Conrad Aiken's Short Story 'Mr. Arcularis'

Patriarchal society has hindered or prevented women from realizing their creative possibilities. Often, the derogatory stereotypes of women in literature are written by men merely to enforce the relationship of power in society. In an ideal world, men and women are treated equally in life and literature; but in reality, the nature of relationships in Western society clearly identifies that society is predominately still patriarchal. In fact, women appear to take a subordinate role in many examples of classical literature, specifically in Conrad Aiken's short story "Mr.Arcularis." The protagonist, Mr.Arcularis, experiences a sea-voyage, which evidently represents his journey to death. On his journey to heaven, Mr. Arcularis relives parts of
Mr. Arcularis has only been on the boat for a short while when he meets a girl at dinner. He says that she reminds him of someone, and he concludes that she is reminiscent of the nurse at the hospital. A significant part of the feminist theory, according to Naomi Wolf, is that men have created an unachievable standard for female beauty by which all women are measured (Bond). In comparison to his interaction with Miss Hoyle, it is evident that Mr.Arcularis' interests in Ms.Dean are more than platonic. He can barely keep his eyes off of her. While the two are sitting facing each other at a table he gazes longingly at her, "[and] realizing that he had perhaps stared too fixedly, averted his gaze" (Aiken 90). It is evident, she is his ideal woman: gorgeous, young, mysterious and incredibly interested in him. He describes her as being charming and graceful with freckles, beautiful hair and voluptuous lips. She reminds him of a Melozzo da Forli angel. It is important to recognize that Ms.Dean is a stereotypical angelic character from a male written perspective and that her purpose is to be a model of beauty and perfection. The Beauty Myth, as defined by Wolf, "pits beauty, sexuality, intelligence, and power against each other making it impossible for a woman to posses all these thing simultaneously"(Bond). Ms. Dean exhibits all of these traits and thus, could only exist in a dream
As Arcularis gets close to the coffin and closer to death, Ms.Dean clings to her man, just like any "good" wife does. Once he accepts his death, and presents it to Ms.Dean, the two stand on the deck together and when they part she says to him; "Be a good boy and take your bromide"(Aiken 99) to which he responds, "Yes, Mother, I'll take my medicine" (Aiken 99). It is at this final exchange where Mr.Arcularis comes full circle, once again making connections to his mother, and completing his journey through a parallel world to the after life. Arcularis observes his surroundings, "fresh green leaves…sparkling rainwater…singing robins…[and] shining cars" (Aiken 88), and he says that he is seeing everything like he does when he is a child. Essentially, Arcularis completes the circle of life and confirms that he is back at the beginning, where his mother is the most important woman in his