Porcelain and Pink by F.

Scott Fitzgerald

The one-act play Porcelain and Pink is from the 1922 short story collection Tales of
the Jazz Age written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The plot revolves around a young woman
in a bathtub and a young man mistaking her as her sister, Lois. However, this play is
more than that. This one-act play shows the difference between how traditional and
modern women act.

The main characters who the play are: Julie Marvis, the girl singing in the bathtub.
She is witty, carefree and a free spirit; Lois Marvis, she is Julie’s older sister, they
look like twins and sound alike but they differ in terms of personality, unlike her little
sister, she is mature and conservative, she is also Mr. Calkins potential lover; Mr.
Calkins, he is interested in poems, he’s the one who crept through the window, he is
also interested in Lois. The main scene takes place in a bathtub.

The words used by the writer set a humorous mood. Examining the dialogues of the
sisters, we can see how different their personalities are and the difference between
people who are not the same age behave. Lois is much more mature than her sister
Julie, she acts conservatively while Julie acts carefree. Julie uses expressions instead
of clear statements. Lois portrays traditional women who have strict morals and Julie
portrays the younger generation who likes to have fun and enjoy life.

In this play, my favorite part is where the sisters bicker. We can see here how typical
sisters fight over petty things. The play well-written, it is funny and entertaining. The
younger audience would enjoy watching/reading this play. But it would be much
better if the writer described the scene in more detail. According to the line ‘‘above
and to the right of the bathtub is a window. It is narrow and has a wide sill; it lets in
much sunshine, but effectually prevents anyone who looks in from seeing the
bathtub.’’ So if the window is narrow and prevents anyone from looking how did Lois
knew that it was Mr. Calkins that Julie was talking? What does the scene exactly look
like? What is going to happen after Lois knew Mr. Calkins like her? There are many
unanswered questions in this play and the ending is a cliffhanger. But overall, the play
is great.