“A Secret Sorrow” by Karen van der Zee and “A Sorrowful Woman” Gail Godwin Essay

In few(prenominal) the excerpts from K atomic number 18n van der zs young A surreptitious Sorrow and in Gail Godwins short chronicle A offended Woman, the plots center on fancys of wedding ceremony and family. Conversely, coupling and family are presented in re every(prenominal)y different lights in the devil stories. Karen van der zee presents wedding with children as perfect and completely fulfilling it is what Faye, the champion of A unavowed Sorrow, demands and what is necessary to her happiness. For Godwins unnamed adorer, trades union and family are around the antithesis of happiness her home life date stampms to suffocate detect and last leads her to death. A abstruse Sorrow directly completeorses and encourages wedding ceremony, whereas A touching Woman indirectly questions and discourages it. both(prenominal) of the female sponsors in the two stories convey a action. In A Secret Sorrow Fayes conflict manages ahead the marriage. She is strick en with misery and torment because she washbasin non have children and fears that this will keep back her from link uping the man she retires. Both she and her be retired, Kai, desire marriage with children, and van der zed suggests that tho with these things will they real be ingenious. Faye feels that her inability to have children is a terminal flaw that cuts her glowering-key from Kais love. Every time we see some pregnant char, square(prenominal) time were with somebody elses children Ill feel Ive failed you (Zee 35).Fayes anxiety and fear are establish on the popular opinion of losing her beloved Kai, accompanied by n perpetu anyy having children. In A Sorrowful Woman, how perpetually, the conflict comes after the marriage, when the cleaning lady has already secured her husband and child. Unlike Faye, who would be ecstatic in this fair sexs situation, the booster dose of Godwins tosh is not. Oddly enough, her husband and son bring her such(prenominal) h erb of grace that eventually she is unable to see them at all, communicating merely through notes stuck on a lower floor her bed get on door. Godwins voice has a amiable husband and child, soon enough in spite of this, she is still filled with grief. This spirit of defeat is unacceptable when compared to a Harlequin romance because it goes against the assumption that the outride is merrily of all time after.In A Secret Sorrow, marriage is portrayed as the resolution. vanguard der Zee works to present the proof referee with the idea that yet with this aspect will Faye be fulfilled and happy it is what the entire story, with all the plottwists and romantic interludes, works toward. Marriage is also the end in A Sorrowful Woman exactly not as expect it is quite literally the end of the womans life. Though ace doesnt see what her life was like before her emotional crisis, at that place are hints of it. When she moves into a new bedroom, away from her husband, she mentio ns see the streets from a tout ensemble new perspective, which suggests the previous sameness of her daily life. In addition, when the woman bakes pies and abrasion and washes and folds the laundry, her son says, Shes tired from doing all our things again, (Godwin 42). This gives the reader the idea of what our things was and what the woman did with her time before her crisis.The monotony of marriage is get rid of in A Secret Sorrow. Fayes inability to have children does not end Kais love for her, instead, the two go on to marry and adopt children. Fayes get hitched with life is described in a very perfect way she raises her son and two daughters in a white cattle farm house under the blue skies of Texas (Zee 37). Once she is married and has children, in that location is no more anxiety because the plot leads wholeness to the culmination that marriage solves all problems and is a acknowledgment of unending happiness. This greatly differs from Godwins tale, which takes pl ace in winter and maintains a sense of cold.Whenever Godwin describes the family, it is in footing that suggest pitch, guilty conscience, or failure. The childs trusting gaze makes the booster rocket begin bark with erupt tears (Godwin 39). Any sign of life or love increases her sorrow and makes her want solitary. One case in layer is when the hired young lady brings her son to visit her with a grasshopper hes readysomething both alive and from the outside world she gets very upset and forces her husband to fire the girl. It would appear that the girl is excessively a good deal of an infringement on her space, too frequently of a reminder of what she prat no semipermanent be.The discrepancy between the two authors illustrations of marriage is closely apparent when both women are viewing their families. Faye, sitting with her husband and watch her children play, feels that life was sizeable and filled with love (Zee 37). Godwins protagonist, on the different(a) hand , articulates, The sight of them do her so sad and sick she did not want to see them ever again (Godwin 38).When Kai, now her husband, embraces Faye, she feels,There was love in his embrace and love in his words and in her heart there was no room for doubt, no room for sorrow (Zee 37). When Godwins heroine feels the attractive touch of her husbands arm and the kiss of her child, she cannot bear it any nightlong and cuts dispatch all direct contact with them. The situation of her marriage forces her into a self-imposed imprisonment and indolence.She feels agonizingly poignant because she can no longer be who they want and need her to be. She avoids them not because she does not love them but kind of because she loves them so much that it is too painful to see them and too hard for them to feel her failure. The axiom to Godwins story tells us that Once upon a time there was a wife and a mother unitary too umteen times (Godwin 38). The addition of one too many an(prenominal) times to this traditional story opening forces the idea of repetition and monotony it suggests that it is not the state of being a wife and mother that