In fact Berthas happiness was also shattered at the end when she found out her husband, Harry was having an affair. ‘‘Oh, what is going to happen now?’ she cried’ symbolising her loss of happiness, the feeling of ‘bliss’ and how miserable her life seems a that moment in time. She is questioning herself as there isn’t actually anyone there to answer her question. She knows that knowing this though will not change anything from anyone else’s point of view.
‘The End of Something’s’ main female character Marjorie also has the happy to sad situation in common.
At the beginning of ‘The End of Something’ Marjorie is plainly thrilled with her relationship status at that current moment in time. ‘She loved to fish. She loved to fish with Nick.’ Marjorie is just happy to be there until the moment is shattered.
Like the other two women Marjorie also has a turn of events and Nick ends the relationship and so Marjorie leaves, obviously upset. It is plain to see throughout the story though that Nick is not happy and when the ending comes about and the revelation is exposed to you the signs that came before it are even clearer.
Nick is constantly negative, ‘but they won’t strike’ and ‘I don’t feel like eating’ are just a few of the things said that make you realise the relationship is nearing an end.
From looking at how the emotions go from happy to sad in the 3 short stories it can also be said that this loss of happiness was due to a relationship.
In ‘The End of Something’ and ‘Bliss’ it is due to being let down by a man cheating and actually ending the relationship in ‘The End of Something.’ In ‘Story of an Hour’ it is due to her husband still being alive which is the total opposite to the other too.
The one thing they do have in common though on this concept is the emotion of sadness due to being let down and disappointed.
In the endings of all the stories there is a revelation to both the reader and the woman. This in all cases is a shock to the a relationship.
The write in ‘Bliss’ has portrayed Bertha as innocent and happy all the way through due to the language. She knows something isn’t right with the whole Pearl and Harry situation, the whole act Harry puts on when talking about her and the general mystery about Pearl. This shows that Bertha is intuitive and a bright woman.
From a female writers point of view I believe she is attempting to make out that men are the bad people and did this by having Harry have an affair. It was nothing Bertha could prevent and in finding out she was now in control if the situation.
Meanwhile in ‘The End of Something’ by Hemmingway the male character, Nick is in control. This is typical of a male author to create the male character as the more dominant and stronger.
From a historical point of view Mrs Mallard in ‘Story of an Hour’ could be compared to women characters in Chopin’s’ life. This is due to the fact that her mother was a widow, as was her grandmother and Chopin herself also was after the husband died.
This story also has a real life biographical context as her father died in a train accident and by Mrs Mallard not being grateful for her husbands return could tell us something about her own life and attitudes to her father.
The main contrast between all the stories is that the presentation of women in Hemmingway’s story to the other two. Being a man he portrays women in different ways to the way women see themselves.
It is also visible from the language what gender the writer is as in ‘The End of Something’ the focus is not mainly on one person and it is more aimed at Nick due to the attention being on him saying that ‘Love isn’t fun anymore’
The opposite of this is in ‘Story of an Hour’ and ‘Bliss’ where the main part of the story is based around Mrs Mallard and Bertha, the main female characters.
The women in each of the stories have different attitudes at the end towards the men involved and how they actually cope with the situation.
Marjorie copes fairly well and decides just to walk off and get out of the way of Nick with no hesitation showing she is strong but still has emotions. This demonstrates independence and telling Nick that she is capable of coping without him.
Mrs Mallard in ‘Story of an Hour’ is distraught by the revelation of her husband still being alive that she has a heart attack and dies of disappointment. Chopin uses the phrase ‘of joy that kills’ and this simply means that everyone thought she died of happiness yet it was the disappointment that killed her. The reader has been exposed to information the rest of the characters had not and then by using this line we are supposed to have realised why she actually died. ‘She was drinking the very elixir or life…’ meaning she was happy, for once. The shock of her husbands return made her feel unhappy and therefore disappointed as she would not get to live the life of freedom.
Lastly in Bliss Bertha is shocked at the revelation and realises that the act of knowing about the affair does not change her marriage. That is unless she wants it to. If not it will just stay the same showing she has power and still in control of her own life. The act of only her knowing about the affair does also not affect the way other people see her marriage, they will still see it as perfect, just like the pear tree- it is an illusion. The pear tree meanwhile is still described as lovely and it is still, portentous of the fact her life is inert, come to a halt and the feeling of numbness inside her.