Elka and Anna are both complicated in their actions, yet they are different in their reasons and motivations. Throughout both stories, we can perceive how both characters commit adultery, lie and try to continue with their lives. Then again, we can appreciate how different they are when it comes to guilt reaction, the way they lie and how they do it, and even the way they love or how their emotions work. Famous writer Oscar Wilde states that those who are faithless know the pleasures of love; it is the faithful who know love's tragedies. Within the context of the quote, we find resemblance with the characters of each story, matching Elka with the ones who are faithless know the pleasures of love and Anna with the last part of the quote.
Since Elka appears for the first time in the story “Gimpel the fool”, her lack of interest is very noticeable, making this one of the main reasons for her actions. We can interpret it is one of the main reasons, since clearly Gimpel was not her motivation for her unfaithfulness. Gimpel, apart from believing everything he was told from her, he demonstrated his strong emotion loving her apart from anything. He was faithful, caring, a good husband and a great father, so we can infer her actions had a deeper starting point. Thanks to the story, we realize her adulteries have history since she is practically the town’s prostitute, and we become aware of why she has no problem cheating and most of all not feeling guilty until the end.
In difference from Elka, Anna showed at least some interest towards his husband. Her actions were inappropriate, but at first she was confused and her intentions were mostly naïve. For the most part her main reason was her loneliness, and the idea of being appreciated by someone. Another important point would be that she is trapped in a loveless marriage, which she respects, but by the end of the story, she wants to terminate. Compared to Elka, Anna, being a respectful person, have