The Kiss (analysis by E. Fedyunina)
The story under consideration, ‘The Kiss’, was written by Kate Chopin. The scene is laid in Nathalie's house. It is a third-person narration. The story is written in ironical tone.
The story begins with the description of the atmosphere surrounding main characters - Nathalie and Brantain. Brantain loves Nathalie, but there is also another main character, Harvy, who is interested in her, too. Nathalie loves Harvy but also wants wealth which could be given by Brantain. She plans to marry him, but at the same time, to have Harry's love. Once, when she is talking to Brantain, Harvy comes in and kisses her passionately. Brantain, who is really embarrassed by this situation goes out. Then Nathalie shouts at Harvy and he claims that he hasn’t seen her companion. Next day, she goes to Brantain and lies to him that she really cares for him and that she and Harvy are like brother and sister. At the end, she marries Brantain but looses Harvy.
In this story we find a picture of relations between three different characters. Nathalie carefully plans how to achieve her aims. She pretends and uses her charm. The moment when Harvy kisses her is a climax of the story. The author employs a good simile here: ‘we have always been like cousins-like brother and sister’. Nathalie is not simply ‘a little unreasonable’. ‘She left like a chess player’ (it is another simile). Nathalie is narcissistic, vain and manipulative, and she thinks that she has a right to play with people's emotions. There is also an oxymoron – ‘slow glance’ - that proves she is ambiguous.
Brantain is naive and has a weak character. He believes everything Nathalie tells him, for example, about her and Harvy, and doesn't see that she needs him only because of his money. The author employs epithets to describe Brantain: ‘frank’, ‘blustering’, ‘insignificant’, ‘unattractive’, but ‘enormously rich’.
Harry, on the contrary, doesn't let Nathalie manipulate him.
The denouement of the story is Brantain's and Nathalie's wedding. The unexpected twist here is when Harvy comes up to Nathalie and says that her husband has sent him to kiss her. Nathalie desires Harvy to kiss her. There is a perfect personification: ‘her lips looked hungry for the kiss which they invited’. But Harvy says with an irony: ‘But, you know, I didn't tell him so. It would have seemed ungrateful, but I can tell you. I've stopped kissing women; it's dangerous’.
Chopin finishes her story with the words: ‘A person can't have everything in this world’.
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In my opinion, it is the message of this story. One should be honest with other people and it is important to set a priority in our life. Happiness can't be bought for any money.
News of the Engagement (analysis by E. Orlova)
The story ‘News of the Engagement’ is written by an English writer Arnold Bennett. The themes of love, family relationships and childhood are considered here. The author describes 3 main characters: Philip, his mother and Mr. Nixon. One more character – Agnes (Philip’s fiancée) – is hidden.
• Philip (the narrator): A self-centered person engaged to a certain Agnes; he often pigeon-holes people, such as his mother and Mr. Nixon.
• Philip's mother (Sarah): A widow, who is thought to have no future, but the narrator finds out that she falls in love with Mr. Nixon.
• Mr. Nixon: A person with a well-established background, nice and fell in love with Philip's mother.
The story illustrates the process of Philip’s growing up. From being egocentric, thinking that he should be the only thing that his mother cares about, to being considerate and mature at the end.
The story is set in first person from the narrator's perspective. This manipulates the readers’ perception of the events and leads to the twist in the story.
The setting of the story is the mother's home, the Christmas Eve (the time of discoveries and wonders).
At the beginning we meet a young Philip, who comes to visit his mother. He is going to give her tremendous news at supper. Philip expects his mother to be a typical housewife of 45. He stereotypes her as a woman at the house. The phrase ‘I was the only son of a widow’ shows that the son assumes that his mother is solely dependent on him, and he is her everything. The world revolves around him, so he expects his mother would be able to feel it. A simile is used to describe how his mother ‘hovered’ around him ‘like a seagull hovering around a steamer’. He thinks he is superior to his ‘little plump mother’. He ‘never thought of the mother as a woman with a future’.
But the supper is set for three – for the narrator this suggests that there may be a surprise in the person of Agnes. This also relates back to the self-centered attitude of the protagonist, which shows how he only thinks of himself, and not of his mother. In fact, she is expecting Mr. Nixon for supper. The narrator considers him to be his ‘mother's trustee’ and nothing further. It is least expected that he will become Philip's stepfather therefore Philip jokes calling him ‘uncle Nixon’. A table is shown where the whole family settles down to communicate, so it is ironic that Mr. Nixon's seat is also prepared although he is not known as the father or part of the family in the eyes of Philip yet.
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Philip and his mother are portrayed to be very close people, that’s why they are able to relate to each other’s important things. At the end Philip and Mr. Nixon shake hands that is the symbol of the young man’s maturation.
In conclusion, I would like to say that in my mind the story teaches us a valuable lesson. It shows how important it is to treat parents as individuals, not to be selfish, self-centered and to think of others before ourselves.
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