Death, Life, and Joy Theme Analysis

While “Dance of the Happy Shades” doesn’t depict death itself, in its beginning the story associates the Marsalles sisters with imagery of death. The older Marsalles sister is a mere shadow, and her ill health after a stroke makes her fragile. The younger Miss Marsalles is elderly, “grotesque,” and separate from the “people who live in the world,” as if she isn’t a living person but rather a strange ghost from a time long past. Additionally, the flies crawling over the food Miss Marsalles sets out for her party signify deterioration and decay, enhancing the impression that the Marsalles sisters themselves represent death. But the end of the story reveals that Miss Marsalles also cultivates joy and a sense of vibrancy. By inviting the children from Greenhill School to her party, she brings in new life and liveliness. By continuing in her teaching role, she nurtures a younger generation and offers them the valuable opportunity to learn music. And by promoting music, she encourages more people to experience music’s enlivening and transformative power. The power of music is evident in Dolores Boyle’s beautiful performance, which brings vibrant emotions to life, enchants her listeners, and moves through space as though the music itself is alive. Miss Marsalles is able to enjoy Dolores’s performance, while the other guests at the recital reject it because of their prejudice. In this way, Miss Marsalles is more connected to the joys of life than the disdainful mothers who negatively judge her and shun Dolores Boyle. Miss Marsalles embraces the profoundness of music and life’s beauties in a way that the small-minded women fail to do. She knows that life contains quiet, ordinary miracles, celebrates them contentedly, and fills her existence with meaning. “Dance of the Happy Shades” thus suggests that to truly appreciate life as Miss Marsalles does is to recognize these small wonders, accept them for what they are, and enjoy them.