Short story by Dorothy Parker

1. You were perfectly fine
Dorothy Parker

2. About the author
• Dorothy parker (1893-
1967) was born in New
Jersey. She was a prolific
author, started her career
at the age of 23 working for
Vogue. She is remembered
for her cynical, urbane
humour and sharp
observations of human
behaviour.

3. About the story
• The story is set in 1929 in middle of the
prohibition and shows the side effects of a
night of heavy drinking and the
consequences it can lead to. A man
named Peter drank too much the previous
night, gets up with a hangover and can’t
remember anything.

4. Events
• Peter wakes up and finds a girl sitting on the
couch and asks her about the previous night.
• She tells him he made a lot of silly things but,
anyway, he was ‘perfectly fine’
• She reminds him what nice things he said to
her on the taxi ride they went and he wants to
kill himself.

5. Characters
• Peter: Is a pale young man who wakes up feeling ill because he drank too much
the previous night and he can’t remember anything about what he did.
• The girl: Her name is not mentioned in the story. She is sitting on the couch and
doesn’t seem to have drunk in excess the previous night.
• Secondary characters: Jim Pierson, Elinor, the maitre d’hotel, the waiter and an old
man. They were all at the party but are not much important in the story.

6. Themes
• Male/ female relationships in New York society in the 1920s: At this time, women
in the USA were achieving greater equality with men. This was the time of the
‘flapper’ or young woman who cut her hair short, wore short dresses, smoked,
drank and went out to parties.
• The place of alcohol in society: By that time alcohol drinking was officially
prohibited by the government but people continued drinking anyway, even in
public places.

7. Title
• ‘You were perfectly fine’ is the phrase the girl
repeats over and over again all along the story,
and, actually, the behaviour of Peter was just
the opposite. Why did she say that?

8. Ending
• The story ends with Peter asking for a drink
and realising the situation he was involved in.
• We’ll never know if what the girl said was
actually true or not. The story ending can be
interpreted in several ways.

9. Connections among stories
• Couples
• Love
• Lies
• Criticism towards society