"The Obligation to Be Happy" by Linda Pastan describes a woman (this can be inferred by references to housework and "narrow shoulders") failed attempts to be happy not for herself but for others. She says happiness is harder to maintain than love and beauty yet it is "expected of her casually." She puts of a façade of cheerfulness despite her inner sadness. She puts on a happy face to please those around her "as if her own fidelity to sadness were a hidden vice." She compares her obligation to be happy liking bearing the weight of "a knapsack heavy with gold coins."
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