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1. Discuss the following assessment:

"Candida is naive to stay with her weak husband. Marchbanks has a lot more to offer in the way of an exciting life."

According to his age and living-situation, Marchbanks is of course the more interesting person. Candida would probably have more fun and a greater chance to live an exciting life if she lives with him. But she decides to stay with her husband, who is the psychologically weaker one of the two. In my opinion this decision is not naive just because she continues living her old life. Candida knows that her husband James Morrel gives her real love and that he depends on her. Marchbanks instead may love her only for a short period of time. He’s just eighteen years old, he has his whole life yet to live, so he will change and then Candida will be forced to stay on her own. However, this decision does not really depend on the person or the man she will choose but on her point of view concerning her further life.

2. Look at the following list of adjectives and discuss which ones are suitable to characterise each of the three characters (p. 271 no. 5)

  • Confident - Knows what she wants
  • Dependable - he knows he belongs to his wife, and wants to stay with her even though Eugene loves her self-righteousness
  • Dominant - towards her husband, but only indirect, because she never shows her dominant position in the relationship towards him
  • Submissive - towards his wife if you want to look at the relationship from a negative point of view
  • Emotional - he is young and a poet
  • Heroic tender - he really loves his wife and shows this to her warm-hearted
  • Self-confident, Self-conscious - doesn’t know that his wife is the one who dominates in this relationship.
  • Bitter - Life was always hard for him, so he doesn’t really hope to be happy one day
  • Wise - makes the right decision
  • Emotional - starts crying as he is asked to make his bid for his wife
  • Disillusioned - he knows the negative sites of life so he doesn’t believe in the positive things that could happen to him
  • Warm-hearted - stays with her husband because she knows he is the one who needs her most
  • Ambitious - even though he is moved and can hardly hold his tears back, he tries to convince Candida with his bids and shows her how well their relationship works.

    Sylvia

    Source: Invitation to Literature, Cornelsen 1990