The comparison between Miss Grief and Isabel Abercrombie
at the end of the story is very striking.
For one, it is made clear that Isabel becomes his wife, where Miss Grief
died alone and unmarried. It is
interesting in the last sentence how the narrator’s wife is described as “dear
and precious” to him but also how Miss Grief’s writings are the subject of
protection from criticism. It is clear
here how two different women can be cherished in two different ways. This contrast between the two women is also
seen earlier when the narrator describes Miss Grief as “vast, like the skies or
the wind” and compares Isabel to her saying she is “like a violent in a garden
bed” (186). Both images are beautiful,
important, natural, and sacred but also very different. This creates a distinction between a type of
woman a man would marry and a type of woman a man would respect
intellectually. What is interesting
about this story is how there is not a strong value hierarchy between these two
women.
This is a great observation. It is obvious that the narrator does genuinely care for both women, yet it is also obvious that society plays a large part in his treatment of them each. He truly admires Miss. Grief for her talent in writing and seems to more in common with her in this way. Yet he chooses to marry Isabel, a women who we know little about except for her beauty and who he may not have anything in common with at all.
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