Analysis Of The Astronomer's Wife

Part I of Essay
In the "Astronomer's Wife" by Kay Boyle, something as simple as a conversation with a plumber about a stopped elbow is enough to trigger an awakening in Mrs. Katherine Ames. When Mrs. Ames realized that the plumber was talking about something she understood (the stopped el ....

Part II of Essay
.... has a few physical characteristics that match her own (such as blond hair), and she is talking to him as he descends into the earth. The scene begins immediately after the plumber says "I think something has stopped the elbow", because this phrase was one of the few things that a man has ever said that Mrs. Ames has understood. After the plumber has descended into the ground before the scene, Mrs. Ames is the only one left. She spends the entire duration of this scene sitting on the grass, silently thinking and revealing her thoughts t ....