Plot Overview
The Smolinsky family is on the verge of hunger. The old daughters, Bessie, Mashah, and Fania, can't find work, and Mashah spends what little money she's to make herself look more beautiful. Their dad, Reb Smolinsky, doesn't work by any means, spending his times reading holy literature and commandeering his daughters' wages-his scheduled as a Jewish daddy. When Mrs. Smolinsky despairs over the problem, the youngest little princess, Sara, promptly moves outside to market herring and makes the family some money. Later, the older girls find careers, and Mrs. Smolinsky rents out the next room, improving the family's financial situation.
Private, dutiful Bessie soon comes for a man called Berel Berenstein and invites him home for supper one night. The rest of the family is fired up for Bessie, however when Reb Smolinsky realizes, he makes a decision he can't live with no wages Bessie earns. Though Berel is eager to marry Bessie with out a dowry, her dad says Berel must pay for the whole wedding and arranged him up in business as well. Berel refuses and storms away. When he says Bessie should defy her crazy daddy and marry him at City Hall, Bessie says she doesn't dare. Berel promptly gets employed to another person, crushing Bessie's soul.
Mashah is another daughter to find a love that Reb Smolinsky considers inappropriate. She falls in love with Jacob Novak, a piano player from a rich family. Mashah's daddy disapproves of the match and blackmails Jacob into keeping yourself away for many days and nights, breaking Mashah's center. When Jacob comes home to beg for forgiveness, Mashah seems defeated enough to stand by and let her dad kick Jacob out for playing piano on the Sabbath. Reb Smolinsky also disapproves of Fania's sweetheart, an unhealthy poet known as Morris Lipkin, and shames him away. He then arranges marriages for those three ladies, which leave them all desperately disappointed. Sara is furious with her daddy for what he's done to her sisters, but her age and gender leave her powerless.
Despite Mrs. Smolinsky's caution, Reb Smolinsky requires every one of the money he acquired from Bessie's matrimony and sinks it into a supermarket that the prior owner had filled with false stock. Sara and Mrs. Smolinsky must again scramble for success, and every day they experience increasing criticism from Reb Smolinsky. 1 day, Sara extends to her breaking point. She runs away from home and decides to become a teacher. She blueprints to live with either Bessie or Mashah, but both have been beaten down by poverty and bad relationships. Instead, she rents a little, soiled, private room of her own. To pay for it, Sara locates a day job in a laundry, using her nights to study and take classes.
The life Sara has chosen is challenging. She faces discrimination to be a female and living only; her fellow personnel ostracize her; her mother begs her to get back more often; and her disappointed sisters nag her to find a husband of her own. On top of all this, Sara is desperately lonely, and when she is stopped at by an acquaintance of Fania's, Potential Goldstein, she almost marries him and gives up her imagine seeking knowledge. When she realizes Utmost is interested only in property, however, she refuses him. When Reb Smolinsky hears of the, he's so furious with Sara that he quickly disowns her.
College is another have difficulties against poverty and loneliness, but Sara desires so badly to end up like the clean, beautiful people around her that she perseveres and graduates. She gets a job in the New York institution system, buys nicer clothing, and rents a cleaner, larger apartment as a special event of her new financial self-reliance. Her excitement ends quickly, however, when she learns that her mom, whom she hasn't stopped at in six years, is dying. Though her mother's deathbed wish is the fact Sara take care of her daddy, Reb Smolinsky quickly gets remarried to Mrs. Feinstein, a widow who lives upstairs. His daughters are deeply offended by this insult to their mom, and after Mrs. Feinstein tries to extort money from her new stepchildren, most of them opt to stop speaking to their daddy.
Furious at her surprising poverty, Mrs. Feinstein creates a nasty notice to Hugo Seelig, the principal of Sara's college. The notice, however, actually draws Hugo and Sara collectively, and their bond tightens as they discuss of their shared traditions in Poland. This new romantic relationship finally marks the finish of Sara's loneliness, and in her new contentment, she decides once again to attain out to her daddy. Hugo does this as well, and the novel ends with the implication that Reb Smolinsky will soon get away his new better half by moving in with Hugo and Sara. Sara's life has come full circle.
