"For all their irony at the expense of male behaviour, these stories present women as agents of their own oppression." Discuss.

"Martin said he loved her. Martin always did." In the stories ‘The Weighing Up’ and ‘Weekend’ the two main characters, Martha and Avril suffer from two different problems, but the writers portray this in very similar styles. Avril, who has put on weight since her children have left home and her husband is frequently abroad, discovers that her husband has been having an affair and is denying that Jeremy could actually do that to her. Martha on the other hand is pressured by her husband to do everything his way and as a result has been conditioned to believe that only his way is the correct way to do things and she is rarely right - "Look, look children! Concorde? No, idiot, of course it isn’t Concorde."

Martha in ‘Weekend’, I feel, recognises that she has a problem; unfortunately the constant belittling from Martin has made her unable to confront him with this problem. Martha refers to Martin in a very tedious way, being particularly ironic about his thoughts and beliefs - ‘Martin likes slim ladies. Diet. Martin rather likes his secretary. Diet. Martin admires slim legs and big bosoms.’ However while she recognises that she has a problem, she is unable to talk to Martin about this problem and you get the impression that he would just laugh at her and go on to ‘do his thing.’ Martin is forever pressuring Martha to carry out day-to-day tasks such as washing, cooking, and so on, and he fails to realise that Martha is unhappy. Having said this, Martha herself is unsure whether she is happy or not, or whether her life is fulfilled - ‘Love. It must be love. You married him. You. Surely you deserve true love?’

In ‘The Weighing Up’, Avril’s problem is that of Richenda Gosforth’s affair with Jeremy, and her feeling of insecurity while Jeremy is away. Avril feels so insecure after her children have left home and Jeremy is away so frequently, she turns to food as a comfort. Jeremy never complains that she is putting on weight so Avril doesn’t try to lose any, in fact Avril believes that she can keep Jeremy faithful by cooking luxurious meals for him. She loves Jeremy so much, she is unable to believe that he would be having an affair, also she needs to believe he loves her so much, that the thought of him leaving her is never something she has considered - "Would I mind if he left me? It is a question I have never asked myself."

Considering the language used in both stories, I feel that Martha is far more ironic at the expense of male behaviour than Avril, mainly because she actually recognises that Martin oppresses her. Of course Martha and Avril will both contribute to their oppression but I believe that the effects of their partner’s behaviour contributes more to this than they do. Avril, for example, has no real control over Jeremy’s actions. It is not her fault that Jeremy is having an affair, nor is it the case that her size has anything to do with it. It is most likely that Jeremy is no longer in love with her and lacks assertiveness so therefore he cannot voice his feelings. She fobs off his lack of punctuality and changing plans by ‘lashing out’ when he returns home - "His plans do change" and "I shall lash out on Monday evening." Martha on the other hand has been conditioned by Martin to believe that his views are the right views and become an integral part of her thought. Although Martha recognises that Martin oppresses her, she has been ‘taught’ by Martin to believe she is always wrong and as a result does not feel confidant enough to tell him about her feelings.

In conclusion, I agree that Martha and Avril are reasonably ironic at the expense of their husband’s behaviour, but have been conditioned to treat that behaviour as normal. However, it is wrong to say that they are agents of their own oppression because in both cases, although less in the case of Martha, there is little they can do to rectify the problem. I suggested that they have very different problems in the introduction and therefore the solutions to these problems will be different; Martha could confront Martin in a frank manner, and Avril could attempt to take pride in her actions and do more things for herself rather than thinking solely for Jeremy.