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A Study on the main characters' expectation and on their different reactions toward the failure of their expectations in Edith Wharton's the children

In life, people are Possible to fail in achieving their
expectation. In Edith Wharton's The Children, the writer finds
out the main male character, Martin Boyne and the main fem ale
character, Judith Wheater have the same expectation, but they both
fail to achieve it and have different reactions to the failure.
She wants to find out the reasons for Martin and Judith's
expectation and also their efforts to achieve it. She would
compare Martin and Judith's different reactions toward failure
that later bring certain effects to their lives. The writer
applies the literary theory of characterization and some
psychological theories on failure. Then, she finds out that
Martin's failure makes him depressed because he never experiences
failure before whereas he is so sure that he will succeed in his
efforts. The truth comes out that he fails and he has nobody who
supports or shares his burden. Meanwhile, Judith's failure does
not make her frustrated because she has often experienced failure
before and after her failure, she has a mother who takes care of
her. Then, the writer concludes her findings that the reactions
of the characters to their failure of their expectation are
influenced by some factors. There are character traits, situation
and condition of life. She discovers that Martin becomes
depressed because he has low tolerance to frustration, whether
Judith is not depressed because she has high frustration
tolerance. However, the condition that Martin does not get
support from anyone and Judith gets support from her mother are
the main things which determine their reactions to their failure.