TW Revision: “The Other Paris” The ‘City of Love’ should be bursting with intense and passionate emotion, but the Paris presented by Mavis Gallant in “The Other Paris” is mechanical and apathetic. The city’s young population has abandoned the wistful ideas of true love and attraction in favor of pairing up for societal and economical gain. Mavis Gallant utilizes narrative voice and grating characterization to provide a sharp critique of the mechanical and naïve outlook on romance which society has adopted. Gallant typifies Carol and Howard as businesslike and cold to exemplify her stance against marrying without love. Even in Paris, a city famous for its passion, Carol is incapable of loving Howard and is “convinced she would fall deeply
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While Carol and Howard are engrossed in a naïve struggle to marry efficiently, Gallant is able to provide sophisticated insight on the pitfalls of mistaking business for love. The mention of Carol’s “helpful college lectures on marriage” highlights the true irony of the passage. “The Other Paris” is not the romantic tale of two lovers in the ‘City of Love,’ but rather a humorous take on the idiocrasy which Gallant sees in marriage without genuine love and attraction. Gallant continues with the “pillars of the marriage union,” or, “similar economic backgrounds, financial security, and belonging to the same church” to further clarify her stance on the social issue of marriage. Likewise, the inclusion of “Carol, with great efficiency, nearly at once setting about the business of falling in love,” aids Gallant’s commentary by displaying the truly ironic nature of Carol’s approach to love. Rather than discovering her affections for someone first, Carol chooses to find the most logical match and then, in the most systematic and unemotional manner, begins to attempt to find some sort of attraction. Gallant displays her disdain for this naïve and utterly ridiculous method of going about love. The ironic and humorous narrative voice which Gallant employs throughout the passage allows her to bolster her claim
While Carol and Howard are engrossed in a naïve struggle to marry efficiently, Gallant is able to provide sophisticated insight on the pitfalls of mistaking business for love. The mention of Carol’s “helpful college lectures on marriage” highlights the true irony of the passage. “The Other Paris” is not the romantic tale of two lovers in the ‘City of Love,’ but rather a humorous take on the idiocrasy which Gallant sees in marriage without genuine love and attraction. Gallant continues with the “pillars of the marriage union,” or, “similar economic backgrounds, financial security, and belonging to the same church” to further clarify her stance on the social issue of marriage. Likewise, the inclusion of “Carol, with great efficiency, nearly at once setting about the business of falling in love,” aids Gallant’s commentary by displaying the truly ironic nature of Carol’s approach to love. Rather than discovering her affections for someone first, Carol chooses to find the most logical match and then, in the most systematic and unemotional manner, begins to attempt to find some sort of attraction. Gallant displays her disdain for this naïve and utterly ridiculous method of going about love. The ironic and humorous narrative voice which Gallant employs throughout the passage allows her to bolster her claim