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Marriage a la Mode Study Guide

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by Katherine Mansfield
About 37 pages (10,979 words)
Marriage A-la-Mode Summary

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Critical Essay #2

In the following essay, Magalaner contrasts Mansfield's use of "domestic tragedy" with "broad social satire" in "Marriage á la Mode."

"Marriage à la Mode" is in the tradition of "Bliss," both stories in which a domestic tragedy is played out against a background of broad social satire. In both instances, the flamboyant, articulate, utterly silly pseudo-bohemian set is the target of Mansfield's scorn though in the former story they play a greater role in the personal catastrophe than in the latter. Both Bertha Young and her husband, though they enjoy the company of people like Eddie Warren and the Norman Knights, maintain a distance from the circle—observers rather than participants. And the character who brings down their flimsy marital structure, Pearl Fulton, is instantly recognizable as another outsider. In "Marriage," it is precisely that the husband.....

This is a free excerpt of 135 words. This section contains 1,554 words. This study guide contains 10,979 words (approx. 37 pages at 300 words per page).

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Marriage a la Mode from BookRags and Gale's For Students Series. ©2005-2006 Thomson Gale, a part of the Thomson Corporation. All rights reserved.



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