Anthony Lourenco
Professor Feeley
ENG 1110
12 November 2015
Comparing Two Stories of Love, Marriage, and Dysfunctional Families
After reading Thisbe Nissen’s short story, We Shall Go to Her, But She Will Not Return to
Us, and Jane Austen’s classic, Pride and Prejudice, I noticed that they were surprisingly similar.
Though the setting and plot were not the same, there is a close resemblance between characters
in each piece, as well as the running theme of dysfunctional, and non-traditional marriages in
both works.
Despite having a vastly different setting, Pride and Prejudice set in 18th century England
and We Shall Go to Her, But She Will not Return to Us set in present day America, they both tell
a story of a dysfunctional family, concerned about family, love, and marriage. The youngest
sister from each piece, Lydia from Pride and Prejudice and Cici from We Shall Go to Her, But
She Will not Return to Us, are remarkably similar, in that they both marry at an early age for
reasons other than love. Lydia ran away with Wickham to marry at age 15 because after engaging
in sexual acts with Wickham it was unlikely any other man would choose to marry her. Cici was
15 when she began dating Bear, who was much older than her. Cici was 18 when she married
Bear. Cici claims it is for love, and manages to fool her parents, however, her sister Dane realizes
that Cici is pregnant, and that is likely the reason for the marriage. Because Dane realizes Cici’s
motivation to marry, she suggests that Cici use the pregnancy test after the wedding, so “they
