, Hardy indirectly warns his readers of the effects of regret by expressing his emotions about the time he himself lost. This idea of lost time correlates to Hardy’s relationship with his first wife, Emma. Hardy was rather estranged from his first wife because they did not have similar views on religion. Hardy heavily critiqued Victorian religion in his works of literature, such as in Jude the Obscure, while his wife confined to it. This caused them to be separated for a few years up until Emma’s death in 1912. Although they were distanced for several years prior to her death, her sudden death heavily influenced Hardy because he regretted not loving her properly. Hardy began to write poems of guilt and despair shortly after her death, producing his collection of poems The Poems of 1912-13. Critics claim this collection of poetry is what solidified Hardy’s title of a truly great

England has always had a rich history of interesting cultural traditions but arguably none as prevalent as marriage. Marriage, the union of two people with emotional ideals and expectations, are brought on by many different factors that include: for love, for money, for climbing social status, escapism, survival, etc. In Jane Austen’s novels, she focuses on the importance of marriage in her world because she wanted to emphasize how marriage is the most important life event of a woman as this would determine her place in society. Persuasion shows readers good and bad examples of marriage: the amiable Crofts and other couples such as Sir Walter & Lady Elliot and the Smiths. Jane Austen uses the Crofts to support the importance of marriage

Gender is a hot topic in almost every social circle on the planet. Everyone has different opinions and views on gender. In Robert Browning 's "Prophyria 's Lover," Browning portrays a woman as an antagonist and be the one in control of the relationship. Browning also shows the stereotype of men 's anger and jealousy. In John Keats ' “La Belle Dame Sans Merci," Keats shows the more emotional side of men. It also switches the role of the user in a relationship, as opposed to society 's generalization that men take that role. Authors use stories to discuss things that are myopic, or subjects that are preponderant in their society that they may not agree with. Whether they describe stereotypes like jealousy in men or show opposition to the

Jane Austen’s well-known novel, Pride and Prejudice, discussed multiple social themes in the 19th century. Austen mainly criticized marriage during her era, when she says that, “it is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife” (Austen 3). As she explains that it was valuable to women since it provided them with security and a social title. The author explored the diverse motives behind matrimony in her time period by using a humorous and romantic plot to discuss the social issues. For instance, Charlotte Lucas’s unreasonable marriage to Mr. Collins is a vital example of how women needed to secure a future and attain social status. To conclude, Lydia Bennet’s meaningless marriage to George Wickham shows that entering the marriage estate could have also been for mainly financial purposes. Contrastingly, Jane Bennet, the heroine’s older sister, marries Charles Bingley for love, security, and a social ranking. On the other hand, Elizabeth Bennet marries Fitzwilliam Darcy after months of misunderstandings and romantic drama for none other than true love. Thus, Austen uses her leading characters’ marriages in Pride and Prejudice to exhibit the various attitudes and reasons for marrying in the 19th century. (Lane 2015)