I know there is no thought of murder in your heart, but there is in mine. I will show you, John Bodman, how much I hate you. ” She continued, ”I have told all my friends in England that I believed you intended to murder me in Switzerland. ” She informed even the hotel proprietor about this. Before she commits suicide to frame her husband she spoke to him ” I say it to show how much I hate you – how much I am prepared to give for revenge. I have warned the people at the hotel, and when we left two men followed us. … In few moments those two men will come in sight of the Outlook.
Tell them, if you think they will believe you, that it was accident. ” Mr. Bodman had no fixed plan for her murder. He will execute base on circumstances. But Mrs. Bodman had clear idea about her suicide. The story ends with unexpected and dramatic twist. These three short stories have some common characteristics. They are tragedies. The themes are mainly focussed on wife and husband relationships in different ways. The time setting is almost same. The places were Europe and America. Almost same social conditions were prevailing in these areas. But these stories are not common in many angles.
‘Turned’ was the 1911 story by Charlotte Perkins Gillman who was a woman and also a feminist. ‘Turned’ had given a message that woman have to think independently and have to stand on their own feet like men. Mrs. Marroner was a representative of a new generation of women. It is a challenge and rebellion against the stagnated and problematic traditions and moral values of the male dominated society. Mrs. Marroner’s decision was a shock treatment for the male dominant society. Through this story the writer proposed new and progressive moral values and traditions.
For this purpose the writer created a new type of character like Mrs. Marroner. The writer succeeded in her purpose. Where as Thomas Hardy (To Please His Wife) and Robert Barr (An Alpine Divorce) were male writers. The content of ‘To Please His Wife’ is quite contrast to the ‘Turned’. Through Joanna is a non-traditional woman character and Emily is a traditional women character. To support the traditions of the society the writer used Joanna’s over ambitious character. The message is very clear. The role of women was not like Joanna, they should be like Emily. They should be gentle and good housewives.
The message is clear that if they wanted to be independent, they will ruin their lives like Joanna. If we keep aside this analysis and think in other way like the moral of the story might be ‘not to be over ambitious’. The writer so effectively presented the story. We feel sympathetic towards Joanna’s bad luck though she was focussed as over ambitious. Robert Barr’s ‘An Alpine Divorce’ presented a reality of wife and husband relationships of that time. The writer maintained balance while commenting on relationships. He did not blame either the wife or the husband.
The writer described the situation of the society and legal laws of the time. The story suggested for the changes to be taken place in the society. The messages of these stories are different in nature. ‘Turned’ and ‘An Alpine Divorce’ are similar in one way. They wanted some changes in the society. But ‘To Please His Wife’ was not for any change. Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Geoffrey Chaucer section.