Sara Smolinsky- The youngest Smolinsky girl and narrator of Bakery Givers. Essentially the most fiercely 3rd party of Reb Smolinsky's daughters, Sara wants more than any of them to create a life of her own. Though she admires her father's dedication and inner fire, she actually is also deeply resentful of his hypocrisy and the probabilities he has refused all his daughters. She advances crushes on men with similar devotion and flame, seeking a far more prepared and understanding role model than Reb Smolinsky, as well as a companion who will recognize and appreciate the personality she's struggled to create. Sara is happy to work hard to get what she wishes, but her ceaseless craving for companionship and tendency to romanticize her situation sometimes distract her from her ultimate goal.
Read an in-depth evaluation of Sara Smolinsky.
Reb Smolinsky- The head of the Smolinsky family and Sara's major antagonist. Extremely dedicated in his spiritual values, Reb Smolinsky has committed his life time to studying the Torah and other Jewish holy books. The soul he gathers from these studies fills him with a holy light that leaves others in awe but triggers family problems when Reb Smolinsky confuses this spiritual knowledge with an increase of worldly wisdom. His innocence often leads him to make foolish decisions that he won't acknowledge, insisting that a man as discovered as he could never make such flaws. After his partner dies, he remarries quickly and pushes his daughters to stay with him as long as possible because he recognizes he needs someone to care for him.
Read an in-depth analysis of Reb Smolinsky.
Shena Smolinsky- Sara's mother and Reb Smolinsky's long-suffering better half. Shena is actually in awe of her husband's holiness, though she complains bitterly about the poverty it forces on her behalf. She also feels defensive of her husband-he lives a whole lot in his own world that it is hard for him to operate in the true one. She securely is convinced a woman's highest aspiration is usually to be a better half and mother, and despite her husband's manipulations, she really desires to see her daughters settled into good marriages. Though she doesn't realize why Sara desires a different route, she enjoys her enough to aid her in the simplest way she can.
Bessie Smolinsky- The oldest Smolinsky girl. Bessie is the major financial support for the family, and even at a young age she is worn out from regular stress and work. She despises her daddy for using up all her good years for himself but is fearful to leave because providing for others is the only life she knows. Resentful of her status as a vintage maid, Bessie detects enjoyment in her eventual matrimony to Zalmon only as a result of love that her youngest stepson, Benny, feels for her. The only real reason Bessie agrees to marry Zalmon is the fact Benny needs her.
Read an in-depth evaluation of Bessie Smolinsky.
Mashah Smolinsky- One of the midsection Smolinsky daughters. Mashah is incredibly beautiful, and the rest of the family thinks she actually is vain. Actually, Mashah needs beauty to sustain her, and her own looks, as well as the music in the area, are the only resources she's. She falls deeply in love with the music Jacob Novak makes before she even sees Jacob himself, and when he breaks her heart and soul, he damages her expectation of finding any longer beauty on the globe. She wastes away to a worn, peaceful shadow of her previous self, and tips of her former heart show only in her entertainment of her children and the sanitation of her small house.
Read an in-depth examination of Mashah Smolinsky.
Fania Smolinsky- Among the middle Smolinsky daughters. Comfortable with speaking her brain, Fania goes further than either Bessie or Mashah in defending her sweetheart. However, Fania is also more functional than her sisters and makes an attempt to make her father's choice of husband work for her. Eventually unsuccessful, she complains bitterly about her relationship at every opportunity and, though she frequently derides Sara's accomplishments, appears jealous of her sisters, as well. Though she lives across the country, Fania keeps in regular contact with her mom and sisters.
Berel Berenstein- The clothing cutter with whom Bessie comes in love. An ambitious son who blueprints to open his own shop, Berel wants to marry Bessie because she's a wise, competent girl who be a great assist in running his business. Somewhat sporadic in his religious observance, Berel considers anyone who clings to the old ways is crazy and does not have any patience for anybody who attempts to make him follow those ways.
Hugo Seelig- The institution main with whom Sara falls in love. An intelligent, well-respected man, Hugo is filled with the knowledge that Sara dreams about and admires. A kind man who snacks everyone with value, Hugo puts far more value on his personal observations about people than on what others might say about them. Hugo still seems a great bond with the old country and the traditions he grew up with, and he holds Reb Smolinsky's learning in awe.
Morris Lipkin- The poet with whom Fania comes in love. A pale son with a shabby jacket and a desperate dependence on a haircut, Morris feels strongly in the power of both love and poetry. When Reb Smolinsky makes Fania from him, however, he becomes bitter enough to crush Sara when she comes to him with her own dreams. Morris makes a full time income writing for magazines and spends his leisure time at the catalogue.
