'Successful Marriage In Margaret Atwood's Happy Endings'

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.

In her short story “Happy Endings”, Margaret Atwood uses different literary techniques that can alter the interpretation of the story’s theme. The story starts off with a generic “fairy tale” ending in which a husband and a wife live a happy life together and eventually die. However, as the story progresses, Atwood’s style and tone makes the alternate scenarios of John and Mary give off a sense of uncertainty of what main ideas she is trying to convey. Good opening and thesis.

Both Stuart and Claire’s personality and characteristics serve as prime explanations to Carver’s view on marriage. With both characters fitting into the typical stereotypes of men and women, the author depicts the standard marriage that is present nowadays. With the constant arguing and disagreements between Claire and Stuart, Carver is suggesting that marriage is very complex and difficult. Because Carver explains that marriage is “something that [he] feels [he] knows about”, he defines his perspective of marriage as being an “indelible experience” (Kellerman). It is possible that Claire and Stuart’s relationship is a reflection of Carver’s past love life. In general, however, the author describes marriage as a difficult task but something worth fighting for. This is explained by the

In Caitlin Flanagan’s Is There Hope for the American Marriage, she establishes the foundation for what the American Marriage means in today’s world by arguing that marriages are likely to collapse over time. With this being said, Flanagan goes on to depict the fragility of marriage during times of adversity, and how susceptible the couples can be when searching for alternative bonds from people other than their own partner, even if it means making moral sacrifices. Through a series of anecdotes from sources like herself to politicians, she further expands on this idea that the ideal marriage is nothing but a hoax for the likelihood of publicity. Flanagan includes sources from sociologists, such as Andrew J. Cherlin and Maria Kefalas, both whom

In “Happy Endings,” Margaret Atwood manipulates literary techniques to emphasize how each story can have different plots yet end up with the same ending. She makes the case that, in every ending, the characters finish having a happy ending and “eventually they die” (paragraph 4). She infers that it is the contents between the beginning, and the end that bring interest and challenge to the characters, while the beginnings are more fun. The “true connoisseurs” is an important element because it is what makes up the plot (paragraph 21). The six scenarios of “Happy Endings” introduce differences in the beginning and the middle of the plot but result in the same ending. The plot in each scenario focuses on the significance of understanding how

Women are taught from a young age that marriage is the end all be all in happiness, in the short story “The Story of An Hour” by Kate Chopin and the drama “Poof!” by Lynn Nottage, we learn that it is not always the case. Mrs. Mallard from “The Story of an Hour” and Loureen from “Poof!” are different characteristically, story-wise, and time-wise, but share a similar plight. Two women tied down to men whom they no longer love and a life they no longer feel is theirs. Unlike widows in happy marriages Loureen and Mrs., Mallard discover newfound freedom in their respective husband’s deaths. Both stories explore stereotypical housewives who serve their husbands with un-stereotypical reactions to their husband’s deaths.

State how marriage is presented in the stories, “Desiree’s Baby” and “The Story of an Hour.”

Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” and Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Birthmark” examine the complex relationship between a husband and wife. The two works take two different approaches to convey the same message: Marriage is not a fairytale, it requires sacrifice and unselfish behavior in order to work. Relationships are difficult to begin and harder to maintain. Mr. and Mrs. Mallard and Aylmer and Georgiana are two relationships that shatter the surreal perception of marriage and expose readers to the raw truth, marriage is not a fairytale.

Story A of Happy Endings, is the ultimate story of love. Everything is smooth throughout the whole story and both characters are happy and live happy lives. We as the readers find out that John and Mary go on “fun vacations” and that their children “turn out well”. This is by far my most favorite story out of all six. I find it interesting and funny that Atwood uses

Happy Endings is an oddly structured, metafictional story; a series of possible scenarios all leading the characters to the same ending. Atwood uses humour and practical wisdom to critique both romantic fiction and contemporary society, and to make the point that it is not the end that is important, it is the journey that truly matters in both life and writing.

Modern literature is known for questioning society and its various conventions. One question that these works often ask is, “What is real?” Some modern authors explore this question by placing their characters within self-constructed illusions that are later shattered by the introduction of reality. Marriages are frequently at the center of this theme, with one spouse crafting an illusory impression of the other. Modern literature demonstrates that a marriage built upon illusion will falter when exposed to reality.

‘Happy Endings’ is a metafictional story that is very different from any other short story. The story looks like an outline more than a published one, as it lacks a single setting and a plot; rather, it has a series of possible scenarios all leading the characters to the same ending, which is death. In metafictional stories, the authors become self reflective about the act of writing in order for the reader to contemplate more on the nature and essence of the story itself, rather than its ending. Atwood’s Happy ending is a satirical piece of literature that criticizes both the genre of romantic fiction with its fairy tale endings using gender stereotypes. ,Firstly, Margaret Atwood’s Happy Ending appears to be an attack from Atwood towards fairytale and happy ever after’s endings.

“Freedom isn’t the same for girls,” (2) Atwood’s message remains the same throughout all of the circumstances: death is inevitable and love is an illusion-- the path to a person’s ending doesn’t really matter because the ending is all the same- death. “The only authentic ending is the one provided here: John and Mary die. John and Mary die. John and Mary die.” (2) Throughout the story it’s displayed that there aren’t really any happy endings like the title implies, just paths that have been constructed to look better than others.

There are millions of stories in the world, but none quite like Margaret Atwood’s “Happy Endings” and that’s exactly her point. “Happy Endings” isn’t like other stories, in fact it criticizes the norm, conventional, and often lazy narrative we’re used to. In “Happy Endings” Margaret Atwood uses humor to mock and deconstruct story conventions and ultimately prove that a story isn’t defined by plot, but by the motivation of plot and characters. Option A is Atwood’s satiric version of conventional stories. John and Mary are the stereotypical character in a stereotypical plot.

The theme of the two stories revolves around the feminist issue of marriage. A common notion between the two short stories is that love is a failure and a mere comic when there is the failure to recognize the beloved as a person and not a mere convenience. The stories also deal with the 18th and the 19th century American life?declining in their spiritual and emotional lives.