A NIGHT OUT

BY
O. HENRY

Elements of the Drama

CHARACTERS
SETTING
PHYSICAL: NEW YORK
TIME: Early 20th century
SOCIAL: American urban
society

MAIN CHARACTERS:
Towers Chandler, Jeff
White, Marian
MINOR CHARACTERS:
Mrs. Black, Sissie,
Marie

THEMES
Appearances
versus reality
The importance of
character

MORAL VALUES
Honesty
prudence
Contentment

LANGUAGE &STYLE
Simple and direct
language
Repetition
Irony
Comparison and contrast
Symbolism

MESSAGES
Appearances can be
deceiving
Be yourself
Character is more
important than wealth

POINT OF VIEW
Third person
omniscient

BACKGROUND INFORMATION : IRONY

Irony is a literary device that show the

difference between appearance and reality
.O.Henry uses irony in this play .In an
ironic situation , the result is the opposite
of what is expected . In dramatic irony ,
the audience is aware of things the
characters are not aware of .

THE PLAYWRIGHT : O.HENRY

*O.Henry (William Sydney Porter)- born in 1862 ,North

Carolina ,USA ; died in 1910
*Started writing after getting married in 1887
*Wrote more than 300 short stories
*Most well known for the story Gift of the Magi
*His stories are typically about ordinary people living in New
York .Because of his witty humorous style , his stories are still
popular today

SYNOPSIS
*Towers Chandler is an ordinary man living in New York. He
earns very little but once every ten weeks , he dresses up and
goes for a meal at one of the best restaurant in the city . On
one of his night out , a girl named Marian bumps into him on
the street and falls, hurting her foot .Chandler invites her to
join him for dinner. They talk and Chandler pretends to be a
wealthy man who doe not need to work . Marian seems to lose
interest in him . After dinner , they to go their separate ways .
At home , Marian and her sister talk about the kind man they
would like to marry . Marian reveals that she cannot love a
rich man who does not work

ELEMENTS OF DRAMA
SETTING
PLACE

The story is set in various

places in New York .
Scene 1 the house where
Chandler rents a room
Scene 2 a street in the city
Scene 3 fine dining
restaurant
Scene 4 Marian's bedroom

SOCIAL

The story is set in the early 20th

century . The society in New York
consist mainly of two group those
who work for a living like the main
character Chandler , and those who
are rich and do not work

PLOT
EXPOSITION

Towers Chandler is all dressed up like a rich man for a night out. He meets his friend, Jeff
White , and tells him about his habit of saving one dollar a week so that he can enjoy the
lifestyle of the rich once every ten weeks
Rising Action

Rising Action

A girl dressed in an old hat and cheap coat knocks into Chandler and falls , hurting her
foot . Chandler invites her to have dinner with him . The girl, Marian, asks Chandler what
he does . Chandler pretends to be rich and tells her does not work .Marian loses interest
in Chandler and they go their separate ways. Chandler is disappointed and regrets not
telling Marian the truth

CLIMAX

Marian returns home and gets a scolding from her sisters for disappearing for two hours .
It is revealed that Marian is from a rich family

FALLING ACTION

Marian talks about her wish to marry a

man who has important work to do even if
he were poor

RESOLUTION

Marian thinks Chandler is just

another rich man and says that
she cannot love a man like him
even though he is attractive he is
attractive and kind .

CHARACTER

MAIN CHARACTERS
TOWERS CHANDLER
*A young man who works for a living , earning eighteen dollars a week
*Has blue eyes

CHARACTERS TRAITS

TEXTTUAL EVIDENCE

Pretentious and
untruthful

*Dresses well even thought he is not rich(p.24)

*Dresses up and dines at an expensive restaurant pretending
to be a rich man once every ten weeks (pp. 23-24)
*lies to Marian that he is a rich man who does not need to
work (p..27)

Shallow

*Puts importance on his appearance(p.24)

*Judges Marian by her clothes and thinks she is a shop girl(p.23)

Imprudent

*saves one dollar every week but spends all his saving on an expensive
dinner once every ten weeks (p. 23)
*spends his money on expensive clothes instead of paying his rent on
time (p.24)

CHARACTERS
Gentlemanly
,chivalrous and kind

*Helps Marians when she falls

*Compliments Marian when she is worried that she is not suitably dresses to
go to a restaurant (p.26)

Generous

*Invites Marian to dinner (p.26)

MARIAN

*Young lady from a rich family

*Attractive Chandler `likes what he sees (p.26)

CHARACTERS
CHARACTER TRAITS

TEXTUAL EVIDENCE

Wise , practical

*Values characters and deeds more

than wealth -`I could only love him if
he has some important work to do in
the world (p.27)

Adventurous

*puts on her maids clothes to go to

her dressmaker instead of being
chauffeured there in a car , and
enjoys the pretence -`Everyone
thought that I was a shop girl! It was
wonderful!(p.29)

Strong willed and independent

*Does not simple accept her parents

plan for her to marry a rich man
;insists that she can only love a man
who works (p.29)

MINOR CHARACTERS

JEFF WHITE
*Towers Chandlers friend
*Thinks Chandler is foolish for pretending to be rich

