While Carol and Howard are engrossed in a naïve struggle to marry efficiently, Gallant is able to provide sophisticated insight on the pitfalls of mistaking business for love. The mention of Carol’s “helpful college lectures on marriage” highlights the true irony of the passage. “The Other Paris” is not the romantic tale of two lovers in the ‘City of Love,’ but rather a humorous take on the idiocrasy which Gallant sees in marriage without genuine love and attraction. Gallant continues with the “pillars of the marriage union,” or, “similar economic backgrounds, financial security, and belonging to the same church” to further clarify her stance on the social issue of marriage. Likewise, the inclusion of “Carol, with great efficiency, nearly at once setting about the business of falling in love,” aids Gallant’s commentary by displaying the truly ironic nature of Carol’s approach to love. Rather than discovering her affections for someone first, Carol chooses to find the most logical match and then, in the most systematic and unemotional manner, begins to attempt to find some sort of attraction. Gallant displays her disdain for this naïve and utterly ridiculous method of going about love. The ironic and humorous narrative voice which Gallant employs throughout the passage allows her to bolster her claim
While Carol and Howard are engrossed in a naïve struggle to marry efficiently, Gallant is able to provide sophisticated insight on the pitfalls of mistaking business for love. The mention of Carol’s “helpful college lectures on marriage” highlights the true irony of the passage. “The Other Paris” is not the romantic tale of two lovers in the ‘City of Love,’ but rather a humorous take on the idiocrasy which Gallant sees in marriage without genuine love and attraction. Gallant continues with the “pillars of the marriage union,” or, “similar economic backgrounds, financial security, and belonging to the same church” to further clarify her stance on the social issue of marriage. Likewise, the inclusion of “Carol, with great efficiency, nearly at once setting about the business of falling in love,” aids Gallant’s commentary by displaying the truly ironic nature of Carol’s approach to love. Rather than discovering her affections for someone first, Carol chooses to find the most logical match and then, in the most systematic and unemotional manner, begins to attempt to find some sort of attraction. Gallant displays her disdain for this naïve and utterly ridiculous method of going about love. The ironic and humorous narrative voice which Gallant employs throughout the passage allows her to bolster her claim