Analysis Of The Literary Elements And Figures In Woody Allen S The Kugelmass Episode

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1. Analysis of the Literary Elements and Figures in Woody Allen’s 
The Kugelmass Episode (1977) 
Woody Allen has been recognized as one of Hollywood’s most talented filmmakers;                       
however, not many people know that the Brooklyn native director has also found                         
success in short story writing. Below you’ll find a personal literary analysis of one                           
his most noticeable works: The Kugelmass Episode. 
1) Exposition​:For“TheKugelmassEpisode”(fromnowon‘TKE’)tobefully                
understood,Allendoesn’tseemtoconsidernecessarytoreadGustave                 
Flaubert’sMadameBovary(1856)tounderstandthesatireandtheirony                 
thatthisshortstoryprovidesbymockingthementionednovel,andsohe                   
writes a summary of the novel’s plot. 
 
2)Plot​:CCNYSocialSciencesProfessorSidneyKugelmassfindshimselfina                  
bigproblem,sincehestartshavinganaffairwithliterarycharacterEmma                    
Bovary,themaincharacterinGustaveFlaubert’sMadameBovary;and                
cannotgetherbacktothenovelbecauseoftechnicalmalfunctionsshownin                  
the travelling box. 
 
Butintheend,everythingsettlesandshemanagestocomebackto                 
thebook.Afterwards,Kugelmasswantstohaveanotheraffairand,inan                   
attempttogoinsideapaperbackcopyofPhilipRoth’sPortnoy’sComplaint,                  
heendsupinacopyof“RemedialSpanish”,andischasedfortherestofhis                    
life by the “big and hairy” (Allen, 1977) irregular verb that is “tener” (to have). 
 
3)Setting​:​The story takes place between New York during the 1970’s and                      
Yonville, a small 19​
th​
 century French rural village. 
 
4) Characters​: 
 
4.1) ​Main Characters​: 
 
4.1.1) ​Protagonists​: ​Sidney Kugelmass. 
4.1.2) ​Round Character​: ​Emma Bovary. 
4.1.3) ​Flat Character​:​ The Great Persky. 
 
4.2) ​Minor Characters​:  
 
4.2.1)​ Daphne Kugelmass. 

2. 4.2.2)​ Flo, who appears as an anaphoric reference in the plot. 
4.2.3)​ Prof. Fivish Kopkind (Kugelmass’ colleague) 
 
5) TypeofNarrator​:​The narrator of this story is in third person – omniscient,                           
because it is not identified in the story, yet at the same time it does know                               
everything about each character in the plot – their feelings, emotionsand                       
thoughts. 
 
6) Figurative Language​:​ There’s​ both parody and satire in this story​: 
 
6.1)​Irony​:Thedefinitionofirony,accordingtoTheMerriam­Webster               
dictionaryis“theuseofwordsthatmeantheoppositeofwhatyoureally                   
think, especially in order to be funny” (The Merriam­Webster Dictionary) 
 
TheironicrepresentationinTKEisshownwhenKugelmassthinkshe                 
hasbeenthrownintoacopyofPhilipRoth’sPortnoy’sComplaint,but                   
insteadgetsintoacopyof“RemedialSpanish”;andsohisexpectationsof                
what was going to happen changes radically. 
 
6.2)​Parody​:​Allen makes fun out of serious situations, like human necessity                       
and infidelity. In this case, he makes fun out of the previous explained                         
themes by mocking them in Kugelmass and Bovary´s relationship. 
 
6.3)​Satire​:Theuseofsatire,thatis“theactofmockingatsomeoneelse’s                    
misfortune”,isalsoshownbutinveryspecificsituationsinthisshortstory,                  
likeinthebeginning,whenKugelmasscomplainstohisanalystonhimnot                  
givingtheformer’senoughsupportonhisideaofhavinganaffair,tellinghim                    
that what he needs “is an analyst not a magician” (Marcus, 1995) 
 
Paradoxically,satireisalsoappliedwhenKugelmasscomplainswith              
PerskyabouthimnotbeingabletosolveKugelmass’sanxietyissuesandso                   
Perskyanswershimbytellinghimthathe’s“amagician,notananalyst”                 
(Marcus, 1995) 
 
6.4)​Anachronism​:Theuseofanachronismsisshownthroughthewhole                
plot,sinceAllenplayswiththeinconsistenciesoftimeandplace,whichisa                    
factor that might confuse the reader. 
 

