The Short Story Girls in Their Summer Dresses by Irwin Shaw - Essay Example

The short story “Girls in their summer Dresses” by Irwin Shaw is about a conversation between two characters called Michael and Frances. It takes place in New York on a November morning. As the story opens it is clear that they are a couple walking arm in arm. Byline 20 there is mention of the word “husband” which shows that they are married. In this story, the reader learns about the relationship which they have. It is clear that there are some differences of opinion between them, and the conversation is presented as a way of finding out what the basic problem is. Things are not going smoothly and there are two areas which they have to work on. The first is a problem with honesty because they are hiding things from each other. The second area is communication because they are not very good at talking about their problems. They were not honest with each other from the beginning regarding their feelings about each other. When they got a chance at the end they cleared out all their differences and it is obvious that they are not going to continue with each other.
In the beginning, it is Frances who takes the lead. She confesses that she wants to spend the day with her husband alone “I have an idea, Frances said. “My wife has an idea. That pretty girl.” “Let’s not see anybody all day…” (lines 38-39) Frances is being very honest in saying exactly what she wants from her husband. The way that Michael responds is quite negative. By showing surprise at her idea, and referring to her pretty appearance, he is making himself look smart, and suggesting that pretty girls don’t normally have ideas. This is an arrogant attitude, and it shows that he does not value her very much, except for her appearance, which he likes to look at. The conversation continues but Frances becomes annoyed when Michael looks at all the pretty girls and women in the street. She wants only to be with him. He seems to want all the girls in the street. They are both aware of this difference and Michael does not think it is a problem. He admits that he looks at women but claims that he looks at “only pretty ones” (line 85) Frances believes that he looks at “every damn woman in the City of New York” (Line 81-82)
This conversation reveals that they have not been honest with each other in their relationship so far. Frances realizes that Michael has probably been with other women, and will probably be with many more, and she forces him to be very clear about what he feels for all these women he looks at. When he admits that “Sometimes I feel I would like to be free” (p. 239) he is being honest, but this is not what Frances wants to hear. In the end, they give up trying to be so honest with each other. Frances asks her husband to “stop talking about how pretty this woman is, or that one…” (line 267-268) which means that she wants him to hide what he is feeling and just pretend to be faithful. When they return to their plan to spend time with the Stevensons, this is a metaphor for their return to a life where they present a false picture of themselves to the world. Their real feelings are hidden, and their relationship looks like it is going to fail because of this.

This is especially true for marriage. I hope I would never be in a relationship like the one in the story and I think that this story reminds me to be very clear at the start of a relationship about what each person really wants. Read More