Astronomer's Wife

In the short story titled Astronomer's Wife, author Kay Boyle tells a superb story of Mrs. Ames a woman who has forgotten her strength and beauty, whose life is missing it's true identity because of her husband's control. Mrs. Ames tells the story in third person as the protagonist, with her being the main character. The plumber is antagonist, who brings changes into Mrs. Ames' life giving her back her lost identity. Mr. Ames uses control through out the story by isolating his wife from the rest of the world.

Boyle uses symbolism to show Mrs. Ames' lost identity as the narrator addresses her as the astronomer's wife. She doesn't truly becomes Mrs. Ames until the plumber arrives. Her sense of self has deteriorated to such a point where she continually repeats that she is Mrs. Ames, perhaps as much as to convince the plumber of her identity as well as herself. Even Mrs. Ames' appearance when she wakes up, "her yellow hair was still uncombed and sideways on her head"(Boyle, 57) shows how she feels invisible, that her outer appearance does not matter.

Mr. and Mrs. Ames have either just rented the villa for the summer or moved into this remote country home that has many problems. The remoteness of the house reflects lack of communication and the drain being stopped up represents Mrs. Ames view of her life. The house is in a quiet and lonely countryside that is bordered by mountains and forests. This is all part of Mr. Ames' trap in isolating his wife so he can have full control over her. She does not feel being one with her husband, rather she feels owned by him, body and mind. In the morning as she gets out of bed, Mrs. Ames "…comes into her own possession"(Boyle, 57). Now she feels her body is hers once again, if not her mind. Still she feels her husband presence even when she is absent cleaning, or simply doing something else. The presence of Mr. Ames is never characterized in a good way and is written, "[t]he mystery and silence of her husband's mind lay like a chiding finger on her lips. Her eyes were gray, for the light had been extinguished in them." (Boyle, 57). This certainly gives you the impression that Mrs. Ames does not live her life for herself, but instead is constantly concerned about her husbands' approval. I found it interesting in reading this story all the little adjectives used in different sentences that suggested Mrs. Ames lived in a sad life and situation. Some of the words that keyed me were: evil moment, falter, beating, interval gaping, beat by beat, impenetrable silence, severe thrashing, quivering flesh, willow weeping, and mourning rebuke.

When the plumber shows up, the first thing he sees in Mrs. Ames is a young woman, which she forgot. At this point, the resolution of Mrs. Ames dilemma begins, as the tone of the narrative shifts. It moves from being descriptive of her mentally abusive marriage, to where she become more open, where her voice is not spoken so softly. Her husband tries to show that he is still in control, by telling her "[t]here's a problem worthy of your mettle! Mrs. Ames did not turn her head,…" (Boyle, 58). Mr. Ames states this after he hears them skipping over the water. The word "skipping" shows an uplifting side of Mrs. Ames as she begins to find her lost identity. Her not turning her head implies she did not even pay attention to her husband. Another action word "swiftly" is used as the narrator describes how Mrs. Ames moves. Ironically, a man of action is one thing she found in the plumber. When they reach the garden, the two of them begin to show their feelings through the use of symbolism with the plumber saying to her that he is the rain that quenches the drought, and the things in the herb is what makes her young again. Mrs. Ames finally gains control of her life; she feels the plumber's affection and the attention is what she needed. When she told the servant that the trouble is very serious and that she was going down she knew she was not coming back.

This story reminds me of a fairy tale. In such book by Elizabeth Bell, Kay Boyle states in most her stories she "experiments with narrative voice, especially with the omnipotent storyteller …these stories makes them comparable to fairy tales"( 68). Sounding like this, once upon a time prince charming, the plumber comes and saves helpless Mrs. Ames from all her pain and suffering by the controlling King (astronomer) taking her away and they live happily ever after. The only problem is that this can also be based on a true story. Whatever the case may be, no woman should have to go through life feeling that her husband has full control of her to the point that her opinion doesn't count. Mrs. Ames had a rough life being mentally abused and being trapped inside her own body. I believe that Kay Boyles had a message to all women when writing this story in the early 1900's, since their job was to stay at home while their husband worked. It may have been an uplifting story to those that were being mentally, emotionally, and psychologically abused, for those that were going through some things to teach them that "[t]here's a remedy for every ill…" (Boyle, 60).