Hector Hugh Munro - Tea Analysis - 1793 Words

The text under analysis is written by Hector Hugh Munro, better known by the pen name Saki, was a British writer, whose witty and sometimes macabre[] stories satirized Edwardian [] society and culture. He is considered to be a master of the short story and is often compared to O. Henry and Dorothy Parker. In this story we learn about a young man James Cushat-Prinkly. He decides to marry and his relatives approve this idea. They find marriageable girl named Joan Sebastable. However, he marries another girl, whose name is Rhoda Ellam. The text is written in 3rd person narration. There are both types of sentences – simple and composite. Composite are used to show that the story is about people from high society. And shorts are used when the†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"The weight of public opinion† which is a metonymy shows again that he hasn`t got any initiative. â€Å"A clear working majority† is a periphrasis too that shows us that even he is grown up he still can`t take the decisions. After the future wife for James was chosen, marriage is started to be called so – â€Å"to whom he might propose marriage†. It means that there are no excuses for avoiding it as the choice is already taken. James is really afraid of ordinary way of life. We can see it here: â€Å"the prescribed stages of congratulations, present-receiving, Norwegian or Mediterranean hotels, and eventual domesticity.† It is the chronological order for life stages and he doesn`t like it at all.  "It was necessary however to ask the lady what she thought about the matter† – through irony the author shows us that the question of marriage for James was like some business and also it seemed to him to be the solved problem. â€Å"Individual effort† which is a metonymy accentuate one more time on his lack of initiative. It says that now he has to do something. â€Å"As the thing was going to be done he was glad to feel that he was going to get it settled and off his mind that afternoon.† Again we come across periphrasis. Now thing means proposal. However, later he calls it by its name because submits it – â€Å"Proposing marriage, even to a nice girl like Joan, was a rather irksome business†. He calls marriage and proposing it irksome business so he has some business-like attitude to it.