From as early as the days of ancient Rome and Greece your economic status and place in society determined what kind of life you and in turn, your family would lead. It also determined the expectedness of the offspring of the family. In “A Mother” by James Joyce and No Matter What by Mary Saracino both of the matriarchal figures are on different spectrums of economic status. Mrs. Kearny in “A Mother” does not have to worry about where the grocery money is going to come from as Marie does in No Matter What. “I need grocery money. Don’t be cheap this time.” (Page 94) Economic stress can lead to many things in a person’s life. Economic stability has a lot to do with the happiness and comfort ability of ones life. Mrs. Kearny came from an economically comfortable background and therefore entered into a marriage with which she would again be economically comfortable. “She had been educated in a high-class convent where she learned French and music.” (Page 139) Marie Giov!

anni came from a poor economic background and consequently married into another poor economic family. In my essay, I will compare the lives of Mrs. Kearny

Monetary worth should not determine who a person is but fatefully it does. Monetary worth should also not determine how happy of a life you lead but unfortunately, it also does. Money has been an issue for as long as most can remember. The matriarchal figures in No Matter What and “A Mother” are trying their best to make their children’s lives easier in the matter of finances. In No Matter What, Marie is also trying to make her life easier. This is not an easy task and mistakes will evidently be made that may not be in the best interests of the children or themselves.

Unlike Marie who constantly worried about how the month’s bills were going to be paid, Mrs. Kearny had the ability to spend thoughtlessly on items such as a beautiful new dress for her daughter. “Mrs. Kearney bought some lovely blush-pink charmeuse in Brown Thomas’s to let into the front of Kathleen’s dress. It cost a pretty penny….” (Page 142) Mrs. Kearney is quite set in her financial status and the power that comes along with having money. Due to Mrs. Kearney’s strict values when it came to her social and economic positions in society, her children will ultimately live in the same financial security that she has always lived in. Mrs. Kearny however in the end ruins her daughter’s chances as a musician in Dublin because of her egotistic ways of making the financial road a little less difficult for Kathleen.

and Marie Giovanni and the effects that their economic status has on their lives.

When one does not have the extra worry of money

Some topics in this essay:
Patrick May-be, Marie Matter, Besides Marie, Kathleen Monetary, Patrick Marie’s, Marie Giovanni, Matter Marie, Due Kearney’s, Unlike Marie, Mama Danny, economic status, “a mother”, grocery money, figures matter “a, poor economic, daughter kathleen, trying life, monetary worth, worth determine, learned french, convent learned french, monetary worth determine, matter “a mother”, ice cream,