Dorothy Parker

A detailed Summary of Dorothy Parker


'Four be the things I am wiser to know:

Idleness, sorrow, a friend, and a foe.

Four be the things I'd been better without:

Love, curiosity, freckles, and doubt.

Three be the things I shall never attain:

Envy, content, and sufficient champagne.

Three be the things I shall have till I die:

Laughter and hope and a sock in the eye.'

Dorothy Parker became popular shortly after the first world war with her light verse and short stories. Although her works may not seem harsh and unwomanly today, they were labeled in this manner at the height of her popularity. Her cynical verses developed into something of a national frenzy, while giving the reader the impression that she recklessly stretched a woman's equal rights to include sexual relationships. It seemed that infidelity was included among these "rights." Her admirers culled quotations from her poetry that, while seeming to be among the most clever, were also among the least sincere. These epitomize the apparent lack of emotional range displayed in her verse.

The techniques and topics that many of her verses tackle are as follows: "bitterness, humor, wit, and love" (Adams 519), together with an absolute foreknowledge of their futility. L


Much of Parker's verse and prose concentrates on love. More specifically, it concentrates on disaster, anguish, or bitterness brought about by love. Parker's own individual conflict with her runaway emotion becomes ironically apparent in her satire of the simpering, sensitive female in her work. Many of her leading characters are the self-consciously honest, rambunctious, alcohol-swilling women that the Roaring Twenties produced in that lost generation. The atmosphere was thoroughly conducive to Parker's brief prose and poetry. The 1940s took away some of the shine of her light verse and short stories. However, her work now has the opportunity to make a comeback based upon its sharp wit and smart satire.

'Oh, life is a glorious cycle of song,

Thus does Fate our pleasure step on!



Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 940
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: People

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