3. 6.4.1)​Intertextuality​:Asamatteroffact,theuseofanachronismsinthis                
storycreatesaformofintertextuality,whichChandlerdefinesas“the                 
'influences'ofwritersoneachother”(Chandler,2014,p.1),andsoitis                   
manifestedeverytimethatKugelmassgetsinsidethetravellingboxto                 
appearlaterinanothertime(the19​
th
century)andanotherplace(inthis                 
case France). 
 
7)Imagery​:Therearetwomainpartsinthisshortstoryinwhichimageryis                     
shown: 
 
7.1)WhenPerskypullsouthisoldtravellingbox:“Perskyreappeared                  
pushingbeforehimalargeobjectonsqueakyrollerskatewheels.He                 
removedsomeoldsilkhandkerchiefsthatwerelyingonitstopandblew                 
awayabitofdust.ItwasacheaplookingChinesecabinet,badlylacquered”                    
(Marcus, 1995) 
 
Withthisdescription,thereadermightbeabletocreateamentalpictureof                    
an old and rusty Chinese box. 
 
7.2)TheothermentalpicturemightberepresentedwhenAllendescribes                   
howEmmaBovary’sbedroomlookslikewhenKugelmassarrives:“Atthe                  
samemoment,heappearedinthebedroomofCharlesandEmmaBovary’s                  
houseatYonville.Beforehimwasabeautifulwoman,standingalonewith                  
her back turned to him as she folded some linen” (Marcus, 1995)  
 
Inthis,case,theauthorisnotonlymentioninginwhichpartofthehouse                    
Kugelmassappears,butalsodescribingwhatwasEmmaBovarydoing                
when he showed up. 
 
8)AsmallbiographyonWoodyAllen​:Asawaytocontextualisethisstory,a                    
short biography on Woody Allen has to be analyzed as well: 
 
HewasborninBrooklynin1935bythenameofAllenStewart                   
Konigsberg.Fromaveryyoungagehewasattractedtowritingand                 
producinghisownmoviesandso,bythetimehewas15,hechangedhis                 
nametoWoodyAllen.Intheearly1950’shewenttoNYUwherehe,justlike                    
Kugelmass,flunkedEnglish.Afterwards,heattendedtheCityCollegeof               
New York, where he also flunked out. 

4.  
In 1965, Allen wrote and starred in his first film, "What’s New,                         
Pussycat?" The following year he made his directorial debut with "What’s                     
Up, Tiger Lily?" and wrote a Broadway play, "Don’t Drink the Water." Around                         
this time he became a regular contributor of humorous fiction and essays to                         
The New Yorker and other publications. 
 
He rose to fame with the 1969 release of "Take the Money and Run",                           
a spoof of gangster movies that he wrote, starred in, and directed. In 1977,                           
Allen won an Oscar for "Annie Hall", which was hailed as one of the first                             
truly intelligent and complex American comedies. That same year, ‘‘The                   
Kugelmass Episode’’ appeared in the May edition of The New Yorker. The                       
story won an O. Henry Award the following year and was published in his                           
third and final prose collection. Allen currently lives in Brooklyn with hiswife                         
Soon Yi­Previn and their two adoptive daughters. 
Bibliographic References​: 

Chandler, D. (2014, July 03).​Semiotics for Begginers: Intertextuality​
. Retrieved                   
from Visual Memory UK:       
http://visual­memory.co.uk/daniel/Documents/S4B/sem09.html. 
Marcus, S. (1995).​A World Of Fiction: Twenty Timeless Short Stories.Retrieved                       
from Internet Archive:     
https://archive.org/stream/worldoffictiontw00marc#page/n2/mode/1up. 
The Merriam­Webster Dictionary. (s.f.).​Definition of 'irony'​
. Obtenido de                 
Merriam­Webster: http://www.merriam­webster.com/dictionary/irony.