Dorothy Parker

’s Short Stories Essay, Research Paper

Dorothy Parker’s writings are connected to her life in many ways. She grew up in a time where women’s roles where changing in society. She spent most of her life in New York City and most of her stories setting are of that city. She was married young and divorced in a short time, just as the Hazel in The Big Blonde. She was outgoing, sarcastic, and witty in a time when women were supposed to be docile. This style is shown throughout her work but particularly in The Waltz, where the status quo is displayed through the character’s conversation and Parker’s ideals are made known through the woman’s inter monologue. She combats a typical stereotype through mocking, in The Standard of Living. In this story the average woman is shown, as silly and almost material person. This work breaks the normalcy of the day by having them dress a little more risqu. and being more independent. Dorothy Parker lets her sarcastic, ironic, dry humor shine a light on the inner workings of the woman and the plight they have with society.

The Big Blonde tells the story of Hazel Morse, a woman who is trapped in city culture. The city culture is dominated by males and is isolated and uncompassionate. Set in the 1920s, the story tells of how men fulfill their expected duty of holding a daily job while women are expected to be a source of entertainment as well as “good sports”. Drinking heavily is a normal part of society and is used mostly to forget about life’s woes. The only “duty” for a woman in this time period is to find a husband and keep him happy. Hazel Morse is the protagonist of the story. She is a big breasted, bubbly, blonde woman who finds herself in a precarious position. She finds herself trying to live two lives; the one society expects her to live and the one she truly lives. She does not have self-identity:

Popularity seemed to be worth all the work you had put into its achievement. Men liked you because you were fun, and when they liked you they took you out, and there you were. So, and successfully, she was fun. She was a good sport. Men liked a good sport.(The Big Blonde)

Because she was a “good sport” she marries Herbie Morse. He lacks intelligence and is very brash. He wants a women to give him self worth. He wants someone to laugh at his jokes and admire him unconditionally. He married Hazel because he believes she is this type of girl. Once Hazel is married she does not put on this “good sport” fa.ade anymore. “Wedded and relaxed, she poured her tears freely. To her who had laughed so much, crying was delicious.”(The Big Blonde) Upon his discovery that Hazel is more than just a big blonde, Herbie grows distant and angry. He usually comes home falling-down drunk, if he comes home at all. He eventually leaves her. Hazel becomes friends with a woman who moves into the flat across the hall by the name of Mrs. Martin. She has an “admirer” and he frequents her flat and brings his friends, “the boys” over occasionally. One of “the boys” names is Ed, and Hazel and him become close. They have a relationship. It wasn’t a close one. She doesn’t think of him when he is not around. They start to frequent an establishment called Jimmy’s, where she meets men and women in the same situation as her and Ed. Jimmy’s is the classic 1920s speak-easy, a converted basement of a brownstone, much like the ones Dorothy Parker herself frequented. She starts going to Jimmy’s even when not with Ed. But just like Herbie, Ed expected her to be in good spirits all the time. When she could not one night, he left her. At Jimmy’s she became close with Charley, and then Sydney, Ferd, and Billy. She commented, “there was never another as rich as Ed, but they were all generous to her in their means.” (The Big Blonde) She began to ponder death, how to go about it, how it would stop the pain. Then she and Art begin relations. She begins to have trouble sleeping, and at Jimmy’s one of the women tells her about sleeping pills. Hazel makes a train trip to New Jersey to obtain some of the pills. After a melancholy night at Jimmy’s she goes home and takes the pills. Nettie, the maid comes in the next morning to find Hazel lying almost dead in her bed. A doctor that lives in the building is called. After two days Hazel became conscious. She was sad and furious. She doesn’t want to be alive, and she was upset the doctor keeps her that way. Nettie tries to make her feel better, even comfort her, but in a way she doesn’t. Just like everyone else she tells Hazel, “you got to cheer up tha’s what you got to do. Everybody’s got their troubles.”(The Big Blonde) The Big Blonde illustrates a woman’s quest to free herself from the trap that society places her in. Hazel however, always finds herself back in the same situation she started in.

The Waltz is a classic ironic Dorothy Parker story. A woman who is sitting casually in a restaurant/dance club is looking at a man who is dancing with another woman. She thinks to herself how she would never want to dance with a man like that. How he is the absolute worst dancer in the world, and she thinks of all the things she’d rather do then dance with him. Then he asks her to dance. She says she would love to, even though we know she does not want to. She begins to describe all the things she’d rather do like, take her tonsils out, and be on a burning boat late at night on the sea. She feels obligated to dance with him. They a