In Mavis Gallant's excerpt from the story “The Other Paris” she explains to the readers that society has and always will have an expectation of what the perfect marriage is. Society thinks that every couple should be perfect in every way, and that the base of the relationship,should be love but according to Carol the base of a relationship needs to be trust and common interest.
Gallant thinks that every relationship is not perfect. She puts Carol into a business­like position towards marrage turning her business partner, Howard, into her “lover”. Carol suggests to the reader that love is just a stilly fantasy that is used to make people happy and it only happens in Hollywood movies. Carol is a person who studied relationships in college and who wants the perfect relationship based on studies that happened with people who didn't have love in the relationship but had a common interest. Carols relationship with
Howard is used to seem like a business deal. Gallant makes Carol's first proposal seem like it was nothing, that the guy was not what she needed but what she wanted. Carol didnt like the idea of having an unsteady life.
Howard makes his engagement business­like. There were no feelings in their relationship. It was made into a relationship because Carol, like Howard, did not want to be alone for the rest of her life, even though they are both aren't even in their thirties yet.
Howard makes the decision that he needs to get married for his sister, who came to visit and said things