Authentic Ending
... Through Atwood’s short stories, she reveals that real life romance can be anything and everything except what is truly wanted, a happy ending. ... Her plan fails ending her own life as well as their relationship in anything but that fairy tale romance. ... Madge focuses her attention away from the love she lost to help her cope with the tragic ending that doomed her marriage. ... The fairy tale ignores the only genuine ending to life: “John and Mary die.