Personal Happiness

3 Pages 653 Words

Everyone's goal in life has and always will be the

pursuit of personal happiness. In fact, the United States

constitution guarantees its citizens this right. The

downfall of this fact is that not every person achieves

this goal. Through certain works of literature such as

Ethan Frome, Madame Bovary, and The Bet, this idea will

be shown.

One great example of an individual searching for

happiness in his life is in the story of Ethan Frome.

Ethan is the type of person who needs companionship and

direct love to be happy. Even though companionship makes

him feel secure, in this partnership he desperately needs

a strong base backed by interaction with the one he loves.

At a young age Ethan found what he thought was a woman

who would make him happy. Her name was Zeena and she was

seemingly pleasant, but her desires would prove not to

be satisfied in a life spent with Ethan. As years went

by she lost interest in him and her attitude around him

kept him from being happy. Ethan soon meets Mattie,a

younger, more attractive woman than Zeena. He becomes

attached to Mattie and gains deep feelings for her, but

his conscience tells him leaving Zeena would be wrong.

Due to his good morals and his unwillingness to abandon

Zeena, he is trapped in an unhappy life that seems to

keep cornering him. Some people pursue happiness in a

temporary love that will eventually fade and leave the

two involved miserable. Ethan looked for happiness in

a relationship that was exciting for awhile, but had

the tendencies of losing its flavor.

In the story Madame Bovary, Emma and her husband,

Charles, conflict in their marriage. Emma needed someone

to keep her excited and to fit all her needs. Charles was

to relaxed to endure all the exotic fantasies she wanted

to experience in her life. Aside from Ethan, Emma did not

practice morals and she did not...