The story Intimate apparel by Lynn Nottage touches on tissues of race, religion and traditions.Not only does Nottage speak on these issues, she also addresses love and marriage. This is done through a 35 year old African American women name Esther. Ā Esther moved from North Carolina to New York City to seek her fortune as a seamstress. She sews gorgeous lingerie for wealthy white clients.Ā Esther is extremely great at what she does and prey’s to one day own a beauty salon. With such great talent under her belt she is still lonely and dreams of a good man to marry. Esther seeks love when she meets George.
When Esther marries George, he was Ā nothing like the man she wrote letters to back and forth. George didn’t have the same genuine feelings that Esther had for him. He proves himself to be an opportunist who takes all her savings and use it on foolishness. He squanders her money on drinks,gambling and prostitutes that Esther despise greatly.
Even though Esther marries the man she wanted to marry, he turned out to be not a good man. Their love and marriage didn’t last. I can definitely relate this to many marriages in today’s society. Women get so excited to finally get married but in the end they end up disappointed. The excited they once felt disappears and all they are left with is a new beginning.
I agree with your point on marriages in today’s society. Sure we can say things like ā years ago marriage meant something, today that no longer holds trueā. We say that marriage is a sacred union between two individuals vowing to become one. The issue is that people forget that they have become one and run away from struggles. We allow what society holds as a standard and overshadow what is really valuable. In Estherās case like you mentioned, George proved himself to be an opportunities who took all Estherās savings and used it on liquor and other women. For George, this marriage for sure was not an intent to become one.
You also mentioned about how talented she is and how she is extremely good at what she is doing. I realized her plan was to find the right man and use the money sheās saved to open a beauty parlor where black women will be treated as royally as the white women she sews for.
I agree with what Aminata said. A lot of people are the way that George is. In writing or in today’s society, behind a computer everyone seems great. Although people don’t seem to realize that emotions are not always seen in writing. You can never truly know how the person is if you don’t meet face to face a number of times. Even if you just meet once, its not enough because everyone is “nice” when you first meet them. Also the way that George plays with her emotions is something that you see a lot today. He had no true feelings for her, but she believes that he does. You need to truly get to know someone before you decide to get married.