Arturo Vivante's Can-Can: Use of Irony

CAN-CAN

А. Vivante

“I'm going to go for a drive" he said to his wife. "I’ll be back in an hour or two." He didn't often leave the house for more than the few minutes it took him to go to the post office or to a store, but spent his time hanging around, doing odds jobs — Mr. Fix-it his wife called him — and also, though not nearly enough of it, painting — which he made his living from. "Ail right," his wife said brightly, as though he were doing her a favor. As a matter of fact, she didn't really like him to leave: she felt safer with him at home, and he helped look after the children, especially the baby. "You're glad to be rid of me, aren't you?” he said. "Uh-huh," she said with a smile that suddenly made her look very pretty — someone to be missed. She didn't ask him where he was going for his drive. She wasn't the least bit inquisitive, though jealous she was in silent, subtle ways. As he put his coat on, he watched her. She was in the living room with their elder daughter. "Do the can-can, mother," the child said, at which she held up her skirt and did the can-can, kicking her legs up high in his direction. He wasn't simply going out for a drive, as he had said, but going to a café, to meet Sarah, whom his wife knew but did not suspect, and with her went to a house on a lake his wife knew nothing about — a summer cottage to which he had the key. "Well, goodbye,' he said. "Bye," she called back, still dancing. This wasn't the way a husband expected his wife — whom he was about leave at home to go to another woman — to behave at all, he thought. He expected her to be sewing or washing, not doing the can-can, for God's sake. Yes, doing something uninteresting and unattractive, like darning children’s clothes. She had no stockings on, no shoes, and her legs looked very white and smooth, secret, as though he had never touched them or come near them. Her feet, swinging up and down high in the air, seemed to nodding to him. She held her skirt bunched up, attractively. Why was she doing that of all times now? He lingered.7 Her eyes had mockery in them, and she laughed. The child laughed with her as she danced. She was still dancing as he left the house. He thought of the difficulties he had had arranging this rendezvous — going out to a call box; phoning Sarah at her office (she was married, too); her being out; his calling her again; the busy signal; the coin falling out of sight; his opening the door of the phone box in order to retrieve it; at last getting her on the line; her asking him to call again next week; finally setting a date. Waiting for her at the cafe, he surprised himself hoping that she wouldn't come. The appointment was at three. It was now ten past. Well, she was often late. He looked at the clock, and at the picture window for her car. A car like hers, and yet not hers — no luggage rack on it. The smooth hardtop gave him a peculiar pleasure. Why? It was 3:15 now. Perhaps she wouldn't come. No, if she was going to come at all, this was the most likely time for her to arrive. Twenty past. Ah, now there was some hope. Hope? How strange he should be hoping for her absence. Why had he made the appointment if he was hoping she would miss it? He didn't know why, but simpler, simpler if she didn't come. Because all he wanted now was to smoke that cigarette, drink that cup of coffee for the sake of them, and not to give himself something to do. And he wished he could go for a drive, free and easy, as he had said he would. But he waited and at 3:30 she arrived. "I had almost given up hope," he said. They drove to the house on the lake. As he held her in his arms he couldn't think of her; for the life of him he couldn't. “What are you thinking about?" she said afterwards, sensing his detachment. For a moment he didn't answer, then he said. "You really want to know what I was thinking of” "Yes," she said, a little anxiously. He suppressed a laugh, as though what he was going to tell her was too absurd or silly. "I was thinking of someone doing the can-can." "Oh," she said, reassured. "For a moment I was afraid you were thinking of your wife.”

Assignments

1. What is the can-can? 2. What does the husband do for a living? 3. Is he a hard worker? 4. Whom is the husband going to meet? 5. Does the wife suspect her husband of adultery? 6. Why was it so difficult for the husband and Sarah to arrange a meeting? How is it emphasized in the text? 7. What is the husband's state of mind as he sits waiting for his lover? 8. What happened when the husband and his lover reached their rendezvous? 9. What was the husband's lover concerned about? 10. Is she reassured by his answer to her question? 11. How would you feel if your spouse cheated on you. Do you sympathize with any of the characters - the husband, the wife, or the mistress? 12. Try to understand why the characters act as they do and what thoughts about life A. Vivante is attempting to convey in the story. Look carefully at the way he uses language to express his ideas. 13. What is the significance of the can-can story? 14. Does the wife do the can-can for her child or her husband? Explain your answer? 15. What effect does the dance have on her husband? How is the reader made to feel it? 16. How does the author help the reader perceive his state of mind? Comment on the role of the narrative method in the story. 17. What do the couple expect from each other in marriage? Does each fulfill the other's expectations? 18. Irony is embedded in "Can-Can", with respect both to the situations in which the characters find themselves and to their comments and thoughts. For example, Vivante writes of the husband as he sits waiting for his lover's car. A car like hers, and yet not like hers - no luggage rack on it. The smooth hardtop gave him a peculiar pleasure. Here we have an ironic contrast between the husband's earlier excited anticipation of the meeting and his surprising feeling of relief that it is not his lover's car arriving. Pick out and explain other examples of irony in the story. 19. What does the can-can symbolize in the story? 20. In the scene where the wife does the can-can, hew does the language reinforce the symbol? 21. What theme in the story is highlighted by the symbolic dance? 22. Do you think the expectations the couple have of each other are reasonable? 23. Do you think the husband will continue the affair? 24. Should the husband have left the restaurant when he had the opportunity? 25. Have the husband and wife learned anything from the episode? 26. What do you imagine their marriage will be like in the future?

Irony. A mode of expression, through words (verbal irony) or events (irony of situation), conveying a reality different from and usually opposite to appearance or expectation. A writer may say the opposite of what he means, create a reversal between expectation and its fulfillment, or give the audience knowledge that the character lacks, making the character's words have meaning to the audience not perceived by the character. In verbal irony, the writer's meaning or even his attitude may be different from what he says: “Why, no one would dare argue that there could be anything more important in choosing a college than its proximity to the beach." An example of situational irony would occur if a professional pickpocket had his own pocket picked just as he was in the act of picking someone else's pocket. The irony is generated by the surprise recognition by the audience of a reality in contrast with expectation or appearance, while another audience, victim, or character puts confidence in the appearance as reality (in this case, the pickpocket doesn’t expect his own pocket to be picked). The surprise recognition by the audience often produces a comic effect, making irony often funny. Dramatic irony is created by the discrepancy between what a character believes or says and what the reader or audience member knows to be true (the audience has knowledge that gives additional meaning to a character's words). Irony may be achieved by simulated adoption of another's point of view for the purpose of revealing certain weaknesses, or for the purpose of ridicule and sarcasm.