The Man with the Lapdog by Beth Lordan
"The Man with the Lapdog" by Beth Lordan explores the life of Lyle, an elderly American living in Galway, Ireland, alongside his Irish wife. Despite his retirement, Lyle feels a sense of displacement and struggles with his affection for the Irish people, appreciating certain aspects of the culture while feeling alienated from his wife. The narrative follows a chance encounter with an American couple, Mark and Laura, who are on vacation, highlighting Lyle's nostalgia for his own past happiness with his wife. As he observes the sickly Mark and the loving bond between the couple, Lyle grapples with feelings of envy and sadness, particularly regarding his own relationship.
The story captures themes of aging, loss, and the complexity of human connections, as Lyle's interactions prompt him to reflect on his marriage and the inevitable passage of time. His wife's attempts to connect with him contrast with Lyle's internal turmoil and longing for a deeper connection. The narrative culminates in a poignant moment of recognition and sorrow, illustrating the bittersweet nature of life and the relationships we hold dear. Through its exploration of these emotional landscapes, "The Man with the Lapdog" offers insight into the human experience of love, regret, and the desire for connection amidst the realities of aging and loss.
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The Man with the Lapdog by Beth Lordan
First published: 1999
Type of plot: Domestic realism, psychological
Time of work: The 1990's
Locale: Galway, Ireland
Principal Characters:
Lyle , a sixty-seven-year-old American retired in IrelandMary , his Irish wifeMark , a vacationing AmericanLaura , his wife
The Story
Lyle, the man in "The Man with the Lapdog," has been living in Galway, Ireland, for two years after his retirement. He does not particularly like the Irish people, who he thinks stand too close, but there is a lot about Ireland he does like: He likes going for walks and he likes being a foreigner. Moreover, he feels displaced and distant from his Irish wife.
One morning he meets an American couple on one of his walks with his dog. Although it is March, not the regular tourist season, Mark and Laura are on vacation for three weeks. The couple is friendly, and Lyle is particularly taken by the woman, who is just entering middle age with "none of the artificiality of so many American women." Mark, who is obviously ill, has lost his hair and his face looks swollen, but something about the way the couple looks together makes Lyle remember the pleasure of walking with his wife in the same way, a pleasure he no longer feels.
When Lyle tells his wife about the American couple, he wants to avoid any reference to their sons, especially Jimmy, who lives in the United States and does not visit often. Although Laura told him that Mark was dying, he does not tell his wife that. While his wife chats about how she hates motels and sleeping in other people's beds, for she could feel the warmth of those who had slept in them before, Lyle can only feel the sweet warmth that a woman left in a bed, and he knows the woman is Laura. He makes a nasty retort to his wife, hurting her feelings.
When Lyle goes for a walk the day before St. Patrick's Day, he watches Mark put his head against a wall like a child playing hide and seek as Laura comes out of a shop and runs to him. He thinks about the inevitability of Mark's death and how men will be lining up to take his place. He thinks that if Laura comes back in a year or two, she will be over the death; he imagines walking along the river and meeting her or going to Idaho, where she lives.
The next day when Laura says they are going to drive to the Ring of Kerry because they have heard it is so beautiful, Lyle thinks "you are beautiful" and is afraid he may say it aloud and make a fool of himself.
That night as his wife takes a bath and talks to him from the bathroom, he looks for a roadmap for Laura, getting angrier and angrier when he cannot find one. When his wife realizes he is looking for the map for the Americans, she turns tender toward him, and the next morning she gets up before him for a change, makes coffee, and gives him the map. She offers to walk along with him this morning, and when they meet Mark and Laura, she is shocked at how sick Mark is. After an amiable chat, she invites them to tea.
When they walk away, Mary says, "Such lovely people," and Lyle wants to say, "So are we." He wants to say that he is not a young man but that he is not dying and that for them the end was still far off, with "difficulties and complications still to come." Instead he presses her wrist against him and says, using an Irish inflection, "They are so. And it's a sad thing it is."