Jacob Novak- The piano player with whom Mashah falls in love. The child of wealthy parents, Jacob has grown up with money but doesn't promote his father's prejudice against those who haven't. Though he cares deeply for Mashah, Jacob loves music above all else and will briefly sacrifice even Mashah in order to continue carrying out it.
Moe Mirsky- The gemstone dealer Reb Smolinsky chooses to be Mashah's partner. A captivating and large man on the top, Moe is in fact a calculating liar who will say anything to get what he wants. Unable to carry down a regular job, he psychologically abuses Mashah and feels nothing of dining out and wearing pretty clothes while his wife and children starve.
Zalmon- The seafood peddler Reb Smolinsky selects to be Bessie's husband. A basically genuine man who desperately needs help looking after his children, Zalmon sincerely means to give Bessie everything he promises her throughout their courtship. However, he's too traditional to bother finding out what might actually succeed her over-one of several concerns he seems is too "Americanized. "
Abe Schmukler- The cloaks-and-suits supplier Reb Smolinsky selects to be Fania's hubby. Abe substitutes expensive presents for genuine passion or attention, both during courtship and after he and Fania return to Los Angeles. A compulsive gambler, Abe uses his wife's appearance showing the globe how affluent he is.
Max Goldstein- Abe's spouse, who involves NY to court Sara. A self-made entrepreneur who is derisive of the training he never had, Max is totally centered on money, property, and potential revenue. During his time with Sara, he flaunts his prosperity and worldliness instead of showing any affinity for her needs.
Mrs. Feinstein- Reb Smolinsky's second better half. Actually a widow who resided above the Smolinskys' place, Mrs. Feinstein pretends to be a supportive girl but truthfully cares no more than financial gain. She seems life owes her a degree of wealth, so when she doesn't get it, she calls for vengeance on everyone around her.
The driving make in Sara's life is her desire to find her own version of the light she sees radiating from her father. As a kid, she yearns for something that will inspire her, such as Morris Lipkin's poetry briefly does. As a teenager, she dreams of becoming a professor so that all eye will be on her the way they are on her father when he preaches. Later, she confirms books that petrol her from day to day. When she gives up Utmost Goldstein because he would have ceased her education, she comforts herself with the idea that her sacrifice is like her father's rejection of worldly success to be able to study the Torah more totally. When she starts to understand what must be done to find an inner light, the very first thing she wishes to do is share it with him, thinking he's the only person who'll truly understand. Knowledge, she decides, is exactly what she wishes more than anything on the planet, and she devotes once and energy to obtaining it that her father does to studying his holy literature.
During her quest for an internal flame, Sara hones her sense of fury at the injustices determined by others. Though she's no backing, she's the courage to protest at the restaurant when the make provides her less meat because she actually is a woman. She is furious with both Berel and Jacob for harming her sisters, and her hatred for her father starts when she considers the way he denies his daughters any chance to own lives of their own choosing. This need to fight injustice, however, is also what helps her reconcile with her daddy, and the first steps are inspired by her mother's promises and the guilt Sara feels at going back home equally as she is dying. Later, when Sara considers the way her father's new wife treats him, she considers the likelihood of once more living under one roof top with her daddy, regardless of the tyranny she doubts will re-enter her life. Her father's light is threatened, and Sara has learned much better than anyone the value of keeping it lit.
Reb Smolinsky
Having spent his entire life wrapped up in the study of the Torah and other holy literature, Reb Smolinsky lives in his own private world of spiritual study, a global that may also be highly incompatible with the one where the rest of his family lives. His times and times are focused on the assurance of heaven and offering charitable contributions to others, making him struggling to see that on Earth, a man needs to be sure his own children are given before he provides to strangers. Inside the holy works, men are good and kind, and they value the importance of research; he tries to convert this awareness to a global where people don't service what your excuses are for not paying them and make an effort to cheat you on business discounts. Even more damaging to himself and the ones around him is the actual fact that in his world of words, Reb Smolinsky is amazingly experienced. He mistakenly believes this means that he is evenly knowledgeable in the outside world, and he makes potentially foolish decisions without being the need to consult his much more sensible partner. If his decisions prove to have been badly made, Reb Smolinsky refuses to acknowledge this to himself and can allow the decision to degrade further alternatively than to confess that he could have been incorrect.
