Happy Endings By Margret Atwood

The Romantic Fantasy: A Girls Guide to Romance

As people read fairy tale or romantic novels, they often observe a tale full of adventure seasoned with conflict; however, other people, such as scholar Marcia K. Lieberman, ask, “to what extent [do] they reflect female attributes” (259)? The short story “Happy Endings,” by Margret Atwood takes the reader for a ride through a myriad of scenarios: which consist of the American dream, as depicted in part A; the real-life endings, seen in parts B and C; and other non-typical scenarios viewed in scenes D, E and F. A common theme among the parts is the depiction of the romantic fantasy. The romantic fantasy depends on women being passive and domestic, ensuring that women remain without autonomy and
An element of romance novels is that a man can be changed even if it takes a lot of effort. In “Happy Endings,” this element is put to the test and the outcome is that the fantasy is not true. Mary is portrayed as overly optimistic: although “her friends tell her John is a rat … she can’t believe it” and feels that “inside John … is another John, who is much nicer” (Atwood 181). Atwood uses a scenario in which there is a good girl going for a bad man. This allows Atwood to put the fantasy up against a non-traditional situation and the outcome, as expected, is that Mary fails. Through this ordeal, Mary becomes deprived of self-awareness; “[she] gets run-down” (Atwood 181) but is still determined to transform John. It is evident that she still considers John as a suitable husband even if “he doesn’t consider her worth the price of a dinner out” (Atwood 180). This implies that Mary is obsessed with changing John and she does not realize that John is not the man for her. As scholar Ann Barr Snitow suggests, “the heroine’s value system includes … that [men] will turn into husbands, despite appearances to the contrary” (137). This is exactly what Mary believes, she observes John’s “selfish pleasure and ego gratification,” yet, continues to think that “they will get married” (Atwood
A common ideology among fairy tales and romance novels is that the heroine waits so be saved and most of the time she is, and lives a good life. The problem with this is that these stories are not real life occurrences. A more realistic version of this is observed in “Happy Endings.” After learning that John is cheating on her, the first thing that Mary does, is she “collects all the sleeping pills and aspirins she can find, and takes them and a half a bottle of sherry” (Atwood 181). Atwood uses an abrupt transition from the moment Mary finds out that John is cheating to suddenly overdosing in an attempt to make John save her. Atwood exaggerates Mary’s response to the news and uses dark humor to exemplify the absurdity involved. Moreover, Atwood uses an apathetic tone when she says “[Mary] dies” (181). This indifferent tone implies that Mary, in a way, deserved this outcome due to the fact that she followed the script. Also, Lieberman suggests “submissive, meek, passive female behavior is suggested and rewarded by the actions of [fairy tales]” (254). This implies that Mary attempts to follow the notion based on common myths; however, she does not obtain the desired result. Furthermore, this fantasy encourages women to be dependent on others, instead of encouraging them to be autonomous. Mary thought she could use the tactics depicted in romance novels, but little did