“Big Blonde” by Dorothy Parker shows the failure of the traditional marriage model through the example of somebody that feels trapped in a marriage. Hazel Morse is unable to escape her stagnant place in society where she is bound lovelessly to a man who defines her. She, similarly to Bernice in “Bernice Bobs Her Hair,” falls victim to the preconceived expectation of how she should behave, according to others. Throughout her young adult life, she dances and parties the night away because it’s easy, expecting that her fancy and fun lifestyle will continue throughout the rest of her life and assuming that she’ll live happily ever after just by going out and having a good time. However, Hazel soon discovers that the lavish and exciting way of life she enjoys at first is at its core unfulfilling and lacks happiness for those involved. “She had not realized how tired she was. It was a delight, a new game, a holiday, to give up being good sport.” (Parker 189)
Hazel’s marriage begins to lose its luster when she considers what it is fundamentally built on. Initially, Herbie seems like a great option for a companion, as a husband that can provide for her and continue her path toward the Great American Dream that she assumes she is on. Hazel soon realizes that she does not in fact love Herbie, and he does not love her. Instead, she is in love with the idea of Herbie, and having a husband and a married life. She wants everything that he represents, and because of this can never have it. The marriage itself is completely devoid of any real love, and is a product of this striving for security and idealism. Herbie and Hazel did not meet and fall in love through the traditional sense, but instead came to fruition through the same practice of partying and meeting others that Hazel had engaged with for such a long time previously. Parker shows us this very carefully and instrumentally, dropping hints like saying “She wanted to be married” (Parker 188) instead of something like “She wanted to marry Herbie.”
This is likely a result of Hazel’s upbringing and the way her lifestyle was reinforced in a misogynistic work environment. As a dress model, “she met numbers of men and spent numbers of evenings with them, laughing at their jokes and telling them she loved their neckties.” (Parker 187) Trained in the ways of pleasing people, Hazel becomes practiced at doing and saying exactly what those around her want to hear. With Herbie, she is able to fill all the roles that a traditional wife, should, and yet she “could not recall the definite day that she started drinking, herself.” (Parker 191)
Dealing with an alcoholic husband that continuously spends more and more time out of the house takes a toll on Hazel’s well-being and happiness. Where “she had never needed to drink, formally,” (Parker 191) she finds herself unable to cope with the monotony of day-to-day married life. This goes to show the failings of the traditional marriage model because on the surface everything seems to be okay between the two characters. “Big Blonde” largely creates a scenario in which Hazel seems okay and would likely check all the boxes for somebody to think she is happy with her place in life, but beneath the surface showcases somebody who is suffering. Hazel is suicidal, becomes alcoholic, and when she gets a new man, Ed, she falls back into the same behavior patterns that had made her so unhappy with Herbie before.
Parker intends this story to show how lackluster something can be if it is devoid of heart. The protagonist of Hazel works because she uses her marriage to seek happiness and expects to find it as a result of being married. However, this causes the traditional marriage model to fail. She is constrained by society because she is a woman, and so a position where a man is essentially in control of her results in Hazel being depressed and farther from true happiness than she’s ever been. Neither party really cares for the other, and so their marriage becomes more of a prison than an opportunity to be happy. Happiness, Parker says, does not come from following the steps others have taken to be happy, and instead comes from finding one’s own path.
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