Comparative Study dy


Comparative Study


There is inequality in the relationship because Eilis is better educated and a faster thinker than Tony. When she wants to, Eilis can run verbal rings around her boyfriend. This is evident in their fi rst meeting when he tells her that he really likes Irish girls and Eilis asks if she was the only one willing to dance with him. Tony is fl ustered and replies, ‘Oh, no … It wasn’t …’ and Eilis instantly responds with, ‘Oh, so you danced with loads of others?’ This inequality is not a problem because Tony admires Eilis’s quick wit and intelligence and is proudly supportive of her bookkeeping classes. For her part, Eilis appreciates Tony’s kindness and decency.


Although Tony and Eilis’s relationship is a loving one, Eilis is unsure about committing herself to a future of marriage and motherhood, but a conversation with Sheila, another boarder in Mrs Kehoe’s house, helps her to see that the single life is far from perfect. Sheila’s husband left her for another woman but Sheila would far prefer to marry ‘a bad tempered fella with hair growing out of his ears’ if it meant she could have her own home. In the world of the text, a woman’s best chance of a comfortable and secure life lies in marriage. Happily for Eilis, Tony is far from bad-tempered, and we feel confi dent that Eilis will be happy with him.


Eilis and Tony’s relationship faces a crisis when Eilis returns to Ireland following the death of her sister. She is courted by the charming and eligible Jim Farrell, and her delighted family and friends put pressure on her to settle down with him. As far as they are concerned, marriage is a woman’s best chance of a good life and a wealthy young man is an excellent catch. Eilis is faced with a diffi cult decision and is torn between two kind, loving men. In the end, her hand is forced when the spiteful Miss Kelly reveals that she knows about Eilis’s marriage. However, it is not the thought of being found out that spurs Eilis to return to America; rather it is the reminder of what small-town life is like and how much she truly loves Tony. We get the impression that Eilis does not feel bound by marriage ties so much as bound by love for her husband.


On the ship back to New York, Eilis gives advice to a young girl and her words become the voiceover for her reunion with Tony. She tells the girl that although she will be lonely, she will meet someone who will make her feel that the sun is coming out at last, someone who has no connection with the past and is hers alone. The fi lm ends with Tony catching sight of Eilis leaning against a wall, waiting for him as he comes out of a shop. He smiles broadly, runs over to her and they embrace lovingly as Eilis’s voiceover says ‘ … and you’ll realise, this is where your life is’. This uplifting, positive ending to the fi lm cements Eilis and Tony’s relationship and leaves us with the belief that love and marriage make life worth living.


Comparative study: Social setting The Great Gatsby


Social class affects the lives of


the central characters in the texts.


Jay Gatsby was born James Gatz, the son of a poor family from North Dakota. Had he stayed there, he would have had little or no opportunity to better himself. However, he is


A Doll’s House


Unlike Gatsby, Torvald Helmer has no desire for upward mobility: he is happy to be middle-class. However, he shares one thing with Gatsby, and


Brooklyn


Eilis, like Gatsby, is born into a world that offers little chance of upward social mobility. However, Eilis has a number of advantages over Gatsby in that she has


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