WOMEN'S SEARCH FOR HAPPINESS

1: Both authors present female characters' search for happiness in their innocence. In Tess, Hardy shows this using Tess' innocent search for economic happiness and stability by visiting Alec, while in Suns, Hosseini juxtaposes Mariam's innocent happiness at the kolba with the brutal reality of settings like Rasheed's house.

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Lack of female solidarity from mothers

Solidarity formed from shared suffering at hands of men

denied solidarity due to way in which society pits women against each other (car metaphor and Marian Izz etc all like Angel)

search for happiness in education (teacher and nurses)

Hosseini suggests that the factors outside of our control often significantly impact our potential to achieve a sense of happiness in life

overall: search for happiness mostly heightens the tragedy of the text, hardy's examples are all superficial and depressing

search for happiness in their innocence: Tess = economic happiness, Suns = Mariam before Nana's death and happiness in jail

search for happiness in relationships: Tess = Angel - more pessimistic, Suns = Tariq - more optimistic

religion used in characters' search for happiness

Tess

prelapsarian, Edenic setting of Talbothays (XIX)

asyndetic list of 'clear, bracing, and ethereal' 'new air'

Angel calling her 'Artemis, Demeter' encodes his superficial attraction to an idealised version of Tess

Hardy's sense of apprehension at the time when Tess is at her happiest shows his futile and fatalistic view on women's search for happiness, particularly if they are impure and therefore possess an inescapable sense of isolation and rejection from society

her happiness here is overridden by the tragic disintegration of her relationship with Angel

moments of seemingly pure joy are clouded by her tragic fate

Marlott = 'sheltered, fertile tract of land' versus 'she knew what their whispers were about, grew sick at heart and felt that she could come to church no more'

Tess

her matured perspective from her previous naivety increases the tragedy as she no longer feels 'sheltered'

rapid change to juxtaposition of Talbothays as a 'starve acre place'

Suns

shown through Izz, Retty and Marian and their innocence

'O Izz Huet!' (XXI, 137)

'Four hearts gave a big throb simultaneously'

purity of Laila and Tariq's relationship provides a symbol of hope and relief amidst backdrop of destruction, firstly engineered by Soviet takeover and occupation of 1978-89

'she became intensely aware of her heart thumping...' (ch 22)

and later

'it was Tariq who was real, flesh and blood' (ch 19)

her love for him intrudes on her grief over her brothers

Mariam's maternal relationship with Aziza, 'this little creature', shows how positive maternal relationships, albeit non biological, are also a refreshing example of women's successful search for happiness

her innocent search for economic happiness and security, motivated by her feelings of guilt

"Tess Durbeyfield at this time of her life was a mere vessel of emotion untinctured by experience" (II, 18) versus 'She wished she had not fallen in so readily with her mother's plans for "claiming kin"' (page before 'warm brick lodge')

Suns

the happy innocence of Mariam's childhood at the kola

idyllic and abundant imagery of the kolba ('white and bright yellow flowers') alludes to Mariam's 'bright' perspective on life and simple search for happiness versus 'she could hear so clearly now the insincerity that had always lurked beneath, the hollow, false assurances' (ch 6)

reiterated through the decaying and threatening atmosphere of Rasheed's house ('the row of dying saplings" (ch 9)

Christianity obstructs Tess' search for happiness, whereas Alec is embraced by religion in his own search ('He who had wrought her undoing was now on the side of the Spirit, while she remained unregenerate' (XLV, 306))

Suns

after Mariam's miscarriages and before her death

undermines her brief maternal happiness with Sorrow as 'her darling'

'He is the Mighty, the Great Forgiver'

Hosseini uses examples of characters finding comfort and happiness in religion to challenge Western views on Islam and rather criticise the manipulation of religion, rather than religion itself

'Give sustenance, Allah'

uses religion to deal with grief

"Tess Durbeyfield at this time of her life was a mere vessel of emotion untinctured by experience" (II, 18)

'She wished she had not fallen in so readily with her mother's plans for "claiming kin"' (page before 'warm brick lodge')

'sheltered, fertile tract of land'

'she knew what their whispers were about, grew sick at heart and felt that she could come to church no more'

both use the settings of their childhood to portray this

'white and bright yellow flowers'

'she could hear so clearly now the insincerity that had always lurked beneath, the hollow, false assurances' (ch 6)

'the row of dying saplings" (ch 9)

2: Both authors demonstrate women's search for happiness within their relationships with others. In Tess, Hardy presents Tess' seemingly harmonious relationship with Angel, while in Suns Hosseini uses Laila and Tariq's relationship to provide an authentic image of women's happiness

asyndetic list of 'clear, bracing, and ethereal' 'new air'

'Artemis, Demeter'

'O Izz Huet!' (XXI, 137)

'Four hearts gave a big throb simultaneously'

'she became intensely aware of her heart thumping...' (ch 22)

'it was Tariq who was real, flesh and blood' (ch 19)

3: Lastly, both authors consider religion's role in women's search for happiness. However, in Tess, Hardy presents an ultimate criticism of Christianity, while in Suns, Hosseini shows how religion can be utilised to provide comfort

'He is the Mighty, the Great Forgiver'

'Give sustenance, Allah'

'The only task Mammy never neglected was her five daily name prayers' (ch 20)

the significance of religion and its vital role in their lives

Sorrow = 'her darling'

'He who had wrought her undoing was now on the side of the Spirit, while she remained unregenerate' (XLV, 306)