On Human Humor and Irony
Analysis of "The Kugelmass Episode" by Woody Allen Sidney Kugelmass' first wife was Flo with whom he had two dull sons. Their marriage was a failure ending with a divorce. He had to give alimony and support to his children and this eventually burdened him. Kugelmass' second wife was an oaf woman named Daphne. Their marriage had been unhappy, too. Kugelmass had been telling his analyst how he regretted marrying fat Daphne who "swelled up like a beach ball". (2) He also mentioned that, although he admitted it not to be enough, one of his reasons of marrying Daphne is her "few bucks". (2)Aside from his marital qualms, he also brought up his desire for an implicit love affair with a new woman. He said that he wanted romance in Venice, at the famous New York restaurant "21", or in front of wine and candlelight. He also told him that the other woman must not come from City College where his wife and he, as a humanities professor, were working. He wanted the relationship to be discreet, though, for he nevertheless did not want a second divorce. Kugelmass also confessed about the dream he had the night before he went to the analyst. He dreamt of himself skipping through a meadow holding the 'Options'-ma
After doing so, Kugelmass would find himself plunged into that book where he can meet the women he wishes to get acquainted with. He found himself running for his life over a rocky terrain as the hairy spindly-legged irregular verb tener ("to have") scurried after him. He has been trying to run away from a life that has been made boring by rules and rigidity (like that of the alimony and child support he has to render, 1), time, and age. Kugelmass, on the other hand, was transported anyway, though not to "Portnoy's Complaint". But, in the end, after all his struggles, he has been cast away in a place where these factors including the pleasures he longed to have would haunt him in the form of the spindly-legged verb tener (to have). Unfortunately, the machine gave in again and burst into flames. Another example is that he describes Charles, Emma's husband, as someone who is "out of his depth, a lack-lustre little paramedic who is thrown in his lot with a jitterbug". (57) However, when she is actually brought and trapped in New York without anything that she wanted to achieve (like that of an acting job and an Academy award, 81,121), she suddenly wants to go back to her rural French life. This contrast will prove very important as the plot and theme of the story develops. Persky appeared with an old cheap-looking Chinese cabinet. (140-148)What is special about "The Kugelmass Episode" is the way the characters symbolize and exemplify human ironies. Kugelmass did not want to take it from his analyst so he terminated his treatment and opted for the Great Persky, a magician, who all of a sudden phoned him offering an instant fulfillment of his hidden desire for a new affair. " - Parsky, 29) and he does not want it to happen again. He is the one who first insisted on trying on Kugelmass his magic introducing his work as "some beautiful effect" (28), on "the level" (36), and "the emess" as he swears to God.
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Acceptance Essays
