Setting

The year when the events in “The Girls in Their Summer Dresses” by Irwin Shaw take place is not mentioned, but, as the story was published in 1939, we can assume the events take place around that time. This is also indicated by the social status of women in the story, and by the descriptions of their clothing (such as wearing fur). The…

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Physical setting

The main physical setting of the short story is New York City. The couple begins their walk at Brevoort (l. 1) – which is a hotel in New York – and keeps walking “towards Washington Square” (l. 5). They walk on Fifth Avenue (l. 30), the place where Frances becomes frustrated when Michael looks at other women. After walking by Washington Square Park (l. 62), the couple heads towards Eighth Street …

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Social setting

The social setting explores several important aspects. One of them is the defective relationship between spouses, which is illustrated by Frances and Michael. While Frances wants to spend more time with her husband and reconnect, Michael is dishonest about his feelings and hurts his wife by telling her that he sometimes wants to be free to pursue other women.

The social setting also focuses on the social life of the upper-middle class in New York. As the story reveals, Frances has refined tastes and she and Michael are constantly entertaining other people and have a full social life: “ ‘We’re always up to our neck in people, drinking their Sc…