...Gender Roles, Marriage and Love: A Comparison of I’m Going! A Comedy in One Act vs. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty Cindy Stevenson ENG 125: Introduction to Literature Instructor: Kathryn Ness Santana July 30, 2012 Gender Roles, Marriage and Love: A Comparison of I’m Going! A Comedy in One Act vs. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty Gender roles and marriage have been stereotyped for thousands of years. The man earned a living while the woman stayed home did the cooking and laundry and raised the children. Today, however, roles have reversed in many households. Men stay home and take care of the children, do the cooking, and run the errands while the wife earns the income. The biggest change over the years is that husband and wife both work to make-endsmeat. In comparing and contrasting James Thurber’s “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” and Tristan Bernard’s “I’m Going! A Comedy in One Act” I will show through differences and similarities in the content, form, and style how these different stories both have the same theme. “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” by James Thurber is a short story that was originally written in 1939. This story revolves around the lives of two characters Mr. and Mrs. Walter Mitty and Mrs. Mitty’s constant henpecking toward Mr. Mitty. Mr. Mitty daydreams to remove himself from his wife’s badgering. He imagines himself in heroic scenes as the center of attention, as US Navy Pilot flying his crew out of a hurricane, then as a...
Words: 2833 - Pages: 12
...The Secret Life of Walter Mitty Loren Martin Sahag Gureghian Eng 125 16 September 2013 The Secret Life of Walter Mitty Throughout this class, I’ve been stretched further mentally than I have in a long time. I am not a naturally a person who sits and reads poems or tries to see if there is symbolism being used in a short story. For me, I take life the same way I do what I read, at face value. If you talk to me about June, I will take you literally, like you’re talking about the month of June. I won’t get that your symbolizing an establishment. So I guess that even though literature is very frustrating to me, I think maybe I’ve learned a few things. One of the things that we looked at in this class was themes in literature. What themes are, and how they may or may not flow through poems or short stories. I am going to take a look at two very different short stories, and show how the theme is the same. We will take a look at the way they are written, Walter Mitty, although he is a figment of someone else’s imagination, reminds me of some of my friends, and ultimately myself. The writer’s main focus is Mr. Mitty’s ability to slip into “another world”, completely forgetting where he is at and what he is doing in the present. The world he slips into is a world that makes him more important than the monotonous world he lives in. Although Mitty isn’t completely cut off from reality, he utilizes his ideal world to cope with his seemingly boring life. One of the reasons...
Words: 910 - Pages: 4
...James Thurber By Rahul Patel/10 [pic] Rahul Patel Mr. Hurdle Composition 11 May, 2012 James Thurber Part I: “Authors of light pieces have, nobody knows why, a genius for getting into minor difficulties: they walk into the wrong apartments, they drink furniture polish for stomach bitters, they drive their cars into the prize tulip beds of haughty neighbors, they playfully slap gangsters, mistaking them for old school friends” (James Thurber). James Thurber was a cartoonist and an author. He was born on December 8th 1984 to his parents, Charles and Mary Thurber. Thurber’s father was a clerk and a minor politician, while his mother was a practical joker and very strong-minded. For example his mother would tell visiting guests that she was in love the post man and she had to be kept in the attic because of it. She would also tell people that she was a cripple and then she would suddenly stand up and tell everyone she had miraculously healed(James Thurber 1 of 5). James Thurber also had two brothers, William and Robert. When Thurber and William were little, they were playing with a bow and arrow, and William shot James in the eye. This led James to be partially blind and because of this injury he couldn’t participate in any sports or activities, but this injury developed a very creative imagination in Thurber’s mind. A neurologist at the time had a theory that he might have Charles Bonnet Syndrome, which is a condition that...
Words: 3160 - Pages: 13
...Thurber’s The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” is a short story that was written in 1937. The story features an elderly man who drives his wife into town for beauty parlor visits and regular weekly shopping. Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” was published in 1894. In this short story Kate Chopin presents her perspective of the repressive role of marriage in the lives of women. This is shown by the fact that the main character, Louise Mallard, thinks that she will find freedom in the death of her husband. Both short stories share common theme of gender roles and marriage. Gender roles are defined as the behavior and attitudes that are strengthened by the stereotypical identity of an individual. The relationships among the form, style, and content of the two stories help us to understanding the essence of gender roles and marriage in the society today and back then. In “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” Walter Mitty is an elder American man who has retired and has nothing else to do except follow his wife around. Walter daydreams about the life he wishes he could have. The main focus of the story is to present a fantasy world rather than a realistic one. “The Story of the Hour” takes on a more dramatic effect. The story reflects an important hour for the main character, Louise Mallard. Louise experiences freedom in this hour. Just like in The Secret Life of Witty where the main focus is on the desire to escape from an ordinary life, so is the case with The Story of the Hour...
