The Girls in Their Summer Dresses
The central conflict in Irwin Shaw's \"The Girls in Their Summer Dresses\" exists between Michael Loomis and his wife of five years, Frances.
美国作家欧文·萧（Irwin Shaw）的《身穿夏装的姑娘们》，描写了一对年轻的美国夫妇周末逛街时的情景：本来，妻子想好好地与丈夫恩恩爱爱地享受一个愉快美好的周末。可是，到了大街上，“充满花心”的丈夫，对身边来来往往的美女俏妇俏佳人，左顾右盼，恋恋不舍。此情此景使贤惠的妻子醋性大发，嫉妒伤心。然而，吃醋的妻子，到底没有“河东狮子吼”。她幽怨地恳求丈夫把一颗爱心放到她的身上。丈夫没有内疚和道歉，反而谈起了他一贯喜欢看美女和漂亮的少妇，以及他看到这些风格不同的美人儿的心理感受。
我是比较喜欢这篇小说的。我的看法是：
一、这篇小说对于中国人来说，不是“黄色”、“下作”及“不健康”的东西。对于地道、敏感的中国人来说，该文似乎有点“那个了”。其实，细看一下，文中到底也没有下流的色情描写。和一些不健康的文学作品比较起来，我觉得，该文内容可以说是健康的，不说积极的教育意义，至少，我觉得《身穿夏装的姑娘们》一文，有一种使人耳目一新的感觉。撇开西方的道德标准，即使按照我们中国的道德规范来看，我们的主人公迈克尔至少可以算是一个正人君子或安分守己的良民。
二、说本文具有使人耳目一新之感者，就是说它比较真实地和自然地描写了人性的心理活动，主要是人的性心理活动。从某种程度上来说，本文可以说是迈克尔性心理活动的坦白书。它描述的是司空见惯的、平平常常的，甚至是非常老套的生活现象：男人喜欢看女人，看漂亮的女人（其实，女人又何尝不喜欢看美男子？爱美之心，人皆有之。爱美之心，何罪之有？饮食男女，人之大欲存焉）。它没有令人肉麻的搂搂抱抱和上床睡觉等下流的露骨情节，只写出了一种“犯罪的心理”，但到底也没有由它支配出犯罪的行为或不道德的行为。因为人类这一高级动物特有的道德观念，束缚和了我们的迈克尔。正是因为如此，在读者的心目中，我们的迈克尔应该是一个可亲可爱的有人情味的实实在在的正常人。我想，读者们不会去谴责我们的迈克尔所怀有的那种“犯罪”心理。倒是相反，比起那些道貌岸然、衣冠禽兽的男盗女娼来，迈克尔不知道要干净和伟大多少倍呢。
三、从某种程度上来说，该文还可以说有一定积极地教育意义。你看，我们的女主人公，佛朗西斯多么地爱她的丈夫迈克尔，而迈克尔也的确曾经爱过他的妻子，只是后来没有以前那么深爱了。但是，他毕竟还没有胡来。这就给实际生活中的人们以一定的启示：爱的情感是需要不断地培养和发展的，否则，以前再怎么炽烈的爱也会枯竭的。如果经过努力，感情确实破裂，爱已一去不复返了，恢复不了以前的恩爱，那么，双方合法地、正大光明地分手，总比同床异梦、你偷我摸要强得多吧。因为诚实总比虚伪要好。佛朗西斯固然值得同情，但迈克尔也不应该完全受到责备。不可否认，他应该始终如一地爱他的妻子。但是，因为他是一个有血有肉的的凡人，他也会爱上别的女人。在这种情况下，迈克尔敢于说实话，确实是很诚恳、勇敢和可爱的。因为，双方交心以后，就可以做出一番努力，使“破镜重圆”，或者使“镜”就不要破裂。这岂不更好？若“镜”实在要破，那两人都有了思想准备，以致不会感到太意外而再出意外之事。这不也是好事么？
以上是我翻译这篇小说的原因。我希望朋友们也能喜欢这篇小说。（草于1986年，整理于2010年10月下旬）
What is the theme in the story \"The Girls in Their Summer Dresses\" by Irwin Shaw?
I understand the central idea to be \"relationships are hard to maintain when both parties are not solely invested in each other.\" based on that I am trying to formulate the theme
The Girls in Their Summer Dresses
Analysis of “The Girls In Their Summer Dresses” The short story “The Girls In Their Summer Dresses” by Irwin Shaw highlights an argument between a married couple on a Sunday afternoon in New York City. The afternoon begins well; the wife, Frances, makes plans with her husband, Michael, to spend the entire day with only each other, and not with their friends the Stevensons, as originally intended. While the couple strolls down the street, Frances catches Michael gazing at a pretty girl walking by,and a squabble begins. The events that unfold while Michael and Frances debate illustrate that this is not their first quarrel on the subject, and that this couple handles their problems with a little alcohol and a buffer zone of friends. Shaw suggests through this story that for a couple
What kind of symbols are in \"The Girls in Their Summer Dresses\" by Irwin Shaw?
Style and Technique
The narrative achieves compression within a tightly unified framework. The story works through subtle shifts of mood and tone in the dialogue; the narrative is presented primarily from a dramatic point of view that creates tension and suspense, for the reader can never be sure of each character’s actual mental state or interior thoughts. The author allows the story to develop through their conversation. The authorial voice intervenes to describe the characters’ reactions, tone of voice, and emotional states as these change during the conversations. The dialogue achieves a realistic colloquial tone and reflects the economy one finds in dramatic dialogue.
The characters themselves are too commonplace to be very interesting. Their interests and conversation are shallow, the remarks on mundane topics sprinkled with joking and exaggerations. They have forsaken their roots in the Midwest and appear to have no ties with the past. They live in Manhattan, in comfort if not
affluence; yet their main interests appear to be partying, drinking Scotch, attending films and football games, and, with Michael, girl-watching. Although Frances reveals some emotional depth and intensity, she shares her husband’s essentially superficial pleasures. Nothing they say or do indicates that they possess even a casual acquaintance with their environment’s cultural wealth—its libraries, concerts, art galleries, or live theater.
Intimacy and distance between the two characters are marked by recurring motifs of hands and touching, a skillful imagistic technique used by Shaw. Michael holds Frances’s arm as they walk along Fifth Avenue, and she pats his after the encounter with the first girl. He presses her arm as he is trying to reassure her following the second incident with a girl, but shortly thereafter she withdraws her hand as she complains about his habit. They join hands to go to Washington Square Park. At the bar, Michael puts out his hand to her after she has poignantly reminded him how good a wife she has been. She withdraws her hand to press him with additional questions, arising from her state of insecurity. By this time, the opportunity for understanding and intimacy has vanished.
As with other Shaw stories, the conclusion circles back to the beginning. Early in the story, Frances mentions their planned outing with their friends, the Stevensons. Preferring to spend the day with Michael, she begins making other plans, only to return to their original purpose after she has been upset by his insensitive behavior. As the narrative concludes, she is walking to the telephone to call the Stevensons and accept their invitation.
