Comparison Between Lucy From A Room With A View And Cat A Farewell To Arms

Lucy the main character in A Room With a View and Catherine the love interest from A Farewell to Arms are very similar in a lot of ways. The women in the time period these books were set in, tended to be more submissive and not permitted to think for themselves or to have their own opinions. With this they both show a great deal of submissiveness throughout their stories towards the men in their lives. Even though Lucy's character conflict through the book was that she thought differently than most women, she still showed her compliant nature and unwillingness to think for herself towards her fiance. Both Lucy and Cat’s spouses were also very dominant men who’s reasoning for liking them was their acquiescence.

Lucy was engaged to a British man named Cecil who liked her because she was soft-spoken and he was able to dominate her. Cat, a character in A Farewell to Arms was in a very serious relationship with a man who referred to her as “good girl”, which shows in his eyes that she is not a woman but a girl. In A Farewell to Arms Cat maintains her submissive nature throughout the entirety of her and Henry's relationship. She sells this by agreeing with everything Henry says and constantly wanting to be with him, but only with his approval. She bases all of her decisions and things she does off of whether or not it would make him happy or unhappy. During one of their conversations she says “There isn't any me. I'm you. Don't make up a separate me. ” This shows not only her submission but how her worth is no longer dependent on herself but also his.

Lucy on the other hand does not let that stigma cripple her the entire book. Eventually she chooses the man who values her opinion. . But, up until that point she was soft-spoken towards men. Though her unwillingness to fight for herself was portrayed in different ways than Cat’s but it was submission nonetheless. She obliged through her feelings. She let people make decisions for her even though she wanted to do something else. She even feels the need to suppress doing the thing she loves most, playing piano, and more specifically Beethoven because of the feelings she has connected to him.

Another thing these two shared was their recklessness and need for excitement. Cat was so excited and frisky in the beginning Stages of her and Henry's relationship. But as it went on she became more dull and muted. It's almost as if the more they fell in love the more she wasn't herself. Cat became so submissive she lost herself and was just a shadow of Henry. The same goes for Lucy. There was such a difference when she was with George as to Cecile. The Reason she fell in love with George was because she was able to be herself and think for herself, but with Cecile she was suppressed and confined in her own mind. The Difference between Cat in Italy and Cat in Switzerland vs, Lucy with George or Cecile is like an apple and an onion, they were two different people. Submission, whether getting over it, or not, was a big part in the development and character of these two women. I don't think you would have seen the growth in characters surrounding them as much either. If they immediately Rose to the occasion and stood up for what they believed in, characters like Helen or even Cecil wouldn't have existed or had as much depth than they did. Characters like them or what stood in the way of them standing up or kept them under an umbrella of fear. there were also characters that stood as enablers like nurses who helped Henry and Catherine sneak around. Or people like Mr. Beebe We stayed silent and never voiced what he thought was best or even pushed what he knew Lucy was feeling. The wonderful thing about these two women though, is at the end of each book they both finished stronger than anyone could have possibly imagined. Lucy finished her story by proving to everybody around her that she was able to think for herself and become independent in developing your own opinions, despite what everybody around her and her family was telling her. Then when Cat died she was so brave and heroic. Right before she died she put everything aside and for the first time in the entire book showed weakness and vulnerability towards Henry. She had never done this before. Cat had always tried to be tough and happy, pretending like she cared about everything! She did this because she thought that's what Henry would like and if she was any other way he wouldn't like her anymore. But, at the end she completely let all her walls crumble down and had her first break down. To be able to be honest and vulnerable like that takes more guts and courage than putting on a facade. The same thing goes for Lucy.

At the end of the book she completely disregards any thing anyone ever said to her about hiding the way she thinks and feels. She says this in the book that embodies that perfectly, “I don't want to be a Leonardo I want to be myself”. I think it takes so much courage and strength to be able to just be yourself with no regrets! It also takes a lot of courage to help somebody learn to love their self especially when they've grown up thinking otherwise. I think one of the reason she couldn't Love George yet was because she didn't love herself. But, once she let down her walls I think she was finally able to let love in because she finally loved herself!