Woman Short Stories of Realities in Life - Essay Example

?Women’s Short Stories of Realities in Life Real life stories about women, their feelings, emotions, struggles, characteristics are exciting topics for short stories. There are a lot of stories about various lives of women both fictional and true story that have touched millions of people’s hearts. Feminism and the inner characteristics of women are revealed in them. Readers are touched by their tales as some relate to the main characters and can pin point some similar events in their real life situations. Two renowned authors that generally touch topics about women as subjects for their stories are Edith Wharton and Sandra Cisneros. Although they come from various origins and cultures, they reflect the stories of women in their stories in the most sensational manner. Any woman from various parts of the world regardless of color, race and traditions would be able to relate to the struggles of their characters. Sandra Cisneros’ Woman Hollering Creek is a short story about a girl named Cleofilas, having struggles in her early womanhood as she enters marriage. She had an adoring and happy childhood with her family back then. She remembers the words of her father as he bade them with well wishing. But as she enters marriage with Juan Pedro, and they moved to Sequin, Texas to start a home, the bittersweet reality of life barrages her quite suddenly and unexpectedly. Her husband beat her physically and tortures her breaking her womanly dreams of good life. As she realizes that her life has been collapsing into crumbles, she wondered about the creek that crept in silence at the back of their house. She speculated about the mystery of the story behind it and relates it to the many tales that can be linked with the creek. The depth and the serenity of the creek silently cry with her on the many cringed nights she had living with her husband. Cleofilas got pregnant soon after their marriage. As she visited the doctor for a prenatal check-up, a health worker notices her bruises. She helps her escape her current life of living with a brute husband and she drives Cleofilas to the bus station that can lead her back home to her father. As she finally crosses the bridge over the Woman Hollering Creek, she storms out an inner laughter that expresses her liberty from the cage of troublesome marriage (Brown). Sandra Cisneros’ Woman Hollering Creek is rich with real life drama. Struggles and passions of the characters are like those seen in the many soap operas and telenovelas. The whole context is rich with informal Spanish phrases for a witty poetic and unique effect. There is an embedded sense of mystery in the tale as the readers are left to conclude to themselves what will happen next after Cleofilas crosses the bridge of the creek away from her niggling connubial relationship. Cisneros’ tale seizes empathy from the readers as millions of other women relates to the character. Women’s dreams about love, wedding day, and romance have to clash with reality at some point of their lives. This story of real life imagery forces women of today to be socially aware of what the real life drama offers. Where the girl’s dreams are filled with passion, love and happy ever after, the realities of life springs shame, suffering, domestic violence, gender discrimination, desperate hope, isolation and overturned dreams. Not all women may experience such extremities in life, but at some point at their growing stage, these aspects have to be dealt with. Due to these circumstances, a woman can get stronger, wiser, and less dependent from the opposite sex. Another vibrant story that reflects womanly struggles is the Roman Fever by Edith Wharton. This is a prose that centers around two women, Grace Ashley and Alida Slade. They used to be neighbors and friends since childhood and just met on vacation one day in Italy with their lovely grown-up daughters. Now that they are both widows with daughters of almost the same age, the animosity and the rivalry between them is still evident just like the old days. They meet at the restaurant’s terrace and talk about their lives both now and before. As they settle on the balcony of some lofty terrace in one of Rome’s restaurant, they exchange condolences for each other’s loss of husbands and other family members. They exchange some appreciation and comments with regards to their daughters. Alida quite openly admits to prefer Grace’s daughter Barbara, over her own daughter, Jenny. They also start reminiscing about their past and recall the time when they both fell in love with the same man, Delfin Slade. Delfin is engaged to Alida back then. She is threatened with Grace’s affection towards her boyfriend. Out of wit and to intentionally make a bruise at Grace’s affection for Delfin, she deliberately confess about that night when Grace received a letter from Delfin. As Alida reveals that she wrote that letter and not Delfin, Grace is aghast at the thought since that was the only letter that she received from him. Alida warily conveys her apology about the joke that she