Humor In Dorothy Parker's The Waltz

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Comedy is a phenomenal form of entertainment that consists of many elements that are made to make the audience laugh and snicker. Dorothy Parker’s short story, “The Waltz”, is a splendid exemplar of comedic literature. It contains many components of humor and never fails to wrench laughter from readers, but what makes this story so hysterically hilarious? One of the ingredients that made “The Waltz” so prominent in the world of satire is hyperboles. Parker uses exaggerations such as “And here I've been locked in his noxious embrace for the thirty five years thus waltz has lasted.” to convey how excruciating it was for the main character to dance with the maladroit man. Towards the end of the short story the woman elaborates on how prolonged the waltz was by stating “ And the music …show more content…

“Why, thank you so much. I’d adore to.” and ”I don't want to dance with him. I don't want to dance with anybody. ” shows that the woman in “ The Waltz” is attempting to be gracious towards the man, but in reality she detests the very thought of dancing with him. What she says and how she really feels contradict each other throughout the story which creates a comical effect. Whenever she speaks to the man, her thoughts express her agony and irritation regarding the situation she trapped herself in. Parker’s diction also shows how furious she feels which results in unspoken insults that only the audience can see. Innumerable people have been in predicaments where they desired to speak their mind, but they were prohibited from doing so due to some hindrance. For instance, if you had to be paired up with an unbearable person for a class project, you would not be able to switch partners since the teacher’s decision is final. Your partner keeps annoying you by tapping their pencil on their desk and kicking your leg, but you can not do anything so you have to resort to silencing them in your

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