In the 'Astronomer's Wife' by Kay Boyle, something as simple as a conversation with a plumber about a stopped elbow is enough to trigger an awakening in Mrs. Katherine Ames. When Mrs. Ames realized that the plumber was talking about something she understood (the stopped elbow), she realized that her marital problems were not the result of a division betwwen the sexes; instead, she realized that some men, like the plumber, are as practical as …showed first 75 words of 770 total…

…showed last 75 words of 770 total…her own that she didn't. She provided a comfortable existance for the astronomer so that he would be free to do his work, and the marriage would have been happier if Mr. Ames recognized all that she had done, and had considered her lifestyle a valid one. Of course an understanding was never reached, because otherwise the author would not have been able to illustrate the similar conflicts that exist in today's society so well.