Australia Literature Term Paper

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Australian Literature: An Anthology of Writing From the Land Down Under, by Phyllis Edelson. Specifically, it will contain an analysis of the section on relationships pages177-278. Australians have complex and demanding relationships, just like everyone else in the world. In these relationships, there seem to be less cultural aspects, and aspects that are more personal brought into play. Some Australian relationships share love, sex, and companionship, blended with the bush and brash Australian males, but most seem pretty awful.

AUSTRALIAN RELATIONSHIPS

Like everyone else, the Australians have their problems with relationships, and these stories illustrate the problems, and the best things, about relationships in Australia. From this selection, it seems many Australians suffer from bad marriages, where adultery is the key to survival and any form of happiness. The men seem to philander often, and think of it even more often. The women for the most part trust their men, and some have no idea their husbands are unfaithful. "She thought perhaps she had always felt alone, even with Arch, while grateful even for her loneliness" (Edelson 190). That is the theme of many of these stories. The women suffer, but continue to hang on with their men, buying them gifts, looking the other way, leaving them so they can go back to their wives.

Women of course play heavily in these tales, because they are central to the male/female relationships. They also seem to suffer more than the men in the stories do, but that is the same in every culture, it seems. In these stories, the women are all the victims, and the men are the winners.

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They have all they want, and do not regret their indiscretions at all. This could be related to culture, because Australian men are not known for their sensitivity, but more their brash recklessness, and it shows in these stories, where they get all the women they want, while the women have little choice in the matter.

One of the most interesting characteristics of all these short stories is the feeling of hopelessness that surrounds them. Not one of the characters is ultimately happy in these stories, and it is depressing to think this is the general outlook on relationships and love, no matter the gender. The stories seem to be saying that love is impossible to find, no matter who or how you love. This seems to be based on their outlook, which may have something to do with Australian culture, but the relationships themselves are not based on any form of culture or belief, they simply seem to be bad relationships.

Many of the women also make poor or bad decisions in their lovers and their husbands. It seems as if they did not really know them, or did not really know themselves when they chose, and so their choices were not often the best. They might not all admit it, even to themselves, but is seems these women needed to take more time in their choosing, or understand themselves better before they settled down with a man. For the most part, despite the fact the men get to play around,….....

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