The Other Paris Mavis Gallant Summary

A marriage proposal is an occasion where one person in a relationship asks for the other's hand in marriage. Overtime, marriage proposals have changed in virtually all cultures. In the 1800s, marriage was more for social gain or monetary gain. However, marriage for love wasn’t unknown. William Collins proposal to Elizabeth Bennet in Jane Austen’s novel, Pride and Prejudice and Bradley Headstone’s proposal to Lizzie Hexam in Charles Dickens's’ Our Mutual Friend are perfect examples of two different types of marriage proposals that may have been giving during the 1800s. Analyzing Mr. Headstones and Mr. Collins’ techniques and the language used in their proposals reveal the weaknesses and strengths of their proposals.

Ever since the beginning of time, love has played an enormous role among humans. Everyone feels a need to love and to be loved. Some attempt to fill this yearning with activities and possessions that will not satisfy – with activities in which they should not participate and possessions they should not own. In Andrew Marvell’s poem, “To His Coy Mistress,” the speaker encounters an emotion some would call love but fits better under the designation of lust for a woman. In contrast, the speaker of Robert Herrick’s poem, “To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time,” urges virgins to marry, to make a lasting commitment in which love plays a

Marriage unites two people for better or worse, in sickness and health, until death they do part. In earlier times, some people might say wedding vows were taken more seriously; other say divorce was different back in the day. Looking at Katie Chopin and Nathaniel Hawthorne, who both exemplify martial vows in their short stories, “The Story of an Hour” and “The Birthmark.” It is clear in one instance, it was because divorce was different but then on the other hand the stories demonstrate the seriousness of the wedding vows. However, these stories express a husband-dominated relationship, in which the men possess ideals such as possession, perfection, and being all knowing.

Marriage is the union of two people who want to spend the rest of their lives together.In order to get married, either the man or woman in the relationship must propose to their partner. In Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Mr. Collins proposes to his partner in a self-centered and detached manner, whereas Mr. Headstone, in Charles Dickens’ Our Mutual Friend, proposes in a romantic and touching way.

In the short story, “The Other Paris”, Mavis Gallant narrates a social commentary with the use of satire, irony, and characterization of the two characters Howard and Carol. The two young people, blinded by society’s expectations, decide to get married after three weeks of knowing each other. Carol, a twenty-two year old woman, is under several assumptions about how love and marriage because of a series of “helpful” college lectures. Harold, in an effort to not be a person without a partner, proposes to Carol as fast as possible. Throughout the passage, Mavis Gallant ridicules the awkwardness of Harold and Carol and how society pressures young people with the idea of a proper marriage.

Marriage is one of the most revered institutions in most societies. Often a momentous event, most couples who choose to get married look forward to their wedding day and spending the rest of their lives together. However, the honeymoon phase of marriage may have the tendency to fade over time, and relationships that were once strong and loving may become strained. In the short story Birthday Party by Katharine Brush, a particular instance of such a weakened relationship is highlighted as the observer in the story witnesses a married man and woman celebrating a birthday in a restaurant. Through the use of vivid description and powerful word choice, Brush effectively comments on the concept of marriage and relationships and emphasizes their romantic impermanence and sometimes inevitable deterioration.

We live in a society that has increasingly stomped on love, depicting it as cruel, superficial and full of complications. Nowadays it is easy for people to claim that they are in love, even when their actions say otherwise, and it is just as easy to claim that they are not when they really are. Real love is difficult to find and keeping it alive is even harder, especially when one must overcome their own anxieties and uncertainties. This is the main theme present in Russell Banks’ short story “Sarah Cole: A Type of Love Story,” as well as in “The Fireman’s Wife,” written by Richard Bausch. These narratives, although similar in some aspects, are completely different types of love stories.

