The Girls in Their Summer Dresses

April 18, 2003

Jealousy has always been a factor in human relationships, especially between men and women, and even between married persons. Some couples find that it is difficult to express their jealousy (and hurt feelings), and so they keep silent through many years of suffering or even anger. Other married pairs find that it is better to approach their partner about the problem and confront them to find a solution that is not so painful. Anger between people is the "shadow of covetousness." It's natural that couples encounter jealousy and envy when their loved one is interested in someone else or pays too much attention to someone or something besides themselves. As anger rises, their love will eventually diminish.

In a short story by Irwin Shaw, "The Girls in Their Summer Dresses," he talks about a woman by the name of Frances who reacted to her husband, Michael, as his eyes wandered to admire other women and their attributes. For example, she says, "Look out, you'll break your neck, she's not so pretty. Anyway, not pretty enough to take a chance of breaking your neck." (Shaw, pg. 1034). Frances also smiled at her husband, perhaps because she was so familiar with his silly behavior and juvenile reactions to other women. Frances wanted Michael to pay more attention to her, rather than staring at other women. She thinks, "I want him to talk only to me and listen to me." (Shaw, pg. 1034).

There were evidently many times that she had felt his disrespect when she was talking to him and his eyes were looking at a girl walking past, as when she says, "You always look at other women. Everywhere. Every damned place we go." (Shaw, pg. 1035). Frances must have felt very upset and offended by Michael's actions. Whenever she expressed how she felt, Michael changed the subject, saying, for example, "It's a nice day, and we both feel good, and there's no reason why we have to break it up. Let's have a nice Sunday." (Shaw pg. 1035).

Frances tried to ignore Michael's actions, but inside she felt unwanted and unattractive. When Michael looked at other women, she felt a sense of betrayal, and she felt not as special to him as she thought she was or should be, because he used the same way of looking at other women as when he had first met Frances: "When we pass a woman and you look at her and I see that look in your eyes, and that's the way you looked at me the first time. The same looks, and it makes me feel terrible." (Shaw, pg. 1036). Michael's actions had drawn from Frances a sense that he didn't love her anymore, he had no more passion for her. Speaking out about her feelings, she said, "You look at them as though you want them. That's why I feel bad." (Shaw, pg. 1036). 

Frances told Michael that his feeling toward beautiful women was like a kid's feeling. She said that, as a grown man, he should grow out of it. Michael's behavior lowered Frances' self-esteem. She considered herself a good wife, who didn't deserve the way she was treated and who did not like the way she felt. Although Michael was very honest about it as he stood up for his behavior, he seemed to be thoughtlessly hurting his loved one, Frances. She demanded, "Stop talking about how pretty this woman is or that one. Nice eyes, nice breasts, a pretty figure, good voice, keep it to yourself. I'm not interested." (Shaw, pg. 1038).  

In some situations, a person would rather not know the truth than face the real situation and endure the pain. In the story Frances originally was like that; she loved Michael too much to face the truth. The truth sometimes hurts too much to bear, especially when one's whole life is involved. Although a person can try to ignore a situation, even when it happens in front of you, each person can only protect themselves so much. After a while, the repetition of irritation can be too annoying to ignore. It's not easy for people, especially modern ones, to be patient when your loved one flaunts the rules of loving behavior. Frances finally becomes angry and says something, as everyone eventually must; her anger is justified. And so at last she told Michael how she felt.  

"The Girls in Their Summer Dresses" qualifies as literature because it takes a specific situation and uses it and its details to explore an aspect of the human condition. Literature must have a plot, but more important it is about the characters and how they represent us all, as least in one aspect. The actions of the characters reveal the theme of the work, which opens the mind to new understanding of people and the situations in which they find themselves. Everyone can relate to the actions and feelings of Frances and Michael. 

Good literature, especially, also gives us insight into how complex people can be. We can use the characters as models for our actions or as examples of behaviors to avoid. We can also examine how we would react to similar situations. Also, we can think about the moral and social implications of society's and people's choices. At its best, we can ponder great themes that have perplexed humanity since the days of the Greeks.

Another thing is that a work of literature has a structure, a composition, just like a work of art. We can examine this structure of thought for examples for our own thinking and problem solving. A narrative structure, comparison and contrast, or descriptive method provides us with tools for thinking. It also contributes to the unity and strength of the story. 

 "The Girls in Their Summer Dresses" has the attributes of good literature and also is a good and easy-to-read story!