is innately dreadful but rather the fact that that is all Godwins character is. Day in and day out, too many times over, the woman is rightful(prenominal) a wife and a mother, and it isnt enough for her.In van der Zees story there could be no such thing as too much motherhood or too much of being a wife. When Fayes fears of losing Kai are assuaged, and she is happily married, it is as though a great metric weight unit has been lifted off her. Alternatively, Godwins character feels her marriage as a great weight pressing on her which results in her immobilization. When she leaves her room for a day and puts out freshly baked bread for her husband and son, they evoke their happiness in the notes they write to her that night, and the force of the two joyful notes touch her into the corner of the humble room she hardly had space to b reathe (Godwin 42). Faye can be a traditional wife and mother, so her family is a source of joy. However, in Godwins characters case, she can no longer be the traditional wife and mother, the representation of her own failure, which inevitably draws her guilt to push her advertize and hike into herself until she can retreat no further and ends her life.The closing stages of the two stories are powerful illustrations of the differences between them. In the end of A Secret Sorrow the author shows the reader Fayes feelings beautiful, complete, whole (Zee 38) in her typeas a wife and mother. Godwin, on the other hand, leaves the audience with the protagonist dead on her bed. Godwin seems to give the reader look forward to by exhibit all that the woman has done when she says, the house smelled redolently of transition and spring (Godwin 42). This makes the fortuity even harder when one discovers, along with the husband and child, the womans death. The uncertain way the death of Go dwins unnamed protagonist is dealt with reinforces the authors negative tone towards marriage. It isnt explicitly create verbally as self-destruction however, Godwin seems to encourage her readers to see it as the inevitable answer of her marriage.Van der Zee creates a story honest of emotional highs and lows, but one that leads up to and ends with marriage. After the marriage all of the plot twists and traumas come to a halt, replaced with quiescence and happiness. Faye is brought to new life by her marriage and children she finds fulfillment of all of her desires in them. Godwins story, however, is full of post married anguish and confusion. The character she creates is stifle and unquestionably unfulfilled by her marriage.A crush of creative cipher right before her death produces, among other things, a sheath of grand watercolor beasts accompanied by mad and imaginary stories nobody could ever make up again, and a tablet full of love sonnets turn to to the man (Godwin 42). It is clear that the woman had talents and desires not met by the routine duties of her marital life. For Faye, the protagonist of A Secret Sorrow, marriage is the happily-ever-after ending she has cute all of her life for Godwins protagonist, marriage is just a prosaic and interminable ever after. In any case, adult male cannot bear too much reality.Works CitedGodwin, Gail. A Sorrowful Woman. 38-42.Van der Zee, Karen. A Secret Sorrow. 30-38.A Secret Sorrow by Karen van der Zee and A Sorrowful Woman Gail Godwin EssayIn both the excerpts from Karen van der Zees novel A Secret Sorrow and in Gail Godwins short story A Sorrowful Woman, the plots center on ideas of marriage and family. Conversely, marriage and family are presented in very different lights in the two stories. Karen van der Zee presents marriage with children as perfect and completely fulfilling it is what Faye, the protagonist of A Secret Sorrow, wants and what is necessary to her happiness. For Godwins unnamed pr otagonist, marriage and family are almost the antithesis of happiness her home life seems to suffocate hear and eventually leads her to death. A Secret Sorrow directly endorses and encourages marriage, whereas A Sorrowful Woman indirectly questions and discourages it.Both of the female protagonists in the two stories experience a conflict. In A Secret Sorrow Fayes conflict comes before the marriage. She is struck with misery and torment because she cannot have children and fears that this will prevent her from marrying the man she loves. Both she and her beloved, Kai, desire marriage with children, and van der Zee suggests that only with these things will they truly be happy. Faye feels that her inability to have children is a fatal flaw that cuts her off from Kais love. Every time we see some pregnant woman, every time were with somebody elses children Ill feel Ive failed you (Zee 35). Fayes anxiety and fear are based on the thought of losing her beloved Kai, accompanied by never h aving children.In A Sorrowful Woman, however, the conflict comes after the marriage, when the woman has already secured her husband and child. Unlike Faye, who would be ecstatic in this womans situation, the protagonist of Godwins story is not. Oddly enough, her husband and son bring her such sorrow that eventually she is unable to see them at all, communicating only through notes stuck under her bedroom door. Godwins character has a loving husband and child, yet in spite of this, she is still filled with grief. This sense of defeat is unimaginable when compared to a Harlequin romance because it goes against the assumption that the rest is happily ever after.In A Secret Sorrow, marriage is portrayed as the resolution. Van der Zee works to present the reader with the idea that only with this aspect will Faye be fulfilled and happy it is what the entire story, with all the plottwists and romantic interludes, works toward. Marriage is also the end in A Sorrowful Woman but not as expect ed it is quite literally the end of the womans life. Though one doesnt see what her life was like before her emotional crisis, there are hints of it. When she moves into a new bedroom, away from her husband, she mentions seeing the streets from a whole new perspective, which suggests the previous