Such a Silly Thing: O. Henry’s Short Story ‘The Marry Month of March’

The month of May is made for lovers, and not even the chillest breezes can prevent sparks from flying.

An iceman distributes his wares at the 1938 National Rice Festival in Crowley, La. Before electric refrigeration, icemen delivered ice to homes, schools, and businesses. Public Domain

Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind; And therefore is wing'd Cupid painted blind. Nor hath love’s mind of any judgment taste; Wings and no eyes figure unheedy haste: And therefore is love said to be a child, Because in choice he is so oft beguil'd.

In one of his most popular plays, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” William Shakespeare described the pitiable state that humans experience when shot with one of Cupid’s arrows. A single dart makes a person fall in love, resulting in silliness beyond comprehension.

Such love seems most effective in spring, which O. Henry contemplates in his short story “The Marry Month of March.” Henry, like Shakespeare, points out spring’s power at making people fall to Cupid’s arrows.

Springtime

Mr. Coulson is an old man who suffers from gout. He also has a nice house, a daughter, half a million dollars, a butler, Higgins, and a housekeeper, Mrs. Widdup. Yet even smart, rich men, like Mr. Coulson, can be affected by the warm spring weather and the beautiful flowers.