Character Analysis
Kjersti is the sassy wife of Tönseten, and it's good thing that she is. Without her, Tönseten would think way, way too highly of himself. Kjersti brings him back down to earth with her constant zingers. It might seem superficial at first, but deep down, Kjersti's mockery toward her husband is rooted in the fact that she badly wants a baby, and that for some reason she and Tönseten have never had one:
Beret must try to imagine how lonesome she was, sitting at home all alone with that useless husband of hers—and no little newcomer to wait for! (1.6.3.19)
It could be because one of them is sexually infertile, or it could be because Tönseten refuses to have sex with her. Rölvaag stays Röl-vague on this one.
Kjersti's dissatisfaction with her husband is usually played for laughs, but the truth is that their relationship is a sad one. Whenever she sees another man acting manly, Kjersti can only mourn the fact that her husband is not like this:
As for Kjersti, she was moved almost to tears over such a man. What a different from that spineless jellyfish of a husband of hers! (1.4.11.35)
This dissatisfaction leads Kjersti into periods of depression that she thinks would be easier to bear if she had a baby to look after. As we read early in the book,
On the morning when the men had gone out to parley with the Irish, Kjersti was left all alone in the house. She felt gloomy and depressed; there had been little to no sleep for either of them during the night. (1.4.11.1)
By the end of the book, it looks as though things haven't gotten any better for poor Kjersti, but she still stays spunky and quick-witted.