Commentary On Stacey's Loyalty

Stacey’s life is a struggle against domination of the male society. She lacks the bravery and self-confidence because of her lack of education. She feels herself down because of her appearance. The lack of confidence makes her to leave Manawaka for Vancouver in search of better living, though she gets it, it remains only temporary. She marries MacAindra at the age of Twenty three, to live under a happy protection but it turns out a failure. Mac wants to live his life according to his own wish and fantasy. The marriage life is chaotic and they are annoyed over each and every action of their family life. She feels that
“Everything would be all right if only I was better educated. I mean, if I were or if I were beautiful. Okay, that’s asking
This creates troubles and misunderstanding between themselves. She has a pre-conceived notion about beauty and that makes her feel upset as she feels herself ugly. The only thing that makes her happy is the love she receives from her husband but even there she does not receives any emotional bondage. She is held up with natural suppression about her identity. She has a feeling that in the parties they would tease her. This is not only a social phobia which mutes her, but Mac who did not admire her beauty and appreciate her. Mac’s silence and his dominance root her thinking. She is not able to disclose her feeling to her husband because of the suppression she faces. Their communication leads to despair and silence. Being a mother, she is not able to even convince her daughter to stop going from an adult movie, Katie even starts questioning her own
Laurence thereby says that all woman are highly religious. When there is no one to listen to her she feels that the only person who would listen to her sorrows and miseries is God. She never comes out of her confusions but visualizes herself through someone else shoes by doing so she is not conscious about her dignity. She is always under a self-pity and has no sense of belongingness with her family nor herself to fight against all the odds of the society. Stacey’s chief fear and pain is that she has no individual identity and she is always either identified as wife of Mac or the mother of four children, there is to call her by her personal name