Irwin Shaw's "The Girls in Their Summer Dresses"
In Irwin Shaw?s ?The Girls in Their Summer Dresses,? Michael?s character may be questioned by the reader. He may seem to portray himself as an unfaithful husband who essentially gets caught in the act early on in the story. However, Michael had yet to do anything to physically betray his wife, and there is no proof that he would in the future.
In society, many spouses or fiancées have fantasized about having sexual relations with another man or woman. These people have probably questioned their faithfulness to their ?better half? if they have succumbed to such temptation. However, so long as these thoughts do not become actions, they can not be judged as morally wrong. As
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Frances is visibly upset by Michael paying more attention to these women than to her, as most people would be, but before she can present her case, Michael proposes that they get a drink intending to evade the conversation completely.
While walking Michael makes it very clear that he has ?not touched another woman? (p.1035). Michael states right away that he had not been unfaithful to Frances in their five years of marriage, but Frances is uneasy about this information. What hurts more during their conversations is that Michael is painfully honest. This offsets society?s argument that it would be much better to know if they had been cheated on than if someone did not and it continued anyway. Frances?s cries and argumentative points show that this is nowhere close to fact and that it seems to be much better for a couple if one lies about what he or she thinks or does behind his or her spouse?s back, as Frances portrays:
?Stop talking about how pretty this woman is or that one. Nice eyes, nice breasts, a pretty figure, good voice.? She mimicked his voice. ?Keep it to yourself. I?m not interested.? (p. 1038)
Later in the story, Frances reveals her deepest fear that he is ?going to make a move? (Paragraph 75, p.1037). Frances asks a demanding question to Michael of whether or not he knows if he is going to follow through with his fantasies, and Michael answers shadily:
?You know (if you?re going to cheat),? Frances persisted. ?Don?t you know??
I have never thought so much about my future, until hitting eighteen in year twelve. The stress of attending uni, studying, securing a job and the big one- getting married! Marriage, I’m sure, has been something every teenage girl looks forward to. As for me, I have never been so skeptical of such an exciting life event.
So naturally Michaelis tried to find out what had happened, but Wilson wouldn’t say a word — instead he began to throw suspicious look at his visitor and ask himself what he’d been doing at certain times on certain days of the week. Just as the latter was getting restless, some workers came past heading to the door for his restaurant, and Michaelis approach the chance to get away, intending to return later. But he never did. He supposed he forgot to, that’s all. When he gets outside again, a little later after seven o’clock, he was remembered of the conversation because he heard Mrs. Wilson’s voice, loud and clear coming down-stairs in the garage.
In Great Expectations, Charles Dickens explores the perception that the value of a man increases with his attainment of material wealth. Dickens probes the truth of such a system of values through Pip's quest for material gain. This quest is the literal pursuit of a better suit of clothing but is conducted without regard for the kind of man wearing the suit. Thus Dickens poses the question: does it profit a man to gain the world at the risk of losing his soul. It is clear, we see, in Great Expectations, that the answer to Dickens's question is no.
In “Sex, Lies and Conversation” Deborah Tannen argues that the problems of men and women in marriage are caused by a misunderstanding rather than lack of communication. Throughout the passage she discusses theses misunderstandings and reveals the solution to the problem.
1. Shaw and Barry distinguish two different forms of utilitarianism. What are these two forms? Briefly describe each and use examples.
Television psychologists and pop culture self-help gurus tell us that marriage is hard work; marriage is compromise; marriage is a choice between being right, and being happy. All of these statements are true. What these experts don’t tell us, however, is that marriage is also about putting on blinders, or looking on the bright side, or one of a hundred other trite phrases to explain the art of self-deception. In marriage, there are times when we may find it necessary to look the other way from our spouse’s faults or indiscretions, in the interest of self-preservation. For if we examine these problems too closely, our darkest, most secret fears may come true. Therefore, it can seem easier to focus on the positive. In her poem “Surprise,” Jane Kenyon uses denial, selective perception, and fear of betrayal to illustrate the self-deception that can occur in marriage.
Jane was very uncomfortable and surprised when Mr. Rochester had the desire to speak with her on equal terms. On page 84 she stated “if he expects me to talk for the mere sake of talking and showing off, he will find he has addressed himself to the wrong person.” This tells the reader that Jean is a very structured person and doesn’t like to break the social rules of society.
People cheat, lie, undermine, and backstab all the time. People fall in and out of love constantly in a rapidly changing world. In Ray Bradbury’s “utopian” future world, marriage is almost the same. When Montag is trying to remember where and when he met Mildred, he can not, ““I don’t know,” she said. He was cold. “Can’t you remember.”” (40 Bradbury). This sudden revelation of his former blindness in his marriage comes from the attainment of knowledge, without knowledge marriage isn’t marriage. Knowledge is the true power in marriage, it keeps people together because when you have the capacity to think you have the ability to feel for another, which is necessary for a healthy relationship. This necessary factor of love is completely absent in this dystopian
Human sexuality is a common phrase for all, and anything, pertaining to the feelings and behaviors of sex for the human race. Sexuality has been a topic that has been discussed and studied for as far back as 1000 years B.C. and is still being studied today. As the discussion of sexuality has progressed through history, theories have been created based on research and experiments that scholars have implemented, based on their own perceptions of human behavior. Out of the many theories that pose to explain sexual behavior, Sexuality Now explained ten that are seemed to be the most overlapped, and built off of theories. Of these theories, two that were discussed in the text were the behavioral and sociological theory. These two theories cover some of the basic ideas of what could possibly influence a person’s sexuality.
In the beginning Michael was in denial. In paragraph 15’’ it said Michael would expect his parents’ to be on the couch. In paragraph 16’’ it said Michael thought he smelled his dad's old spice cologne and his mother’s talc. This shows that Michael was in denial of his parents’ death. After six month Michael would expect his parents’ to be waiting for him.
Michael desires other women regardless of the fact that he is wedded. This is shown in the story when he is eying other women so often that his wife realizes it. When Michael and his wife are walking down Eighth Street, he sees a woman that is so pretty she could "break [his] neck."(p.1) Frances thinks
Frances doesn't agree with Michael that its natural for him to look at other women. When she catches him looking at the first woman, she says "She's not so pretty anyway,...Not pretty enough to take a chance breaking your neck looking at her." She thinks the reason that he is looking at the girl is because she's pretty, but he disagrees, saying "...She has a nice complexion. Country girl complexion." Her logic is, that she sees herself as just as pretty as any other girl. So why would her husband want to look at other women? But Michael's point of view is that he can't help but look at these women. That
There is constantly cessation why women and men cohabitate, nurture, desire, and endure. Many shrug the similarities and differences to the side due to the complex nature that is involved in understanding the progression. Since the beginning of time, according to the bible, man was placed as the dominant sex, fending for the families well being. The woman has tended to the important jobs around the homestead as situations arose. Often in society, one will find himself in a battle depending on the views of the receiving recipients. Following is a dialogue explaining a safe and metro sexual view as a general whole.
In The Girls in Their Summer Dresses, it is necessary to explore the personal differences that cause problems in the relationship of the couple. The details of the story will lead to a conclusion that for Michael the relationship could just be a mere convenience or an affection solely generated by his physical wanting of Frances, so with the way she looks and appreciates the girls of New York.
Hence, even if there may be a motivation for casual sex because of developing one’s script or fulfilling a man’s physical satisfaction and a women’s intimacy in a relationship, there are the same emotional effects and negative outcomes that result from taking part in premarital sex. An action that was morally right would not have