Bessie Smolinsky
Bessie has been smashed for such a long time by the weight of responsibility and family work that it's hard to find out any personality she may have possessed beyond that. She has no time for outside pursuits because she's compelled to work all hours of the day to keep her family fed and clothed. She also has no wish of another break free because her dad needs the money she brings in too badly to ever really let her go. Though it often seems, especially to Sarah, that treatment has crushed Bessie's heart enough that she's capable of is mute popularity, Bessie will in fact intend to run away somewhat than marry Zalmon, the fish peddler. However, that would leave Bessie on her behalf own, trying to make a life for herself without ever having the ability even to find what she might want to be a part of that life. Being kept exclusively with so few internal resources very relatively terrifies her, so she resigns herself from what little light can be mirrored from the people she functions. First it was her father with his holy light, then little Benny, the fish peddler's kid, whose sight shone with something fresh and beautiful. Better to cling to the little light you have, she feels, than to risk seeking more and find you have almost nothing.
Mashah Smolinsky
Though her family suspects she actually is shallow and empty-headed, Mashah is instead simply a enthusiast of beauty. She purchases paper bouquets, makes a particular trip to pay attention to the free music in the area, and lavishes attention on her face and shape simply because they are a few of the few reliable resources of beauty open to her in her impoverished life. Sara says early on in the booklet that Mashah appears to supply off her beauty just how other people feed off food, and enough time she places into keeping herself attractive is simply a means of keeping her food resource strong. She is first drawn to her great love, Jacob Novak, through the stunning music he produces. She responds compared to that love by dispersing beauty so far as she can: the house becomes cleaner and much more organized, the stand has fresh bouquets, and the happiness on her face brings light to all who know her. She places so much effort into creating beauty for Jacob's sake that whenever he leaves, her belief in beauty itself is crushed. Her spirit slowly drains away. She still will keep herself looking nice, but there is no longer any heart behind it.
The Dangers of Dependence
In Bakery Givers, those who make someone else a fundamental element of knowing their dreams undoubtedly find yourself being failed by your partner. Mrs. Smolinsky hopes that the grocery store will finally mean a steady income for her family, but her partner, who insists on making the purchase, allows the prior owner to rip-off him. Sara places most of her young, affectionate desires into Morris Lipkin and the stunning words he writes, and then have him crush her dreams with a curt rejection. Mashah places all of her dreams of beauty and love into Jacob Novak, and then find that he is happy to sacrifice her for the sake of his music. Sara desires to share her new devotion to knowledge with her father, but he disowns her for failing to get wedded. Reb Smolinsky marries Mrs. Feinstein with the expectation that she'll be as wonderful and dedicated a wife as Mrs. Smolinsky had been, but he finds himself captured with a demanding, money-grubbing shrew who wants him to die. Only Sara's dream of becoming a teacher, which will depend only on Sara herself, is ever fulfilled.
In Breads Givers, familial duty is what most often holds characters back from getting what they really want. Bessie's sense of responsibility to her father will keep her from accepting Berel's proposal and operating away with him, and Jacob Novak's obligation to his daddy keeps him away from Mashah and makes him break her heart. Because of their obligations to family, both Bessie and Mashah lose the people they want to be with permanently. After enduring years of her father's mistreatment, Bessie almost works the courage to escape, and then be held again by the sensation that she actually is the only person truly inclined to manage young Benny. Sara, on her behalf part, is nearly able to get away from hazardous commitments by refusing to see her family while she would go to school, lest they say or do something that will divert her from her education. However, guilt over not being there for her sick mother leads Sara to believe that she has an obligation to care for her daddy, and with Hugo's invitation for Reb Smolinsky to live with them, Sara will soon be living under her father's command once again.
The Elusiveness of Happiness
Though several of the people in Breads Givers have a goal or dream of some kind, attaining that goal isn't just the powerful solution they hoped it might be. Bessie frantically longs to get committed, but when she does, she finds that her life is filled with more unappreciated drudgery than it was when she was together. Fania marries Abe with the hope that she can escape her dad to the aspiration city of LA, and then find a life packed with pointlessly expensive showpieces and extraordinary loneliness. When Sara rents her own room, she fantasizes about how exactly wonderful and enriching it'll be finally to have a bit of space to herself, only to find herself frantically longing for someone to talk to. When her effort finally pays off and she gets a teaching job, Sara is stunned to discover that it doesn't make her feel as complete as she hoped it would. Hugo Seelig appears to fill this opening, but his insistence that they might love to have Sara's father live with them leaves her with a nagging dread that her indie identity will suffer.