MRS BLACK
*Towers landlady
*Sarcastic
*Disapproves of Chandlers spending habits

SISSIE
*Marians sister

*Disapprove of Marians adventurous spirit

MARIE

*Marian and Sissie s maid

THEMES
Appearances versus reality
*The main character in this play Towers Chandler dresses like a
rich man and dines at an expensive restaurant .In reality he is just a
wage earner
*Chandler meets Marian who is wearing an old hat and a cheap coat .
He thinks she is just a shop girl . In reality, Marian is from a rich
family with a maid and chauffeur
The importance of characters
*Marian is from rich family , and she is expected to marry someone equally
rich . However , she feels that she can only love a man who does some kind of
work , and not a rich loafer
*If Chandler had been truthful with Marian , she would let herself fall in love
with him. Unfortunately , Chandlers dishonesty causes them to miss the
chance of true love.

MESSAGES

Appearances can be deceiving

*Do not be fooled by what you see

*Towers Chandler dresses well but he is a poor man.

*Marian is dressed like a shop girl but she is , in fact ,rich
*Chandler acts like a rich gentleman but he is , in fact , poor.

BE YOURSELF
*Both Chandler and Marian enjoy pretending to be someone else. Chandler
pretends to be a rich man .Marian pretends to be a poor girl
*As a result , they lose the chance to be together even thought they like
each other

MESSAGES

Characters is more important than wealth

*Chandler thinks that being rich is important. That is why saves
money so that he can pretend to be rich.
*Marian , a rich girl , values characters more than wealth. Marian
is attracted to Chandler but is disappoint to find that he is a rich
man without character , who lives a boring life of luxury .
*If Chandler hand an honesty character , he would have gained
the love or the girl he likes , and who is rich , too.

MORAL VALUES

HONESTY
*chandler pretends to be what he is not. It makes him feel
wonderful to be thought or as a rich man
*He is attracted to Marian and tells her lies about himself.
*Chandlers lack of honesty about who really is causes him to lose
the chance to find true love.
PRUDENCE
*Chandler saves a dollar every week then spends it all at an
expensive restaurant and a taxi ride.
*He spends a lot of money on fine clothes but owes his landlady
the rent for his room. This is not a wise way to handle money.
Chandler is not a prudent man. If he continues doing this and does
not practice prudence, his landlady might one day kick him out of
the house

MORAL VALUES

CONTENTMENT
*Chandler is not content with his life . He longs to be a rich man
and enjoy luxuries like dining at expensive restaurant .
*His dissatisfaction makes him pretend to be a rich man once
every ten weeks . His pretence costs him the chance to be with
the girl he likes.

POINT OF VIEW

The story is told from the third person omniscient point of

view . The characters thoughts and personalities are
revealed to the audience through their dialogue and
expression . For example :
* Chandler regrets not telling Marian the truth about himself
: `it's too late now how stupid I am! ( p.27)
*Marian reveals that she cannot love a rich man who does
not do anything meaningful: ` But how can I love a man like
that ? (p. 29)

TONE & MOOD

The tone of the play is one of irony

*The playwright points out the foolishness of the main character in
trying to copy the lifestyle of the rich just for one night after saving
one dollar of his pay for ten weeks.
*Mrs. Black , the landlady makes a sarcastic remark that he can
spends on expensive clothes but not pay his rent.
*The man irony is revealed at the end of the play when the audience
discovers that Chandler has lose his chance to marry a rich girl
because he pretended to be rich
The mood of the play is light-hearted at first but ends on a note of
regret.
*In the beginning ,Chandler is ready to enjoy his night out pretending
to be a rich man. He laughs when his friend tells him he is
`crazy.When his landlady sarcastically points out that he still owes her
the rent ,he runs away comically

TONE & MOOD

* He then meets Marian , who looks like a poor shop girl ,and is
attracted to her. He keeps up his pretence of being a rich man.
*Marians sadness upon finding out that he is one of those lazy
rich men she dislikes , and Chandlers own regret at not telling her
the truth , changes the mood to a more serious and sad one.
*In the end, it is revealed that Marian is really from rich family but
who happened to be wearing her maids clothes. Ironically,
Chandler is actually the kind of man Marian could love, but his
pretence and also hers, causes them to miss the chance to be
together.

LANGUAGE & STYLE

*The play is written in simple and direct language.

*Irony is an important device used in this play. For example,
Chandler dressed well but cannot afford to pay his rent. He fails to
impress Marian by lying to her. In fact , he world have succeeded if
he had told her the truth.
*Contrast is used to highlight the ironic tone of the play. For example
, ` a million dollars contrast with ` eighteen dollars (p.23);
`spends money on expensive clothes contrast with ` cant pay for
your room (p.24).Many superlatives are used in the dialogue such
as `Finest clothes, `most expensive food, `best coffee, `richest
people, and `hardest workers.
*The names of the characters are symbolic. The main character, who
wishes to belong to a higher level of society, is named `Towers. His
friend, who is straightforward person, is named `White . The
landlady whom Chandler owes money and fears is `Mrs. Black.