Words: 1223 - Pages: 5
...In the short story “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” by James Thurber, the main character, Walter Mitty, daydreams that he is a star surgeon, soldier, and witness. He always imagines himself as the hero in a story that he creates from a little piece of the reality that surrounds him. I often do the same thing, however Walter Mitty’s daydreams contain a little less reality than mine do. Walter Mitty takes just one piece of the world around him, such as the hospital that he just drove by or the calls of a newsboy advertising a court trial, while I usually reimagine the situation that I am already in. In my daydreams I am usually the hero; however, I am not always the hero, as sometimes be the student under direction of a star teacher or the person receiving help....
Words: 485 - Pages: 2
...The Secret Life of Walter Mitty: Chronic Day Dreamer in a Depressed Society By: Rebecca Moore In the Great Depression of the 1930’s, there was a strong social and economical struggle that inhibited both men’s wishes and fantasies. The very idea of finding a paying career with high social status, was quite impossible to achieve and challenges the masculinity inside men, including Walter Mitty. Thurber’s short story;The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is of a man whose ultimate escape from a boring and miserable reality by making his own, depicts the hunger of excitement and success, as well as escapism that many others wanted in the Great Depression. Mitty’s desires to become more than who he is, and to be the centre of attention in his own fantasies, are the result of external and internal factors, that belittles and emasculates him. His patronizing wife, superior men, his self image, and his rather systematic life, causes him to isolate himself and escape the 1930’s time warp. Walter Mitty; there is little known about him except that fact that he is a chronic dreamer and has controlling wife whom he is submissive to. Goonetilleke’s article The Secret Life of Walter Mitty: Overview expresses Thurber’s point of view on how women have won the battle of the sexes through Mrs.Mitty who stifles Walter’s masculine role in their relationships. She patronizes him about seeing a psychiatrist, putting on his gloves, getting overshoes, all the while reminding him that “you’re not a young...
Words: 1172 - Pages: 5
...The Secret Life of Walter Mitty Cadina Odum ENG125 Mary Lounsbury March 17, 2013 The Secret Life of Walter Mitty “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” (Thurber, 1939) is a short story by James Thurber. The most famous of Thurber’s stories, it first appeared in The New Yorker on March 18, 1939. This short story deals with a vague and mild-mannered man who drives into Waterbury, Connecticut and his wife for their regular weekly shopping and his wife’s visit to the beauty parlor. During this time he has five heroic daydream episodes, ranging from being a pilot in the U.S. Navy flying boat to being on a secret suicide mission to bomb an ammunition dump. In the following paragraphs I will tell why this story captured my interest, describe an analytical approach and evaluate this work and the meaning of the story. This story using great detail with descriptive, imaginative wording brings the reader in and allows you to visualize what he is daydreaming. This is the type of writing that draws me in and allows me to imagine what is going on. This work is a good example of farce (a comedy; a short play, in which both subtle humor and hilarity are developed through improbable situations, exaggeration and (often) ridiculous antics) (Clugston, 2010). Selected to show how humor can be used imaginatively in a story to illustrate the need for communication in human relationships: Mitty’s immersion in extraordinary matters of his dream world blocks him from sensitivity to his wife’s...
