"Evening Dress" by William Dean Howells is a funny story that makes fun of late 1800s high society through the story of the Roberts family. Edward Roberts is asked to go to a fancy music event by Mrs. Miller, which causes a lot of trouble for everyone. The story mocks how people acted in society, the duties of people at home, and the disorder that happened when going to parties, especially when everyone cared so much about looking the very best. Mrs. Roberts is set on making her tired husband go but everything that can go wrong does, including forgetting his formal clothes, their friends unexpectedly showing, and a crazy search for something for Mr. Roberts to wear. The book shows how hard it was to meet social expectations in a funny way that mirrors Howells' look at American life back then.
Evening Dress Farce
By William Dean Howells
A husband's attempt to fulfill a social obligation turns into a hilarious disaster, exposing the ridiculousness of high-society expectations.
Summary
About the AuthorWilliam Dean Howells was an American realist novelist, literary critic, and playwright, nicknamed "The Dean of American Letters". He was particularly known for his tenure as editor of The Atlantic Monthly, as well as for the novels The Rise of Silas Lapham and A Traveler from Altruria, and the Christmas story "Christmas Every Day," which was adapted into a 1996 film of the same name.
William Dean Howells was an American realist novelist, literary critic, and playwright, nicknamed "The Dean of American Letters". He was particularly known for his tenure as editor of The Atlantic Monthly, as well as for the novels The Rise of Silas Lapham and A Traveler from Altruria, and the Christmas story "Christmas Every Day," which was adapted into a 1996 film of the same name.
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