Gallant states Carol’s views of love- Carol is desperately searching for love, and believes that it can be grown under the right circumstances. While this is true, for love to grow, a foundation of attraction and connection must be present. Carol believes that for love to grow, she needs “a good climate, enough money, and a pair of good-natured, intelligent (her college lectures stressed this enough) people.” Carol is desperately searching for love, and she is trying to force herself to love Howard, but she is searching for love the wrong way. By stating that “her college lectures stressed this enough,” Gallant is proving the superficiality of Carol’s idea of love, while also criticizing the marriage. She married Howard for the stability instead of love, and she is trying to force love between them based on what she learned in college. By doing this, Carol’s superficiality and naivety is revealed, because she impulsively married Howard for the stability and now is trying to grow love between them. Gallant sees the naivety of Carol, and mocks her through the tone of the passage by using sarcastic

Marriage has been a heated controversy for the past few years because people often marry for the wrong reasons. Anyone who thinks of an ideal marriage would think of two people loving each other and sharing a personal bond or goals together. Marriage is regularly defined as the legally or formally recognized union of two lovers as partners in a personal relationship. This definition remarks there is an actual connection between two people in marriage, but do people actually consider this when committing to “love” and “support” their partners forever? As research and studies have shown, people ultimately get married for many reasons, except love. This philosophy can be easily applied to the short poem, “Marriage” by Gregory Corso. In this emotional poem, the author argues marriage is more effectively understood or known for culture and convenience rather than through the abstract considerations of love. Here, we can identify people generally decide to marry for the incorrect reasons, for instance the story of the author himself. Corso finds himself confused multiple times, wondering if he should marry to not be lonely, for tradition and for his physical and mental health. He disregards love, a relationship or a connection with his future wife. General ways of convenience like loneliness, health and economic status between cultural stereotypes and religion are usually the true reasons of why people chose to have the commitment of marriage with another person.

    In the time frame that this story is set, many major life decisions things are made taking into account one’s duty to family - including the selection of a husband or wife.  It is possible that each of these couples may not have been in love,  when their vows were stated.  They have a duty to society; they must not marry outside of their social class.  They have a duty to their family;

As a novel such as this appeals to a variety of readers such as teenagers who love the comedian himself or adults seeking for the answer in their failed love life, Ansari refers to scenarios of all ages to create the perfect understanding of what love has come to be. In order to clearly understand the “modern” aspect of modern romance, the book goes back in time to the simpler days where “people would find a decent person who lived in their neighborhood[,] their families would meet, and after they decided neither party was a murderer, the couple would get married and have a kid by the time they were twenty-two”. Now flash forward to a few decades later and the thought of marrying a neighbor is a nightmare when there are thousands of potential lovers online. As Ansari does his research on the abundance of factors with the ability to drastically change love in just less than a decade the catalyst is clear- there are simply too many options and too many wants. The root of a marriage is no longer based off of the desire for “a partnership for life in terms of children and social status” but the desire for a “best friend and trusted confident”, a soul

Modern literature is known for questioning society and its various conventions. One question that these works often ask is, “What is real?” Some modern authors explore this question by placing their characters within self-constructed illusions that are later shattered by the introduction of reality. Marriages are frequently at the center of this theme, with one spouse crafting an illusory impression of the other. Modern literature demonstrates that a marriage built upon illusion will falter when exposed to reality.

As societies change in ideologies evolve, young wishfuls are moving away from the traditional idea of a wedding day and instead moving towards more modern trends. Depending on one's cultural background and the influence of their family on their decision making, this transition may be harder for some soon-to-be married couples compared to others. Toula Portokalos and Ian Miller are a perfect example of a couple who’s journey into married life was not as smooth as they had hoped. Growing up in a large and very traditional Greek household, Toula’s parents always anticipated that she would marry a handsome Greek man early on in her life. However, when she meets Ian, an upper class Canadian Protestant, Toula was forced to choose between

In the late 1800’s through early 1900’s women and men were did not “tie the knot” like the women and men do in today’s day. In today’s world, women and men get married because they have many things in common, they are in love with each other, and they choose to get married to one another. In many stories written back then, readers can expect to read about how marriages were arranged and how many people were not having the wedded bliss marriage proclaims today.

The theme of the two stories revolves around the feminist issue of marriage. A common notion between the two short stories is that love is a failure and a mere comic when there is the failure to recognize the beloved as a person and not a mere convenience. The stories also deal with the 18th and the 19th century American life?declining in their spiritual and emotional lives.