Analysis Of The Wife's Lament

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The physical, as well as emotional experience of exile, is horrid. Exile used to be used for those who were banished from their country due to the cause of a crime. Time has changed, however, and those who experience exile can do so by being away from home or, by being alone and away from people. This exile creates an extreme, upsetting feeling for those involved in exile. This upset feeling is called sadness; for example, the article, The Value of Sadness, informs, “Sadness is a live emotion that can serve to remind us of what matters to us, what gives our life meaning,” (Firestone). Sadness is real, and can be coped with. To extend further, there is a collection of stories that focus mainly on exile and feeling sadness, the collection is …show more content…
The story The Wife’s Lament is a gender change to woman narrator. The story of the woman is about being left by her husband. He no longer wants to be with her and kicks her out of their place. The woman’s husband never was around much anyway, for he was always sailing on the ocean. The wife reveals, “My man’s kinsmen began to plot...to divide us two...and I suffered longing,” (page 30, lines 11-14). Her husband’s friends were the ones who suggested that he leaves her. The narrator becomes crushed and has to live in the woods because she has no home. She is completely heartbroken and still loves him with most of her heart. Although she loves him, the wife’s sadness begins to turn into anger towards the man. The narrator hopes the man never finds love again and hopes his life goes downhill. Just as the other two stories, the woman has lost someone who was priceless to her. She’s now lonely physically and emotionally. There is no one for the narrator to go to when she is sad, happy, angered, and much more. She feels as though she just lost her other half. Furthermore, the journal The Enigmatic Phenomenon of Loneliness, informs, “One is lonely when important others are not there, because either one has rejected them...feeling lonely,” (Dahlberg). The narrator’s feelings are hurt, but she only feels lonely because she no longer has a husband that loves and cares for her. Heartbreaks …show more content…
The stories, such as The Seafarer, The Wanderer, and The Wife’s Lament have character that lost some sort of love for a person or a thing. They also were all isolated from everyone else, which made them feel even more lonely. In The Seafarer, the man never said he felt a sense of happiness, but explained his passion for the sea and being away from everyone, unlike the other two stories. The article How to Be Perfectly Happy Alone: 9 Transformational Tips proposes, “The understanding of what makes you truly happy will help you find happiness even in the loneliest times of your life,” (Mueller). The man in the first story obviously had a passion for the sea and could easily find happiness through sailing. The second story, the man could find a new job and overtime feel less sorrow over the loss of his great king. The final story, the woman could piece together the things that she thought the relationship helped her find a sense of joy, and figure out a way to stay away from relationships until she is happy and back on her feet again. Each of these sad and lonely characters experience exile, but easily are able to find happiness just as everyone

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