Words: 689 - Pages: 3
...Imagining Walter Mitty’s Secret Life Jessica Lehmkuhl October 28, 2013 Imagining Walter Mitty’s Secret Life Author of “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, James Thurber really expresses his own imagination in this literary work. According to Clungston (2010), Thurber spent his life writing, he wrote for the, Columbus Dispatch, New York Evening Post, New Yorker, and a newsmagazine. Thurber was known for his cartoons, drawings, and farce works during his time writing for the New Yorker. During my literary analyses of “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”, I found myself asking many questions. The only question I asked myself about author James Thurber, in regards to this particular literary piece, was, whether he is reflecting on previous articles he has written over the years and expressing them through the day dreams of Walter Mitty. In my reflective analysis of “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” I am going to use the formalist approach, concentrating on the development of this particular work of literature. I plan to share the questions I ask myself as I was reading and how this piece of literature stood out to me. When I began reading the first paragraph of this literary satire I assumed it was going to be a war story. So you can imagine my surprise come the end of the paragraph. By the beginning of the third paragraph Thurber had my full attention and imagination. As I was reading I began to ask my self questions about Walter Mitty and a few other characters. I first ask...
Words: 971 - Pages: 4
...compare the two short stories “The Story of an Hour”, by Kate Chopin and “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”, by James Thurber. “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” is a short story written in 1937. The main character is an older man that drives his wife to town for beauty parlor visits and weekly shopping. “The Story of an Hour” was published in 1894. The main character, Louise Mallard, thinks that she will find freedom from the death of her husband. These short stories share a common theme, gender roles within a marriage. Each of the main characters in these stories has their own ideas about the gender roles that they are supposed to play, according to society and the time that they live in. The secret life of Walter Mitty and The Story of an Hour are based on a man Mr. Walter Mitty and a woman Mrs. Louise Mallard, whom believe that they have become prisoners within their marriages. They have to abide by the society standards of their era, divorce is not an option because all marriages have issues and the wedding vows need to be honored, “Until Death due us Part”. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty Versus The Story of an Hour In “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” Walter is an elderly American man who is retired and has nothing better to do but to follow his wife around. Walter daydreams about a life that he wishes he had. The focus of this story is to represent a fantasy world opposed to a reality. “The Story of the Hour” presents a much more dramatic effect. This story reflects upon...
Words: 2909 - Pages: 12
...Marriage as a Literary Theme in “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” Amy Barnes ENG125: Introduction to Literature Instructor Victoria Schmidt February 24, 2014 Marriage as a Literary Theme in “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” portrays an average man leading a normal, mundane existence, who is married to a controlling, dominating woman who is in charge of her husband Walter’s every move. The literary elements of plot, tone and setting define the reasons why Walter must escape his daily life from his domineeringly aggressive wife, and find a place where he is happier and more content with himself. “Theme [is] associated with an idea that lies behind a literary work. In a story, theme is a representation of the idea behind the story.” (Clugston, 2010) Another viewpoint of theme is derived from K. Griffith (1990) as he implies that theme is the central idea, commenting in some way about the human condition. A theme is what the work says about a topic and must apply not only to the characters in the story but to the "real" world as well. In the short story “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” by James Thurber (1939), the image of marriage emerges. The author portrays the typical life of two married people, one being passive and the other being dominant. This is not to say that either one is good nor bad, but to show the reasons why Walter fades off into daydream. The characters of Walter and Mrs. Mitty, on the outside are in conflict with each...
Words: 1362 - Pages: 6
...OMPARE AND CONTRAST Compare and Contrast Two Short Stories Both Kate Chopin in "The Story of an Hour" and James Thurber in "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" discuss the relationship between married couples. As will be set forth in this paper, the authors reach similar conclusions through very different methods. Neither character relates well to his/her spouse and both are in an unhappy marital situation. It is fairly certain that both Mitty and Mrs. Mallard are loved by their spouses and according to all outward appearances, are in good marriages. Both long to be free, but both have trouble admitting that fact to themselves in a way that will allow them to do something about their situations. Both short stories examine the ironic reality that far from making some people happy, love can be a prison. Alienation, isolation, and the basic need for freedom of spirit are themes running through both stories. The authors make their points with very different uses of form, style, and content. The short story narrative is used by both authors. Both have a clear time frame, well developed characters, well defined settings, and are told from the third person omniscient perspective (Clugston, 2010). Chopin writes a brief scene from Mrs. Mallard's life which stuns the reader with the knowledge that Mrs. Mallard is joyful at the news of her husband's death. The story covers the space of only one hour, but that hour is filled with revelations about Mrs. Mallard (as cited in Clugston...
