preview

Relationships in "The Girls in Their Summer Dresses" Essay

Good Essays

How would one feel if ones significant other was constantly disobeying the relationship? In Irwin Shaw’s “The Girls in Their Summer Dresses”, he shows how important having a trustworthy and honest relationship is. This short story highlights the flaws in romantic relationships by demonstrating how one needs some type of relationship in life, how fragile a relationship can be, and how many take loved ones for granted.
Friendship, Role model, Boyfriend/Girlfriend- all these are examples of a relationship. Everyone sees them constantly begin and end throughout life, but they are still always there. In this short story, Frances and Michael are having a problem with their marriage because Michael can’t keep his eyes off other women. “This …show more content…

They go from walking down fifth avenue happily, enjoying each other’s company, to Frances saying “You always look at other women, At every damn woman in the city of New York” (Shaw 2). “Although he reassures Frances is a good wife, she believes that he only wants freedom” (Petty 2225). They are fighting over Michael looking at other women, which makes Frances extremely insecure about herself. This is building up the tension between them and it finally snaps when Michael tells her why her looks at the other women. “Almost immediately, however, the tension becomes evident and they have to stop and get a drink in the early afternoon” (Giles, 7). The relationship breaks, showing how fragile it was.
Having a fragile relationship relates back to having a relationship in everyday life. Most of the time, people try to push the problem aside so they can keep the relationship strong and have it continue that way. “Frances appears to have no defense against the ravages of time except her marriage, and she finds the prospect of losing the security difficult to bear” (Archer 5). Frances can’t handle the fact the she is slowly losing interest in her relationship. Throughout this short story, the idea of taking loved ones for granted is constantly portrayed. “They decide to spend the day alone,

Get Access