Barefoot In The Park

In her Act One conversation with Corie, Ethel tells her: “I worry about you two. You’re so impulsive. You jump into life. Paul is like me. He looks first” (26). Examine the similarities and differences between Paul and Ethel and their impact on Paul and Corie’s relationship conflict.

Describe the apartment’s transformation from Act One to Act Two, paying attention to what changes and what remains the same. Explore what the changes and consistencies represent thematically.

Discuss the function of humor throughout the play. Using specific examples, assess the extent to which it succeeds at its intended purpose.

Before her mother’s blind date with Victor, Corie tells her: “Now, Mother…The only thing I’d like to suggest is…well…just try and go along with everything […] just relax…and be one of the fellows” (47). To what extent does Ethel do so during her evening out with Victor, Paul, and Corie? Discuss the consequences.

Describing his knichi dish, Victor says it “spoils quickly” (50), must be eaten within “five minutes” (50), and must be “popped” and not “nibbled” (51). When “nibble[d], […] it tastes bitter” (50). What does the knichi symbolize, and how does each character’s manner of eating it represent his/her approach to life?

During her fight with Paul, Corie tells him: “Do you know what you are? You’re a watcher. There are Watchers in this world and there are Do-ers. And the Watchers sit around watching the Do-ers do. Well, tonight you watched and I did” (61). Over the course of the evening, what does each do and not do that frustrates the other? Using specific examples, consider the play’s message about how to productively resolve conflict in relationships.

As he is packing to leave the apartment, Paul mutters to himself: “I don’t need anyone to protect me […] because I am a man, sweetheart . . . An independent, mature, self-sufficient man” (79). Discuss how the events in the play, especially the ending, subvert and refute Paul’s view of himself here.

At the end of the play, Corie describes why she wants Paul back: “He’s dependable and he’s strong and he takes care of me and tells me how much I can spend and protects me from people like you” (91). What precipitates her realization, and in what ways do Corie and Paul need to change to accommodate each other?