The Consequences of Marriage

The Confinement of Marriage

The institution of marriage can be traced back to the Stone Age. Marriage is intended to order sexual conduct between men and women through its unwritten rules that vary from one community to the other. It also encourages childbearing thus enhancing the continuity of human life. The family is the basic unit of the nation and the conventional family structure is achieved through marriages. Although marriage is meant to be a companionship between a man and a woman, history has shown how men often dominate marriages and women are expected to be subordinates in this arrangement. Moreover, marriages have proven to be confining to both partners, especially since it involves the taking of vows by the partners to stand by each other until death. This paper argues that despite the functionality of the institution, marriage is a confinement from where individuals cannot escape irrespective of struggles and abuses, especially in the traditional context.

The Lamentation of Aunt Jennifer

Several writers base their stories on the observations they make in their immediate context. Thus, documented stories are a great resource to understanding the rules regulating marriage in various contexts. This paper analyzes the implications of six historic pieces regarding marriage to prove that the institution is highly confining and society expects the partners to adhere to the customs in all situations. Adrienne Rich’s poem “Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers” is an obvious lamentation about the marriage institution. The speaker implies that “the massive weight of Uncle’s wedding band Sits heavily upon Aunt Jennifer’s hand” (Rich 1), so much that Aunt Jennifer is unable to carry out basic chores because of the burden of her marriage. The speaker implies that the confinement of marriage continues even after death. Aunt Jennifer will not lose the heavy ring that is burdening her even after she dies. This shows the finality of the union between men and women, regardless of the turn of events once people wed. The marriage institution is meant to be a joy representing companionship and partnership. However, marriage in this poem is considered a burden, especially for the women. Men are masters in this institution while women are subordinates. Obviously, this submission is not done willingly since it would not be a heavy load if Aunt Jennifer carried the weight out of a willing heart.

The Trapped Character in Woman Hollering Creek

Marriage is sometimes a trap from which individuals cannot escape. Just as Aunt Jennifer is doomed to the weight of marriage even in death, the lead character in Woman Hollering Creek by Cisneros is trapped in her marriage. She is confined in an unhappy marriage characterized by physical abuse. She narrates, “he slapped her once, and then again, and again, until the lip split and bled an orchid of blood, she didn’t fight back, she didn’t break into tears, she didn’t run away as she imagined she might when she saw such things in the telenovelas” (Cisneros 47). Written in 1991, this is a more contemporary example of how marriage continues to be confining. In this case, her marriage is so bad that it drives her to depression and the logical action in this case should be to leave her husband. However, she does not manage to leave until strangers save her from her abusive marriage. This is a clear indication of how marriages can be unhealthy, especially if they involve abuse. However, societal expectations regarding marriage confine the victims off such abuses to the institution for the sake of keeping up appearances.

The Confinement of Arranged Marriages

Marriage is also seen as a confinement due to certain ethnic customs that require individuals to marry without being in love. Arranged marriages are seen in various traditional contexts where their parents betroth young women and men to each other. The individuals marry without regard for compatibility or love, which is expected to grow in marriage. However, this implies that if love does not develop, one is doomed to a loveless marriage for a lifetime. Sui Sin Far addresses the issue of arranged marriage in her story, Mrs. Spring Fragrance. The story shows how women have little control on their love life due to oppressive traditions. In the story, Laura, despite her being Americanized, is expected to marry a stranger because her parents “had betrothed their daughter, Laura, at the age of fifteen, to the eldest son of the Chinese Government school-teacher in San Francisco” (Far 1). Laura is in love with Kai Tzu but she has to keep this a secret since she must marry her betrothed according to the Chinese culture. The story is written in the context of assimilation whereby Laura is faced with the conflicts of her Chinese origin and the Western culture in which she lives. She is miserable and unhappy since she feels the need to sacrifice her love in favor of her Chinese roots. Sui Sin Far represents the struggle of mixed races in adapting to the pleasures of two worlds in the Chinese exclusion era.

The Power of Marriage and Infidelity

Louise Erdrich’s short story “The Shawl” explores the pressures of marriage from a different perspective. In her story, she narrates on, “How a woman loved a man other than her husband and went off into the bush and bore his child” (Erdrich 1). Marriage is traditionally seen as a lifetime relationship between a man and a woman. In the traditional context, infidelity is a taboo, especially if it involves women. Most societies are forgiving when men are unfaithful, with some communities allowing polygamous relationships. In “The Shawl,” the unfaithfulness of the woman affects her family negatively, especially when she chooses to leave her husband for her lover. She commits a grave mistake of leaving her son behind while taking her daughters with her. The story implies that men and women have the power to destroy a family by their mistakes. Once married, they do not have the freedom to leave and follow their hearts’ desires in the traditional context. Aanakwad fails in this regard since she leaves her son behind, leading to extensive emotional damage. This story reveals how marriage is a confinement requiring the sacrifice of its partners to stand by the union lest the family falls into pieces, resulting in irreversible psychological effect. Most families, even in the contemporary society, remain in abusive marriages for the sake of their children. However, the divorce rate is high today, implying that most people are defying this traditional requirement.

The Sacrifice of Women in “The Little Red Hen”

On the other hand, the Little Red Hen focuses on the dominance of men in the society. The tale uses the hen as the main character deliberately and it ensures that the audience does not forget this fact. From the onset, readers are led to anticipate the struggles of being a hen through the statement that “it is not easy being a hen” (Atwood 1). As the tale concludes, the narrator reiterates, “I’m a hen, not a rooster” (Atwood 2). Essentially, the story upholds strong work ethics as a prerequisite to self-reliance. However, the fact that the hen ends up doing all the work while all the other animals only want to eat the bread of her individual struggles shows how women sacrifice for the sake of their loved ones, regardless of their lack of appreciation and support. Interestingly, the hen apologizes at the end of the tale for having a piece of bread while the others do not. The author gives the implication that she gave out all the bread, including hers. Here, the implication is that women sacrifice readily for their loved ones.

Conclusion

Through this analysis, the poem “Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers” by Adrienne Rich is the most compelling example of the confinement of marriage. I felt that this work is the most relevant to the topic because it shows how marriage can tie an individual down even after death. Aunt Jennifer does not seem to be complaining and it is not likely that she will leave her husband. Moreover, she knows that she will stay confined by the ring even after she dies. This sense of resignation compels readers to understand how marriage can be confining. Interestingly, women are the victims in most of the stories analyzed in this paper. This could imply that men had greater freedom in their marriages than the women in the traditional context. Thus, marriage was primarily confining for women, although both partners, and even children, could be affected.

Works Cited

Atwood, Margaret. The little red hen tells it all. 1992. Web.

Cisneros, Sandra. Woman Hollering Creek. New York: Vantage. 1991. Print.

Erdrich, Louise. The shawl. The New Yorker. 2001. Web.

Far, Sui Sin. Mrs. Spring Fragrance. Internet Archive. 1912. Web.

Rich, Adrienne. Aunt Jennifer’s tigers. University of Pennslyvania. 1929-2012. Web.