Structure in The Lady With the Pet Dog by Joyce Carol Oates Essay

We are first introduced to Anna, a thin woman with short dark hair, in her dialogue with her father where it quickly becomes apparent that they already have a difference in opinion on love, marriage and what she should wear on a yacht. “that guy will never marry you my darling daughter” to which Anna replies “so far, I’ve been the one who doesn’t want to marry him” “it’s the same difference” her father disagrees (Antonioni. 3:45 – 3:55). Although this is a short glimpse into Anna’s character we can see that she resists these social standards and almost seems annoyed by them. Anna is seemingly the most self- aware of the characters but seems to be stuck in a position where she is unsure of how everyone else will react to her true

She realizes the plan and locks on a target for a vantage point for a sniper. She races to the hotel building in which she suspects the sniper is hiding. Government runs to the employee in charge of checking customers in and finds out the information she needs. She races off from the counter with her partner when the chapter comes to a close. The reader has now shifted narrators once again.

I want to thank Professor Grigsby for the academic support by teaching me how to draw upon ideas from the book and emotional support by kindly talking with me about random things and making me feel more confident in writing. I want to thank Andrea Green for helping me brainstorm the prompt for my essay; without her helpful, it would be difficult to start. I also want to thank my dog Taozi for giving me reference and inspiration to write this piece and my brother for connecting the video chat with Taozi in China and me.

“John laughs at me, of course, but one expects that in marriage,” (Stetson 647). Marriage is often thought of as a joyous union between two people, but often times, that union can turn sour and create a situation in which one person has control over the other and creates an oppressive nightmare that pushes the other to the brink of madness. Charlotte Perkins Stetson perfectly illustrates this push to madness perfectly in her short story: The Yellow Wallpaper. A story in which a woman, after being locked up in a room to “recover” from Postpartum Depression by her husband, finds herself descending into madness from the lack of freedom and stimulation, and even finds patterns and shapes of women in the wallpaper. This progresses to the point where

I also didn't know what to make of Anna's continued attraction to all her rapists. It seemed like the closer she got to Rafe, the less her attraction to the rapists became. But did she really need Rafe, to feel aversion to someone who betrayed her so horribly and treated her so heinously? She even wondered for a time if what happened to her was really rape, because of the attraction and how she felt during the rape. But she was drugged so it's not really relevant if she liked it or not. Her body was not her own at that point. The attraction to her rapists theme just went on too long and should have been dealt with quicker. There was another thing that happened in the book that both upset and surprised me greatly. I don't want to spoil it too much, but it had to do with yet another

The narrator and protagonist Anna Frith emerges from an oppressed woman of her era to a modern, successful and independent woman. In the novel, Anna is often regarded as a changing character. Elinor in fact said to Anna "I wonder if you know how you have changed". In light of this, Brooks shows the transformation of Anna in many different aspects of her life. At the beginning, before the transformation of Anna, the women were forced to be 'the property of their husbands', due to the historical setting of the novel. Moreover, when Anna's husband Sam passed away, she was forced to become independent and be the "bread winner" of the family. This was the beginning of her transformation. Anna suffered a lot at the time of the plague. When her sons, Tom and Jamie, died from the plague her strength grew immensely.

of her infidelity. But as the story continues, we begin to see a transition in the meaning of the

Joyce Carol Oates is one of the better writers of this decade; she has created masterpieces with her stories as well as her work overall throughout the years. In one of her short stories, Valentine, she creates a series of subtle hints to fairytales. Oates is known for alluding to different and all kinds of hints in her stories, but her subliminal references to fairytales have been one I have seen the most. Throughout the short story Valentine, Oates makes many nonchalant allusions to fairytales. Oates knows how to slip them right by you, if you didn’t know any better, you wouldn’t even notice where they are instilled inside the stories themselves.

When Anna had to leave her rented attic because her school closed down and she had no reason to stay she worried how she might feed the man. Anna did good though thanks to the scraps from the inn and her uncle franz giving her the pigs ration of potatoes. There are many tough parts for Anna in the book. The biggest challenge would be Anna’s fight to not give in to her brother who may tell on her. She worries he may have her shot.

Throughout life everyone has at some point heard of the horrors of cheating. Having an affair is always seen as a terrible act because it is wrong to cheat, but people rarely look at why the person chose to have an affair. According to Mira Kirshenbaum, there are 17 reasons people have affairs, and they are not all selfish. The story “The Lady With the Dog” by Anton Chekhov is solely based on an affair. This story features a few of the reasons.

Based on how she is asked Mr. Kapasi for advice in the short story. When she said “I was hoping you could help me feel better.” (Lahiri 461) Anna on the other hand regrets that she married before she was ready and not thinking hard on marriage base on what she said “I was twenty when I was married to him. I have tormented by curiosity; I wanted something better.”

“What other function could adultery hav—”. “Hold on! You’ll miss the ending! Soon everything will be clear.”

Lost in Misinterpretation In the novel Interpreter of Maladies, Jhumpa Lahiri writes about the complications that accompany love and marriage. Lahiri highlights this concept in the short stories Interpreter of Maladies and Sexy through the characters Mr. Kapasi and Miranda. They both have unrealistic reactions to specific words that are said to them causing them to create a false perception of the relationship they would have with their partners. However, when Miranda comes to terms with the reality of her relationship, she walks away with a positive transformation whereas Mr. Kapasi remains in a perpetual cycle of discontentment.

Atwood gives John and Mary, the main characters, a different persona within each ending. In ending “B”, Mary is trapped in her own mind because “[i]nside John, is another, John,” who will learn to love her instead of her body. John finds himself another woman, who he considers worth the expense of a “price of a dinner out.” Mary

Only after the first paragraph the main characters feelings about her current situation is made clear.