Woody Allen's “The Kugelmass Episode,” a short story written in 1977, is about a humanities professor at City College who is unhappily married for the second time and choking on alimony with his first wife. Like Flaubert's novel Madame Bovary, Allen's tale examines the ineffectiveness of the pursuit of personal happiness. Written as a farce with added satire, Woody Allen's story, similar to Madame Bovary, is formulated around the feeling of discontent with life. As the story progresses, the more Professor Sidney Kugelmass (the protagonist) searches for something tempting and out of his reach, the more unhappy he becomes. The theme of dissatisfaction with life's offerings is manifested through the use of verbal irony, dramatic irony, and situational irony. “The Kugelmass Episode” is a farce; uses puns and unlikely situations to create humor. You can also say that this story is a satire, a type of comedy or drama that censors its own social flaws or expectations. For example, the story satirizes Professor Sidney Kugelmass as an ordinary Jewish man going through a midlife crisis. To overcome the midlife crisis satire, Kugelmass leaves for a different world to escape his depressing life. “Kugelmass was gone. At the same time, he appeared in the bedroom of Charles and Emma Bovary's home in Yonville. (Paragraph 50). Instead of trying to find meaning and self-improvement in his life, Kugelmass tries to satisfy his impulses. Verbal irony is an effective literary element that the author uses to exemplify messages or situations in this story. For example, the professor's analyst tells him: “After all, I am an analyst, not a magician” (paragraph 9). The Kugelmass analyst is... in the center of the paper... in sight. For example, while Kugelmass enjoys his relationship with Emma Bovary, readers of Madame Bovary have trouble understanding where a middle-aged Jewish man comes from. “I can't concentrate on this… and now she's gone from the book.” (Paragraph 95). Readers of Allen's short story understand what is happening in the context of Kugelmass's relationship and desires, however, the characters reading Madame Bovary do not. Both characters in the story, Emma Bovary and Professor Sidney Kugelmass, are similar in that they always expect more in life and are never satisfied with what they already have. The discontent that these two characters portray only brings depression and unmanageable obstacles into their lives. The central message of Allen's farce is significant and clearly understood through the use of all kinds of irony.