This literature analysis looks at four different stories of woman who have had choices thrust upon them that have affected their entire lives. Each of the four characters are portrayed in different ways as to how they have responded to their respective circumstances. Analyzing these responses leads to some interesting conclusions.
¶ … lives that have been regretfully lived. It seems as if each of the four main characters offer the reader a glance into the looking glass of life as seen from the perspective of loss. The characters; DeMaupassant's Madame Loisel, Faulkner's Emily, Porter's Granny and Welty's Jackson are woman harboring secrets that have so drastically changed their respective lives that it encourages the reader to contemplate the complete ironies of life, especially if the reader's life has also seen similar circumstances. These lady's stories speak to the heart of what many woman struggle to hide and begs the question "have I made the right choice?" Yet it also seems that the choices made by these each of these ladies is a choice that has been forced upon them due to the circumstances at the time the choices were made,
For example, Madame Loisel has always "had no clothes, no jewels, nothing" (Maupassant 1). When the one opportunity to shine as she had always wanted presented itself to her she was desperate to present herself in such a way that would always be remembered. Madame Loisel had always "longed so eagerly to charm, to be desired, to be wildly attractive and sought after" (Maupassant 1) that her longings would only be fulfilled with a complete transformation; a transformation so complete that only a real adornment would suffice. Hence, the necklace; and not just any necklace would suffice, but one that was "in a black satin case, a superb diamond necklace" (Maupassant 3). It was a necklace that, when she saw it "her heart began to beat covetously" (Maupassant 3). The reader can empathize with Madame Loisel but at the same time wonder at the driving force inside her that led her to believe the necklace was so fine, so valuable that it would be the crowning accouterment to her ensemble.
In Madame Loisel's case the necklace symbolized her dream to be something that she was not, while Faulkner's character is much more difficult to discern. One could make the case that Emily was in fact crazy. After all, there aren't that many women in the world that would kill their lover and then lay with his rotting corpse for years and years. What is truly tragic about Emily is that everyone knew what she was doing, yet no one would take the initiative or cared enough about her to take action. Instead the townspeople "slunk about the house like burglars…while one of them performed a regular sowing motion with his hand out of a sack slung from his shoulder" (Faulkner 2). The townspeople were covering up a smell that could have only been produced by death. That this continued until Emily finally died is proven on page 5 when Faulkner writes "we already knew that there was one room in that region above stairs no one had seen in forty years, and which would have to be forced" (Faulkner 5). The question that remains from this story is why did it go on so long? Was it because Emily was a beloved citizen of the town? The reader can only surmise that the townspeople so perceived Emily as crazy that they would leave well enough alone. Faulkner writes that the townspeople "were not pleased exactly, but vindicated; even with insanity in the family she wouldn't have turned down all of her chances if they had really materialized" (Faulkner 2). This story seems more a condemnation of a society that would allow such things to happen or the father that drove Emily to such lengths, rather than a condemnation of Emily herself.
Porter's Granny is another life examined where the woman has been wronged by a man. In Granny's case she was left standing at the altar; but she seems to have recovered, or at the very least made a good life for herself anyway.
She exults in the fact that even though he had left her she still "wanted to see John again and point to them and say, well I didn't do so badly, did I?" (Porter 3). Granny wanted to believe the words in the love letters that she had gathered in the attic. Porter makes an interesting point through Granny; that love can endure even through a 'jilting'. The reader is left with a sympathetic view of a woman wronged. Yet still she survived, she went on, she continued her life, she kept those feelings of love hidden inside. Perhaps that's what Porter wants the reader to feel; to know that this woman, even after 80 years of living, still can feel the pain and sorrow of losing a love.
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