Words: 310 - Pages: 2
...In this essay, I would like to compare and contrast gender roles/marriage and primarily show through two literary works found in my textbook the differences and likenesses of each story, as they are being told to the audience. The short stories that I have chosen to discuss for this essay are “The Necklace”, by Guy de Maupassant and “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”, by James Thurber. I will try to compare and contrast both stories and give the audience a brief summary, explaining the likenesses and differences and engaging the reader, while doing so. In the short summary of the short story "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty". This short-story tells the tale of Walter Mitty while on a trip into town with his wife, the bossy and serious Mrs. Mitty. Walter is sadly incompetent of doing many things; he forgets a lot of things, is very absent-minded while driving, and cannot handle the simplest tasks. But, what makes Walter unique throughout this short-story is his imagination. While Walter goes through his tasks, he escapes into a world of many fantasies, each brought on by reality. While driving his car he starts to day dream that he is a commander on a “Navy hydroplane" going through a storm. (Clugston, 2010). While passing a hospital, he believes he is a famous surgeon, known throughout the world for saving lives. He imagines he is being interrogated in court on a case, when he hears a newsboy shouting about a trial. Also, when he is waiting for his wife, he imagines himself...
Words: 3290 - Pages: 14
...The Secret Life of Walter Mitty VS The Necklace April Kahl ENG 125 Introduction to Literature Angela di Guaico March 3, 2014 When comparing and contrasting short stories. One should look at tone, irony, theme, symbolism, and imagination. When all these literary terms are combined they make stories. The secret Life of Walter Mitty, and The Necklace, there is similarities in gender role of the characters, but there is differences, both of these short stories represent relationships in their marriage, through the main characters, and the roles they play. In this paper I will explain the similarities as well as the differences the characters play in both stories. I chose these two stories because they both have the same theme about marriage and love. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty and The Necklace are written in third-person narration, and throughout the two stories one person point of view it also allows you to see the dreams and thoughts of the main characters. In ‘ The Secret Life of Walter Mitty’, you are given some insight to his imagination of events throughout his day of errands that his wife is having him do while she is getting her hair done at the salon. In ‘ The Necklace’, you are given some insight into Madame Loise’s unhappy and depressing life that she lives and when she is given the opportunity to go this high end event we get to see w her at the ball in her dream, in the dream she is admired as...
Words: 1582 - Pages: 7
...within the marriage often is a key element to defining the role each partner plays. What works for one marriage may not work for another. There are also many stereotypes between genders on what should and should not be accepted. In the story “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”, (Clugston, 2010) we see very different roles between Mitty and his wife then that in “I’m Going”. (Clugston, 2010) One story takes the stance that the husband is more silent and subservient to his wife, pleasing her and keeping his thoughts to himself for the most part. Whereas in “I’m going” (Clugston, 2010) the husband plays a more dominant role and controls his marriage. Regardless of the role and stance taken on the representation of gender roles in marriage it is more important that the marriage have a strong foundation and good communication skills. Communication is defined as “any process in which people share information, ideas, and feelings.” (Hybels & Weaver, 2007) Communication sounds verbal but it can also include such thing as body language, style, or anything that would add meaning to a conversation. A simple “roll of the eye” contributes to the communication process and can give off a negative emotion even if no words were spoken. In the short play “I’m Going” (Clugston, 2010) I...
Words: 2853 - Pages: 12
...Similarities of Poetry & Short stories Poetry and short stories show how they are arranged and printed. The difference between the two are, poetry often reflects a lyrical flow about the rhythm. Short stories entail’s a commentary of specific events and actions of a particular condition or situation. The way literary forms affect how I read and respond to them is that, it immediately shows if the poem or short story has an emotional tone or set imagination. “The writers of these poems, using strikingly dissimilar poetic styles, present unconventional attitudes toward death and create surprising images of death” (Clugston, 2010). The two short stories I have chosen is the poem “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” written by Emily Dickinson in 1890-1983 and story “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” written by James Thurber in 1939. These two stories take place in two different time zones. The main character, in each story, differs in death and position. However, these two stories share a similar message concerning life and marriage. Obviously, Emily Dickinson and James Thurber are two very different writers who lived in different periods, but their shared internal struggles with marriage, life and diversion undeniably connects them. Each of these stories is a literary portraits of marriage, but more specifically, each is a description of the constraints of marriage for both men and women. However, Thurber treats Mitty’s actions humorously, but notice how the humor calls...
Words: 277 - Pages: 2
