In this activity, you will analyze Fourteen and “The Dinner Party.” Both Fourteen and “The Dinner Party” tell the story of a woman’s frustration with the changing guest list for a dinner party that she has planned. What are two major differences between the play and the short story? Give examples from the texts to support your response.

The texts differ in how much of Mrs. Pringle’s voice the reader “hears”. Because the play depends on characters telling the story, there is much more dialogue that is assigned to her character. For example, upon hearing that Mr. Farnsworth has canceled, she rants about several things: her seating diagram; Mr. Farnsworth’s excuse; the missed opportunity for Elaine; the threat to her own reputation; and the fact that Elaine is so shy or meek. She speaks on all of these things with only four attempts at interrupting by Elaine and Dunham, who only get in a few lines. On the other hand, in the story, all of her frustrations are stated in about seven short sentences, which is common or to be expected in short stories.

In the play, lines for Elaine and Dunham often do not reveal much of what they’re feeling, except when and after Elaine speaks to the Tuppers and is upset at the mess she’s made in agreeing that they can bring their guests. In the story, we see the effect of Mrs. Pringle’s rants on Dunham when he thinks to himself, “The woman has gone mad.” We get even more detail about his feelings when he cuts into a conversation to announce the arrival of Mr. Morgan “without his usual regard for a butler’s decorum.”

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