Waltz

Themes in The Waltz The Waltz by Dorothy Parker was written during a time when women were just beginning to understand that they could assert their own personal identities. Dorothy Parker wanted to show the movement away from the Victorian ideals of the day towards a more liberal urban America. Women’s emerging identity led to the realization that they didn’t have to depend entirely on men. Women also developed more political awareness and …

…any woman during this dance, or in a wider aspect, life. Parker shows in this story that all women are in some way or the other doomed to live in a society that honors and respects men, enslaves and mentally imprisons women. The Waltz shows all women’s heartache and disenchantment with life as a whole and their powerless status in society where a life devoid of individuality and starved potential is not worth living.