Content and general interpretation (Diagnosis)

Contrary to his expectation, Paul Dorrance does not receive a diagnosis for cancer. He is only prescribed some harmless medication and will recover to full health in only a few months time[i]. Even before he is able to tell his mistress, Eleanor Welwood, about the good news, he finds a paper on the floor: cancer. Paul Dorrance, for some reason, decides to believe this paper over the doctors' diagnosis. Eleanor had always wanted to marry Paul and now takes her chance. After Dorrance tells her about the diagnosis, she takes the paper back to the physician and does not tell her fiancé that the diagnosis paper was not meant for him. With this move, she tricks him into the marriage[ii].

A reader might ask themselves: “Why does the physician recall every little detail of Eleanor’s appearance in his practice at the end of the story? Did Eleanor instruct the doctor to forget the paper in Paul’s office beforehand? Hence, why should have Eleanor brought back the diagnosis to the doctor when both Eleanor and Paul thought that it was meant for him - Eleanor must have known that she has to bring it back due to the fact that it was a mistake.[iii]

The travels of the newlyweds seem to be an escape from reality - with Paul’s realization of being dead even before his body physically dies.

In the beginning, after Paul hears the good news - that he is healthy - he is elated and starts to desire marriage with a young girl, children and a place in the country.[iv] He wants to travel and be able to make his own plans and decisions. Apart from children and a young wife, he gets everything he wished for. He is able to travel for many years and he does buy a place in the country.[v] Furthermore, Paul has a wife that would sacrifice herself for him.

To outsiders, Paul Dorrance does not seem to suffer from cancer but from depression.

He appears to hold influence over Eleanor since he quite frequently calls her “poor Eleanor”. He is unsatisfied and does not understand the reason why.

Aside from that, Paul could also be called an egoist since he marries Eleanor solely due to the fact that he does not want to be alone during the months leading up to his death or while on his death bed. [vi]

[i] Wharton, Edith; Robinson, Roxana (2007): The New York stories of Edith Wharton. New York, NY: New York Review Books (New York Review Books classics). p.381.

[ii] Cf. Ibid. p.395.

[iii] Cf. Ibid. p.403.

[iv] Cf. Ibid. p.383.

[v] Cf. Ibid. p.397.

[vi] Cf. Ibid. p.389.