breaks down and tells her the truth: he does enjoy observing women, he would like to spend time with some of them, and he can't say for sure that he wouldn't act upon his desires at some time in the future.

When Michael becomes completely honest with Frances, they have already had several drinks, and this might have something to do with his letting down his guard. However, the overriding reason is that they have reached a crisis point in their marriage. It is obvious from the conversation that Frances's resentment has been building for a long time, and Michael is tired of pretending and covering up to try to please her. As a result, he lets loose and tells her the whole truth of how he feels, even to the point of hinting that he might have affairs in the future. On Frances's part, she ultimately agrees to look the other way from Michael's possible future transgressions, but she makes it clear that she doesn't want to talk about them. Their session of honesty even prompts him to have a flicker of lust for his wife.

In conclusion, we see that the circumstances of the relaxing day, the drinks, long-building resentment, and Frances's initial accusation all contribute to Michael deciding to be utterly truthful with his wife.

Francis wants to get the truth out of Micheal so that she can confirm what she seems to have already know: that Micheal lusts after other women. This demand for the truth does not come until the end of the story when Francis has become sick of Micheal's equivocating. This can be seen in the following exchange:

"You'd like to be free to ..." Frances said.
"Sssh."
"Tell the truth." She took her hand away from under his.
Michael flicked the edge of his glass with his finger. "Okay," he said gently. "Sometimes I feel I would like to be free."

Here, Frances forces Michael to speak the truth that both of them already know and to put an end to their passive-aggressive forms of argumentation.

Earlier in the story, Frances addresses her husband's behavior by making a simple joke; that is, whenever she sees Michael looking at another woman, she humorously states: "You'll break your neck." Though they both laugh at the joke, it quickly becomes clear that there is real pain underneath Frances' jest and that Michael's behavior is causing her emotional turmoil.

The breaking point comes when Frances catches Michael looking at another woman as she is trying to plan a romantic day trip for the two of them. Finally, Frances decides to be direct: "'You always look at other women,' Frances said. 'At every damn woman in the city of New York.'" By directly confronting Michael's persistently wandering gaze, Frances eventually gets Michael to speak out loud about his desires, though the end of the story is ambiguous about what will become of their relationship.

In the short story "The Girls in Their Summer Dresses" by Irwin Shaw, a married couple, Michael and Frances, emerge onto Fifth Avenue in New York on a warm sunny day in November. It is Sunday, and they have just had breakfast. They stroll along amidst other people out slowly walking, and at first it seems as if their situation is idyllic. However, very quickly Frances comments on the fact that Michael is watching a pretty girl that passes by.

At first, Frances wants to cover up the incident. She suggests canceling their social engagement and spending the day alone together, first going to a football game, then eating a steak dinner, and finally watching a movie. Michael agrees, and all seems solved. However, Michael continues to look at other women, and Frances brings it up in conversation again. They begin to argue and decide to go for a drink. While they are sipping brandies, Frances presses Michael and insists that he tell her why he looks at other women and whether he would ever act on the desires that he has towards them. There are several reasons why Frances wants to know the whole truth.

First of all, Michael looking at the women on that day is not a one-time, isolated occurrence. He has been doing it for a long time. Although Frances has been attempting to defuse the situation with humor, it obviously bothers her, and the discomfort is building up within. It finally gets to be too much, and she wants to confront him about it.

Secondly, Frances is concerned that Michael's interest in gawking at women could be an indication of something deeper. She thinks that he may be contemplating having an affair, or maybe even multiple affairs. She wants to know whether her suspicions are correct or if she is imagining this. Most people prefer to know the truth even if it hurts.

Finally, Frances values her marriage despite her husband's wandering eyes. If her husband is going to eventually have affairs with other women, she wants to be assured that her marriage is intact in spite of them. That is why, at the end, she tells her husband to stop talking about the other women. She is giving him implicit consent as long as she doesn't have to know the details.