Mrs. Foster

Mrs. Foster is a neurotic individual who lives with her husband in a mansion in New York City. She has deep anxiety about arriving on time for scheduled events, such as trains, planes, and theatre events. Her anxiety controls her personality, because it has allowed her to fall under the tyrannical control of her husband, Eugene Foster. Throughout the story, Mrs. Foster’s anxiety and her relationship with her husband obstruct her independence, but by the end of the story, Mrs. Foster gains a new lease on life.

Dahl establishes Mrs. Foster’s anxiety about being late early in the story. However, he suggests that Mrs. Foster’s condition might be exaggerated at the beginning of the story. The narrator describes Mrs. Foster as being afraid of “missing a train, a plane, a boat, or even a theatre curtain” (37). The fact that this list is mostly comprised...