Characteristics of a Relationship

By
Matt Stolzman

English 102
Oct. 1, 2014
Professor Jewell
Matt Stolzman
Professor Jewell
English 102
1 October 2014
Characteristics of Relationships A relationship between a husband and a wife can be defined by two people who share the ability to communicate with one another. A husband and wife have great amounts of respect for each other and also share other important qualities such as trustworthiness and honesty. Marriage can also be depicted through judgments of one another. Characteristics of a marriage can have an impact on how different events effect a marriage. The short story “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, discusses a wife who thinks her husband has just died and following, describes the wife as a “free” woman. The piece “The Birthmark” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, expresses a story about a husband that views and perceives his wife differently because of a birthmark symbol on her left cheek. Both of these stories shows readers how a husband or a wife can be viewed by one another. There are several different types of marriages that can evolve. One of which is a very honest and open relationship, which readers see in the story “The Birthmark”. Another type of relationship can be harsh and evoke negative feelings towards the spouse. A similar relationship occurs in the story “A Story of an Hour”. Both of these stories include the death of the husband, an event in which effects both of the marital relationships. One usually takes a quick glance at another and instantly forms a mental judgment. Whether that judgment is good or bad can be one’s own decision. In the story “The Birthmark”, Aylmer, who is the one of the main characters, asks Georgiana “has it never occurred to you that the mark upon your cheek might be removed” (333)? Here Aylmer is expressing how he views Georgiana’s outer appearances. Aylmer and Georgiana also show another characteristic of marriage which is communication. In this case, Georgiana believes that it is more of a charm and replies, “To tell you the truth it has been so often called a charm that I was simple enough to imagine it might be so” (334). To have a healthy relationship, a husband and wife must also have good communication. As the years in which a couple is married add up, they may get more opinionated about one another’s appearance. We see this in “The Birthmark” by Aylmer as “He found this one defect grow more and more intolerable with every moment of their united lives” (334). This quote signifies that the views Aylmer once held about his wife are changing as time goes on and as his disappointment in her refusal to remove the mark increases. The story “A Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin talks about a woman named Mrs. Mallard. When Mrs. Mallard learns that her husband had just been killed in an accident, she expresses tragic emotion as “She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister’s arm” (15). In a relationship, if one becomes sad, it is important to support the other person in a positive way. In this case, when Mrs. Mallard’s husband dies she cries in her sister’s arms because her spouse is no longer there to provide comfort. After this event, Mrs. Mallard also becomes very dark and seems to no longer care about herself or the world. Mrs. Mallard’s feeling about her relationship become very harsh and cold. An example of this from the story is “When she abandoned herself a little whispered word escaped her slightly parted lips. She said it over and over under her breath: ‘free, free, free” (15)! In this relationship she feels freer after the death of her husband even though she locks herself in a room. Another example of Mrs. Mallard’s feelings towards the death of her husband is shared when the author describes her actions, “There stood, facing the open window, a comfortable, roomy armchair. Into this she sank, pressed down by a physical exhaustion that haunted her body and