The heartache in Lola's story is not the bit about her caregiving. You ask what the fundamental difference between Lola and last-century wife? Hiding her from

The heartache in Lola's story is not the bit about her caregiving. You ask what the fundamental difference between Lola and last-century wife? Hiding her from public view and not letting her out of the house seems like a pretty big one. Refusing to let her visit sick and dying parents seems to be another. Expecting her to sleep on the couch or the laundry looks like another. Not letting her have friends outside the family seems to be yet another. There's tons of differences if you look beyond the kind of work she spent her life doing.