Motifs
Inadequate Providers
Nearly every one of the men in the novel neglect to provide sufficiently for the women in their lives. Reb Smolinsky denies his family sufficient budget and knowledge, refusing to contribute hardly any money to family members and either offering or making foolish options with the money his children bring in. Regarding to Jewish faith, only men are permitted to study the Torah. Women are destined only to lessen the lives of the men in their families, keeping them fed and clothed so they have to do only focus on the holy expression. This service should be a woman's highest aspiration, because the Torah instructs that it is merely through a guy that a girl can enter heaven. The men in a woman's life define her very existence. The title of the book, Bread Givers, identifies the inadequacy of the men in the Smolinsky women's lives: although women make reference to men as "bread givers, " they themselves should do the largest share of the providing.
Reb Smolinsky's wisdom also fails his daughters in another way, as his specialist to choose their husbands traps his three oldest into miserable and sometimes abusive relationships. Mashah's husband fails her and his children in every way possible, denying them basic requirements while he can afford to eat away and buy himself fancy new clothing. Though Fania's man continues her well fed and draped in expensive clothing, he supports so much back again from her psychologically that she feels more exclusively with him than she did when she was solo. Sara's professors at the college are unsuccessful her academically, not willing to have any extra time to help her gratify her voracious dependence on knowledge. None of the men give the women in the book what they have to survive, giving them either to perish or, as Sara have, to understand how to fulfill their own needs.
The Oppression of Women
Bread Givers is filled with men and even women oppressing other women, so much so that many women consider oppression an acceptable way of life. Reb Smolinsky constantly berates his far-wiser partner for attempting to make decisions and demands all of his daughters' income for his own use. He denies his elderly daughters an opportunity at happiness, driving their sweethearts away because he resents not having chosen them himself. Mashah's partner psychologically abuses her and doesn't allow her to guard herself or her children against his injustice. Maximum Goldstein oppresses Sara in a far more subtle manner, constantly wanting to deny her the to have her own viewpoint. Women even oppress other women. One refuses to rent Sara a single room because of her gender, and the female servers at the cafeteria consider her less worthy of meat than the man standing behind her in line. Sara must fight against this oppression practically every second of her life, which emphasizes her struggle to gain approval on the effectiveness of her own identity.
The Yearning for Pleasure
At several things in Breads Givers, people point out a prefer to get out and revel in life, though do not require ever seem in a position to match that wish. After Bessie satisfies Berel, she says her mother that they should save less and enjoy life more-but her capability to enjoy life is crushed when Berel leaves. Sara complains that rather than geometry she needs to learn topics that will assist her truly live her life, but she actually is taunted for that desire for the others of her amount of time in college. Fania berates Sara for studying by showing her she should get out and enjoy life, but Fania herself has admitted on several occasions that her own life provides her no pleasure by any means. Sara almost rejects her learning for Max's sake because he makes her feel more pleasurable and filled with life, but she later discovers that Max's pleasure is hollow and not reliant on any fascination with Sara herself. The people' aspire to live life is actually a desire to flee into a new life, a process that takes far more work than a simple wish.
Symbols
Internal Light
The inside light that several personas in Bakery Givers either have or would like symbolizes their self-chosen goal for living. Reb Smolinsky spends all time of his day devoting himself to understanding the Torah and other holy works, and many people speak about the light that shines constantly from his face. This is especially true whenever he's expounding on a scripture or holy process. Love for Jacob Novak is exactly what finally brings light to Mashah's face, as she becomes her time and energy from retaining her own appearance to maintaining Jacob's every need. Yezierska discusses the innocent light that shines from young Benny's face, and Bessie decides that caring for him would be the purpose that makes her relationship to an old seafood peddler tolerable. Sara spends the majority of the novel struggling to get an education, hoping to find an objective that will identify her life just how religion defines her father's. She admires Hugo Seelig a great deal because he's lit by that purpose. The light of knowledge shines from him and details everyone he has learned.
