Romantic gestures have for centuries been seen as a useful reason to win the hearts of women. However, as society constantly changes, the effectiveness of these chivalrous acts has diminished. In James Joyce's "Araby" and John Updike's "A&P," this theory is explored, both telling the story of a boy whose efforts to impress the girl of his desires fail. As Well's stated in his critical analysis of these stories, "Both protagonists have come to realize that romantic gestures - indeed, the whole vision of chivalry [sic] --- are, in modern times, counterproductive". These stories, despite the differences between the two characters, clearly show that the character's world is changing, with chivalry becoming increasingly obsolete. “Araby” tells the story of a young boy who romanticizes his friend's older sister. He spends a lot of time admiring the girl from afar. When the girl finally talks to him, revealing that she won't be able to go to the bazaar that's being held that weekend, he sees it as an opportunity to impress her. He tells her that he is going and will buy her something. The boy is overwhelmed by the opportunity to perform this chivalrous act for her, surely allowing him to win the girl's affection. On the night of the bazaar, he is forced to wait for his drunken uncle to return home to give him money to go. Unfortunately, this causes the boy to arrive at the bazaar as it is closing. Of the stalls that remained open, he visited one where the owner, an English woman, “seemed to have spoken to me out of a sense of duty” (Joyce 89) and he knows he won't be able to buy anything from her. He decides to return home, realizing that he is “a creature driven and mocked by vanity” (Joyce 90). He is angry at himself and embarrassed as... middle of paper...... demonstrates how romantic gestures become obsolete as time passes. As shown above, Sammy and the guy went out of their way to impress the girls. However, their search failed simply because the girls didn't care. This shows that as society develops over time, these chivalrous gestures become more and more useless. Work cited DiYanni, Robert. Literature: approaches to narrative, poetry and theatre. Boston: McGraw Hill. 2008. Print.Joyce, James. “Arabia”. The Norton Introduction to Literature, eighth shorter edition. Eds. Jerome Beaty, Alison Booth, J. Paul Hunter, and Kelly J. Mays. New York: WWNorton.Updike, John. "A&P." Bedford's introduction to literature. Ed. Name(s) of the publisher. Boston, Massachusetts: Bedford/St. Martin, 2005.Wells, Walter. "John Updike's 'A&P': A Return Visit to 'Araby.'" Studies in Short Fiction 30, 2 (Spring 1993)