The Decline of Chivalry Explored in Araby and A&P Essay -- Comparison

Romantic gestures have been seen as a useful cause to win hearts of women for centuries. However, as society constantly changes, the effectiveness of these medieval acts has diminished. In James Joyces Araby and privy Updikes A&P, this theory is explored, both telling the story of a boy whose efforts to mint the girl of their desires fail. As said by Wells in his critical analysis of these stories, Both the protagonists have come to realize that quixotic gesturesin fact, that the whole chivalric view sic --- are, in modern times, counterproductive. These stories, despite the differences between the two characters, clearly show that the characters world is changing, with chivalry becoming more obsolete.Araby tells the story of a raw boy who romanticizes over his friends older sister. He spends a lot of time admiring the girl from a distance. When the girl finally talks to him, she reveals she cannot go to the bazar taking place that weekend, he sees it as a chance to impress h er. He tells her that he is going and testament get her something. The boy becomes overwhelmed by the opportunity to perform this courageous act for her, sure as shooting allowing him to win the affections of the girl. The night of the bazaar, he is forced to wait for his drunken uncle to buffet home to give him money to go. Unfortunately, this causes the boy to arrive at the bazaar as it is closing. Of the stalls that remained open, he visited one where the owner, and English woman, seemed to have verbalise to me out of a sense of duty (Joyce 89) and he knows he will not be able to buy anything for her. He decides to just go home, realizing he is a creature driven and derided with vanity (Joyce 90). He is wrothful with himself and embarrassed as he... ... prove how romantic gestures become obsolete as time progresses. As shown above, Sammy and the boy went to great lengths to impress the girls. However, their quest failed manifestly because it did not matter to the girls. This goes to show that as society develops through time, these chivalrous gestures become more and more useless.Work CitedDiYanni, Robert. Literature Approaches to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Boston McGraw Hill. 2008. Print.Joyce, James. Araby. The Norton unveiling to Literature, Shorter Eighth Edition. Eds. Jerome Beaty, Alison Booth, J. Paul Hunter, and Kelly J. Mays. New York W.W.Norton.Updike, John. A&P. The Bedford Introduction To Literature. Ed. Editors Name(s). Boston, MA Bedford/St. Martin, 2005.Wells, Walter. John Updikes A&P a return visit to Araby. Studies in Short Fiction 30, 2 (Spring 1993)