Solitude
For Sara, the opportunity to be alone signifies the accomplishment of her own id. When she was growing up, her father was always allowed time and space to be by itself with his books while he obligated the women to crowd collectively in the remaining available space. After finally defying her father and running away back to New York, the first thing Sara does is eat meals with just herself for company, reveling in her self-reliance. She believes a room where she can be by herself, her next goal, will give her the opportunity to focus on studying and be free from the stresses of her family. She prefers solitude to being with Max because, though he's fun to be with, he attempts to make her into a perfect little ownership rather than the professor she wants to be. When she does become a teacher, she purchases another little room of her own to enjoy the experience. It really is larger and much cleaner than the first, but more important, it's even quieter plus more isolated, as safe from dirt and shouting as she wants her life to be from poverty and her recent.
A "Real" Person
Sara spends almost all of the book attempting to turn into a "real" person, an unreachable state of being that symbolizes everything she is convinced an effective and happy person should be and also have. Early in her life, a significant qualification to be successful and happy is money. Relating to Sara, real people also sit down for supper at a table and go out and earn their own money. This idea urges her at a young age to market herring on the street. Later, being real means living on her own, where she's the space and the tranquil to determine who she's said to be. When she finally becomes a educator, she believes she actually is real for some time. However, Mr. Seelig shines with a greater internal light than she will, and she determines this light is what must be done to be real. In Sara's mind, it's impossible for her to become a real person: no matter what she does indeed with her life, there will always be some better and much more perfect thing to be.
1. This door was life. It was air. The bottom starting-point to become a person. I just will need to have this room with the shut door.
Explanation for Quotation 1 >>
2. It says in the Torah: What's a woman without a man? Significantly less than nothing-a blotted out lifestyle. No life on the planet and no trust in heaven.
Explanation for Quotation 2 >>
3. I understand I'm a fool. But I cannot make it. I haven't the courage to live on for myself. My very own life is knocked out of me. No surprise Daddy called me the burden bearer.
Explanation for Quotation 3 >>
4. I felt the shadow still there, over me. It wasn't just my father, but the generations who made my father whose weight was still after me.
Explanation for Quotation 4 >>
5. There was one in the institution who was what I dreamed a educator to be-the main, Mr. Hugo Seelig. He kept that living thing, that fire, that I used to worship as a kid. And yet he previously none of that aloof dignity of a superior. He was just ordinary human being. When he joined a classroom sunlight filled the place.
full title Bread Givers
authorAnzia Yezierska
type of workNovel
genreComing-of-age; family drama
languageEnglish
time and place writtenNew York City in the first 1920s
day of first publication1925
publisherDoubleday
narratorSara Smolinsky
point of viewThe narrator talks in first person, concentrating only on Sara's thoughts, emotions, and perspective. Although motivations of the other personas are occasionally talked about, the narrator usually offers only a target view of their appearance and activities as they would appear to an outside observer.
toneThe narrator's firmness is excited as she talks about her emotions, life, and family.
tensePast tense
arranging (time)1910s to early 1920s
setting (place)NY City
protagonistSara Smolinsky
major conflictSara battles to develop her own individuality contrary to the opposition of her daddy and culture.
rising actionAfter Reb Smolinsky crushes Sara's sisters' dreams in the name of culture, Sara becomes increasingly more alert to her father's tyranny and injustice.
climaxAfter her father berates a minor decision of Sara's, she can't take the regular scolding and limitations, and she operates away to begin a new life.
falling actionLiving on her own, Sara works to become a teacher and also to reconcile her dependence on independence with her need for her father's acceptance
themesThe risks of dependence; the turmoil between self-reliance and family obligations; the elusiveness of happiness
motifsInadequate providers; the oppression of women; the yearning for pleasure
symbolsInternal light; solitude; a "real" person
foreshadowing
As a child, Sara advances a crush on Morris Lipkin as a result of words he creates. Later, she grows a crush on another educated man, Mr. Edman, as a result of words he talks in school.
Despite her mother's hesitation, Sara makes a earnings advertising herring on the street. Later, Sara will achieve her dream of becoming a instructor, despite her father's doubts.
Reb Smolinsky's selection of husbands for his oldest daughters capture them in disappointed marriages. Later, the new partner he decides for himself traps him in an equally unhappy marriage.
The girls at the laundry reject Sara, despite her makes an attempt to dress like them. Later, the girls at the university also won't admit Sara when she tries to appear to be them.