played with her friend. She admittedly states her jealousy towards her friend and fear of loosing Defin to another woman. She apologizes that what she had made as a joke that night made Grace sick afterwards because she caught some Roman fever. She is sorry that Grace had to come there alone supposedly waiting for nothing further stating about some sickness of Grace and her hurried marriage to her husband. Alida’s intention is to let out her jealousy out of the woman sitting in front of her. She must have been so mesmerized with the moment that she wasn’t able to prepare herself from the answers that Grace retaliates to her. Grace confesses in turn that she had never waited that night since Delfin actually came. Alida wonders how it happened so Grace reveals that she replied to that letter by Delfin that is why they were able to meet that night. Alida is taken aback by this revelation but still settles with the thought that she ended up with Delfin in the end. She consoles Grace that she had nothing from him after that night. The story ends with Grace’s line saying “She had Barbara” (Lombardi, Esther). Roman Fever is a story that reveals womanly emotions such as love, hate, jealousy, rivalry, passion and beauty. It is a story about rivalry where two women are fighting for a common man. The rivalry didn’t just happen between Grace and Alida but it is actually rooted from the generations of the past and also inflicting the future generation. The dialogue between two women reveals that there have been events in the past that is similar with what happened between them. Alida’s actions were actually inspired from the story of Grace’s aunt Harriet. According to the story, Harriet and her sister fell in love with the same guy. That is why Harriet sent her sister somewhere where she had fallen ill and died. The intention of Alida to have sent the letter to Grace is to make her sick while waiting at the coliseum so that she may be out of her way with her Delfin. For many years she thought she had succeeded since she was able to keep her husband. But the revelation of Grace slaps her with a reality that she didn’t anticipate. Barbara, the daughter of Grace that she resented due to her superior qualities over her own spring is actually her husband’s daughter that she long to have. The story of jealousy and rivalry over love is actually a real life story. There are millions of women and men alike that can relate to this situation. In fact, there are a lot of people that can do extreme things due to love. It is amazing how love can make friends turn into enemies, bonds of blood turn into murder and many other stories. Rivalry does not necessarily run into the blood line. It is just a reality of life that enmities between two fellows always happen. Alida has struck Grace with the revelations from the past. She wants to bruise the woman because of her great jealousy turned into hate. She thought she succeeded. She assumes it is all in past. However, with Grace’s revelation, Alida is retaliated quite doubled with the bruise she purposely inflicted. She gets what she deserves out of the evil that she initially planted. Roman Fever is a twist of fate. Those who plant evil must not expect to be rewarded with good. Rather, life just retaliates what every individual is planting in their lives. Goodness rewards kindness while evil begets evil. The two stories Roman Fever and Woman Hollering Creek are both interesting stories from real life situations. They are stories that reveal life in all its harshness, kindness, and the stark truth that life brings. They are devoid of fairy tales and those all too good fortunes that fictional stories contain. They are representations of the real face of life shown naked before the readers. Although the two stories were written differently, still, the message and the plot are universal. The prose of Woman Hollering Creek reveals Sandra Cisneros’ American-Mexican origin with Spanish phrases included her stories. Edith Wharton’s setting happened in Rome, where romantic notions are significant ingredients to provoke love and all its opposing emotions such as hate and jealousy. Both writers used symbols in their stories. The creek in Woman Hollering Creek symbolizes the “road not taken”. Roman fever on the other hand symbolizes the ill intentions of Alida against Grace (Cummings, MJ). The two stories are different in many ways. However, regardless of their setting, the characters are significantly real. Anyone all over the world can be on the shoes of those women in the stories. Being a woman, there are challenges that she has to overcome. There are problems that she has to face. And there are lives that women has to live with. Works Cited Brown, Kate. Cisneros, Sandra: Woman Hollering Creek- Literature Annotations. New York:Random House. 1997-2006. Web. 14 December 2012. Cummings, MJ. A Study Guide:Roman Fever -A Short Story by Edith Wharton. Cummings Study Guide. 2008. Web. 15 December 2012. Lombardi, Esther. Roman Fever by Edith Wharton. Classic Literature Guide. About.com. 2012. Web. 14 December 2012. Read More