Theme Of The Catbird Seat And The Gioconda Smile

There can be similarities between two completely different things, such as people, ideas, or stories. Let 's take the example of the “The Catbird Seat” and “The Gioconda Smile.” Even though both short stories have completely different plots, they also have common traits. One of these common traits are their themes. Two significant themes that appear in both “The Catbird Seat” and “The Gioconda Smile” are “All’s Fair in Love and War” and “Jealousy can be a destructive force.”

The first theme is “All’s Fair in Love and War.” This is a significant theme in both short stories because love and competition play a large role in the plot of these stories. In “The Gioconda Smile,” Henry Hutton is pursuing a romantic relationship with Miss Janet Spence, a lonely, thirty-year-old unmarried woman. While this is going on, he also has a young mistress, Doris, and an ill wife, Emily Hutton. One day, when Janet is invited to dine with Mr. and Mrs. Hutton, she skillfully poisons Mrs. Hutton when getting her

Characterization is the act of portraying or describing the individual quality of a person. In the short story, Miss Janet Spence is depicted as lonely, infatuated, and devious. At the beginning of the story, it shows that she constantly displays her “Gioconda Smile” because of one compliment he had given her that she had taken too seriously. This shows that she would do anything in order to keep receiving compliments and to keep him pleased. Ms. Spence also poisons and kills Mr. Hutton’s wife in order for him to be available to her. Her infatuation shows clearly as she is willing to commit murder, so that she can be with him. Her deviousness shows when she finds out that he had a mistress and had proposed to her. As her revenge, she spreads the rumor that he killed his wife, and when the police hear this and find concrete proof, he is convicted, tried and sentenced to