The Way Up To Heaven

Content Warning: This section of the guide contains descriptions and references to abuse and coercive control, accident, and death.

Mrs. Foster is the protagonist of the story. Her thoughts and feelings are the only ones that the narrator presents as known. It is through Mrs. Foster that the main thrust of the story’s action and ethical questioning is enacted. Her role in the story is to exemplify the potential roles and dilemmas of a woman in an unhappy marriage, especially one whose husband is cruel and coercive.

The story’s focus on Mrs. Foster’s inner life creates a sense of intimacy and allegiance between her, the narrator, and the reader. The narrator’s descriptions of her character enable the story to portray her as an inherently good woman, especially one who is exceptionally patient in the face of her husband’s constant provocation. She is “loyal and obedient,” “modest,” and “good and loving” (47). The story also emphasizes Mrs. Foster’s virtue in that her “only” weakness is an “almost pathological” fear of being late: Even her potential fault is aligned with politeness and punctuality (47). Though she is an obedient, dutiful wife who has “served” her husband well, he uses her one “foible”—fear of lateness—to “torture” her (47).