monotony of her daily life. In addition, when the woman bakes pies and bread and washes and folds the laundry, her son says, Shes tired from doing all our things again, (Godwin 42). This gives the reader the idea of what our things was and what the woman did with her time before her crisis.The monotony of marriage is absent in A Secret Sorrow. Fayes inability to have children does not end Kais love for her, instead, the two go on to marry and adopt children. Fayes married life is described in a very idyllic way she raises her son and two daughters in a white ranch house under the blue skies of Texas (Zee 37). Once she is married and has children, there is no more anxiety because the plot le ads one to the conclusion that marriage solves all problems and is a source of unending happiness. This greatly differs from Godwins tale, which takes place in winter and maintains a sense of cold.Whenever Godwin describes the family, it is in terms that suggest weight, guilt, or failure. The childs trusting gaze makes the protagonist begin yelping without tears (Godwin 39). Any sign of life or love increases her sorrow and makes her want solitary. One case in point is when the hired girl brings her son to visit her with a grasshopper hes foundsomething both alive and from the outside world she gets very upset and forces her husband to fire the girl. It would appear that the girl is too much of an infringement on her space, too much of a reminder of what she can no longer be.The discrepancy between the two authors illustrations of marriage is most apparent when both women are viewing their families. Faye, sitting with her husband and watching her children play, feels that life was g ood and filled with love (Zee 37). Godwins protagonist, on the other hand, articulates, The sight of them made her so sad and sick she did not want to see them ever again (Godwin 38).When Kai, now her husband, embraces Faye, she feels,There was love in his embrace and love in his words and in her heart there was no room for doubt, no room for sorrow (Zee 37). When Godwins heroine feels the loving touch of her husbands arm and the kiss of her child, she cannot bear it any longer and cuts off all direct contact with them. The situation of her marriage forces her into a self-imposed imprisonment and indolence.She feels agonizingly poignant because she can no longer be who they want and need her to be. She avoids them not because she does not love them but rather because she loves them so much that it is too painful to see them and too troublesome for them to feel her failure. The axiom to Godwins story tells us that Once upon a time there was a wife and a mother one too many times (God win 38). The addition of one too many times to this traditional story opening forces the idea of repetition and monotony it suggests that it is not the state of being a wife and mother that is innately dreadful but rather the fact that that is all Godwins character is. Day in and day out, too many times over, the woman is just a wife and a mother, and it isnt enough for her.In van der Zees story there could be no such thing as too much motherhood or too much of being a wife. When Fayes fears of losing Kai are assuaged, and she is happily married, it is as though a great weight has been lifted off her. Alternatively, Godwins character feels her marriage as a great weight pressing on her which results in her immobilization. When she leaves her room for a day and puts out freshly baked bread for her husband and son, they express their happiness in the notes they write to her that night, and the force of the two joyful notespressed her into the corner of the little room she hardly had s pace to breathe (Godwin 42). Faye can be a traditional wife and mother, so her family is a source of joy. However, in Godwins characters case, she can no longer be the traditional wife and mother, the representation of her own failure, which inevitably draws her guilt to push her further and further into herself until she can retreat no further and ends her life.The closing stages of the two stories are powerful illustrations of the differences between them. In the end of A Secret Sorrow the author shows the reader Fayes feelings beautiful, complete, whole (Zee 38) in her roleas a wife and mother. Godwin, on the other hand, leaves the audience with the protagonist dead on her bed. Godwin seems to give the reader hope by showing all that the woman has done when she says, the house smelled redolently of renewal and spring (Godwin 42). This makes the misfortune even harder when one discovers, along with the husband and child, the womans death. The ambiguous way the death of Godwins unn amed protagonist is dealt with reinforces the authors negative tone towards marriage. It isnt explicitly written as suicide however, Godwin seems to encourage her readers to see it as the inevitable consequence of her marriage.Van der Zee creates a story full of emotional highs and lows, but one that leads up to and ends with marriage. After the marriage all of the plot twists and traumas come to a halt, replaced with peace and happiness. Faye is brought to new life by her marriage and children she finds fulfillment of all of her desires in them. Godwins story, however, is full of post marital anguish and confusion. The character she creates is stifled and unquestionably unfulfilled by her marriage.A burst of creative energy right before her death produces, among other things, a sheath of marvelous watercolor beasts accompanied by mad and fanciful stories nobody could ever make up again, and a tablet full of love sonnets addressed to the man (Godwin 42). It is clear that the woman h ad talents and desires not met by the routine duties of her marital life. For Faye, the protagonist of A Secret Sorrow, marriage is the happily-ever-after ending she has wanted all of her life for Godwins protagonist, marriage is just a monotonous and interminable ever after. In any case, humans cannot bear too much reality.Works CitedGodwin, Gail. A Sorrowful Woman. 38-42.Van der Zee, Karen. A Secret Sorrow. 30-38.