The Gioconda Smile (Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Aldous Huxley
- First Published: 1922
- Type of Plot: Social realism
- Time of Work: The early 1920's
- Setting: England and Florence, Italy
- Principal Characters: Mr. Henry Hutton, Mrs. Hutton, Doris, Dr. Libbard, Janet Spence
- Genres: Social realism, Short fiction
- Subjects: Sex or sexuality, Murder or homicide, Marriage, 1920’s, Capital punishment, England or English people, Adultery, Death or dying, Italy or Italians, Boredom, Dating
- Locales: England, Florence, Italy
The Story
Henry Hutton, a prosperous English landowner, flirts with Miss Janet Spence, an unmarried woman in her late thirties. After toying with her affections, Hutton hurriedly departs to take home his young Cockney mistress, Doris, and then to return to his wife, who is an almost complete invalid. Mr. and Mrs. Hutton have reached an impasse in their marriage: He is terminally bored with the relationship, while she approaches life with the querulous disapproval of the chronically ill. In an effort to change the routine, and to provide some secret spice to daily events, Hutton...
[The entire page is 1420 words long]
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