Lalala

Summary of the story Weekend is a short feminists story depicting traditional middle-class family, consisting of the mother- Martha and the father of three- Martin, going for the weekend to their cottage near Stonehenge, where they will meet their friends. On Friday, Martha is preparing some things, food and complaining Nearly) about her life. Martin wants her to be perfect, as she says â€Å"he Likes women with small hips and big bosoms, that's Incredible. † She has a suspicion that her husband has an affair with his secretary, who looks exactly that way.Martin has a small sport car, but they take Marsh's car for the trip, since it is bigger, although it is the older one. Martha can ‘t drive, because her driving license was taken away for drunken driving. The whole Journey, Martin Is Joking about the car, but Martha takes It personally, whilst she has got the feeling, he Is ambiguously talking about her. Late at night, their friends- Colic and his girlfriend Katie, arri ve to visit them in their cottage. His previous wife, Janet with whom he has two children, was a nice woman and Martha liked her, however she was not so stunning like the new one.Martha prepares mushroom omelets In her night, sets the table, cleans everything after the late supper and goes to bed at 2 a. M. Katie sits and has a good time, without any intention to help her. The other day Martha sleeps longer than usually and has the consumptions, because everything in the kitchen stays exactly in the same place, where the consumers had left It. She should ‘t sleep so long. Glamorous Katie did not help with anything. Again. The rest of their friends, Harry and Beryl, come for the lunch. They bring fresh artichokes. Ill Martha Is preparing the artichoke soup, the top of the blender flies away and the kitchen is full of artichoke puree. Awkward Martha. Jenny starts her first period and Martha is impressed and cries. She is not her little child anymore, but a little woman. To sum u p the story, a woman must be always perfect. Great wife, mother, babysitter, awesome cook, successful careerist, best friend, psychologist, teacher, doctor, dishwasher, cleaner with bottomless sexual appetite. While exhaustion, influenza, migraine or other illnesses are mission impossible.And naturally, you would do it all in high heels, scented, with exquisite hair, flawless make- up and smile on your face. 2) Characteristics of the mall characters wants to be a perfect woman and tries to manage everything, what in her eyes woman should manage; however, her husband does not see that. She feels undervalued by him as long as he is criticizing her and looks back to the other women, young, childless, with big bosoms and little hips. She is also helping pretty much with house expenses, the thing, she's not very satisfied with, because a good husband of his good wife should manage that.Martin- husband of Martha; iconic example of a man who comes home, extremely exhausted after all day in work and awaiting the house to be clean, children calm and that his wife will be neat, scented, smiling and ready to make him a supper according to his wishes. He is not satisfied with his wife. She should be slimmer, nicer, make healthier meals, and use plenty of perfumes he keeps buying her. Jenny, Jasper, Colony- children of Martha and Martin. We don ‘t know much about them. Jenny dries off her hair with Katie ‘s Yves Saint Laurent towel and gets the erred for the first time at the end of the story. Jasper has hay fever.Katie- a glamorous, childless, scented chick in her middle thirties; kind of a â€Å"modern wife†, who came to the relationship with one bag of clothes, intelligence and free mind. Colic- boyfriend of Katie, he loves her very much and wants to marry her. He has two children from the previous marriage. Katie does not like his ex-wife Janet and their children; he can meet them Just once per month. He is a successful businessman. Harry and Beryl- friends of Martin and Martha; Beryl is a secretary and Harry is an artist. She falls asleep during the visit and Harry gets drunk and is going to drive. He has scar on his temple from the car accident.Mrs†¦ Hooded- came in twice a week to clean and Martha paid her from her wages 3) The story is described from Martha ‘s perspective. Would it be the same, if the narration would be done by Martin? No, definitely. It would not be the same. As far as l' m concerned, Martin perceives the whole situation completely differently than Mart does. He is looking onto problems and situations with a â€Å"man's eye†. He does not feel that Martha does too much around the house, children etc. He feels that she should cook better, have smaller hips and try to be fresher. 4) What are Martha ‘s main worries? Why does she obey Martin in everything?Why does she never object? She wants to be an amazing wife of her great husband that's why she obeys him. She feels that it is her dut y in the role of a woman, mother and wife to behave that way. She is afraid of losing of Martin and fail in all her roles. Martha cannot imagine her life without a husband – she does not realize she could live a different life, because this is what she knows. That is why she is trying to keep Martin at all costs although she is not happy with him. Martha is a prototype of housewife and Katie is her opposite. Martha has a husband, three children and her family is something sacred for her.But she works and keeps her own money that means, she can get by from her wages. Katie has different attitude to these things. She hates to be in the traditional position of a woman, like Martha is. Katie is divorced twice and doses t have children. From my point of view, she is that kind of woman, who needs husband to take care of her in general, mostly from the viewpoint of expenses. Although Katie appears as a confident woman, we also witness her insecurities – she realizes that Coli c is tied to Janet because they have children together and that her position might not be that stable. ) How is the story narrated? Are there long descriptions or dialogues? Why not? The story is narrated as Mart ‘s train of thought. Her mind is important. She is describing the situations from subjective point of view, not like the omniscient narrator. There are no long descriptions, nor dialogues, because they are not necessary (and Martha does not have time for them since she rushes from one task o another – so the narration reflects her state of mind); the reader understands from the situations the whole context. Anyway the direct speech is used for being more authentic.Her descriptions make the story more personal than the universal third person narrator or â€Å"the eye of the camera†. If any woman reads it, she finds herself in many similar situations and that is the aim, to personalize the story and give the percipient the space to make his point of view a bout the piece and given problem. 7) Look at Martin ‘s comments which are inserted in the brackets. What do they suggest? They suggest Martin's dissatisfaction or ironical view on Martha and her acts. They are not formulated as direct criticism, but are rather indirect.Though he might appear as a kind husband, Martha takes his remarks personally as a form of criticism and thus puts even more pressure on herself. 8) What is author's opinion on women like Martha? Who is responsible for their unhappiness- is it men or the women themselves? A woman should love her family and her husband, but should not obey him in the way like Martha did. She gave her win â€Å"Self† and life to her family, but doses ‘t get it back from them. She doses t feel intrinsic fulfillment, which she should feel, living this pattern of life.They are both responsible for their unhappiness – males and females. Because if Martha doses ‘t want to, she din ‘t have to behave this way. As long as, we are concerning on feminist fiction, then men are responsible for the woman's unhappiness 0. Weldon is critical not only to men, but to women as well. She points to the fact that they have power in their hands and they should be active in pursuing happiness. Martha, forever, only relies on her husband, not on herself so it is her own fault that she leads an unhappy life. ) Why does Martha cry at the end of the story? Because her only daughter is becoming a woman. From this important hoar stone in her and they will cause troubles to her woman being and gain control over her whole life, like Martin does to Martha. Martha realizes that her own daughter is now entering the period of womanhood with all its responsibilities. The ending also shows that Martha feels powerless and does not realize that her own daughter does not have to have the same life as she does.