Modern Short Story Essay

Modern Short Story Essay proto(prenominal) 20th Century authors often wrote about the gothic things and discrepancies raise in society and used ridicule to criticize them. Katherine Mansfields A Cup of afternoon tea and Virginia Woolfs The Duchess and the jeweler both use caustic remark to condemn and show inconsistencies in social classes. The nobble stories demonstrated how being upper class or rich doesnt necessarily mean you are secure, generous or a darling person. A main topic found in the twain stories is that money deposet buy person self esteem if they never had it.Both main characters be to have e trulything but use material things to absorb their insecurity and neither of them have what they really want. The jewelry clearr had become very crocked and admired. He was envied by every man he encountered yet within the Jeweller button up felt inferior and as though he was a curt male child in the alley where they sold dogs on Sunday. (Woolf 6) At the end of the trading floor the Jeweller sits back and thinks of how he was tricked and is the same fool he will endlessly be.In A Cup of tea rosemary is A young, brilliant, passing modern, exquisitely well dressed, amazingly well behindnistervas in the newest of the new books, (Mansfield 1) woman. The only thing Rosemary lacks is physical appearance. She was not the best looking female person and unfortunately that flaw bothered her and was one of the reasons she was so insecure. Rosemary is also rich and able to bargain for anything she wanted. The only thing Rosemary couldnt grease ones palms was self esteem and this showed at the end of the story when she asks Phillip the simple question of Am I picturesque? (Mansfield 8) Both stories show how the main characters satisfy their self-centred needs instead of just doing the right thing. The Jeweller is an experienced and successful jeweler and knows he should make sure the beadings presented to him to purchase are authentic. The Jeweller didnt see what he was losing, he saw not the houses in Bond Street, but a dimpling river and trout acclivitous and salmon and the Prime Minister and himself too, in exsanguinous waistcoat and then, Diana. He looked down at the pearl in his hand.But how could he test it, in the dizzy of the river, in the light of the eyeball of Diana? But the eyes of the Duchess were on him. (Woolf 6) Once he turn everyplaces will model Diana and pictures himself as royalty, he quickly buys the pearls without testing them to foregather his own selfish desires. As a result, he is tricked. In the other story Rosemary wants to institute fellowship(a) the lesser little girl so she buns show her off and play with her like a little toy doll to keep to herself. sort of of just helping the poor girl by giving her money, Rosemary thinks of her own selfish desires.When decision making whether or not to bring home the obscure girl Rosemary thinks such an adventure. It was somethi ng out of a novel by Dostoevsky, this meeting in the dusk. Supposing she took the girl home? Supposing she did do one of these things she was always rendering about or seeing on the stage, what would go through? It would be thrilling. And she heard herself saying afterwards to the admiration of her friends I simply took her home with me, as she stepped advancing and said to that dim person beside her Come home to tea with me. (Mansfield 3) Rosemary thought this would be her opportunity to impress her friends and show how much of a good woman she was. One final similarity found in the two stories is the demonstration of the upper plastered class behaving immorally and manipulative. In the Duchess and the Jeweller the Duchess uses purpose to cheat the Jeweller and get what she desires. The Duchess enters the Jewellers store claiming that she only has ten pearls, she states on foliate 4 that those ten pearls are All thats left me, dear Mr. Bacon, (Woolf 4).Not only was the Duch ess able to wrong the Jeweller into getting she wanted she made him believe he was getting rewarded with the gift of spending a long weekend with her daughter and becoming severalise of royalty class. In A Cup of Tea Phillip was able to elude his wife Rosemary by aiming at her weak spot, which was her insecurity. Phillip believes that Rosemary bringing home the little girl is not amusing and an sozzled thing to do. To trick Rosemary into getting the little girl to not stay for dinner Phillip attacks very sneakily.Phillip simply states Good Lord Phillip struck a match. Shes absolutely lovely. Look again, my child. I was bowled over when I came into your room just now. However I think youre making a unrelenting mistake. Sorry, darling, if Im cruse and all that. But let me know if Miss Smith is going to dine with us in time for me to look up The Milliners Gazette. (Mansfield 7) As shortly as Phillip tells Rosemary all these things about the little girl Rosemary is came over by green-eyed monster and wishes the little girl to leave.So not only does Phillip manipulate Rosemary but she then allows her own greedily to overcome her desire to help the poor girl. In conclusion, the two stories both successfully used jeering to point out the how the upper class stinker be envied by all but still be insecure. They both exhibited main characters who are wealthy and seem to have it all but can still behave selfishly and when they do it can backfire with opposite results then they desired. The last realization is that even the highly regarded upper class can behave immorally and manipulate others.