Barefoot In The Park

Comedy, both situational and one-liners, is a recurring motif that injects levity into the otherwise weighty subject of marriage and relationships. Simon’s use of humor is not meant to detract from the play’s thematic depth or message; rather, it suggests humor as a coping mechanism. Laughter has been shown to enable relaxation and openness. In laughing, the audience may become receptive to the play’s serious message about finding balance in relationships. None of the characters is perfect. Each needs the other in different ways. The play’s conflict is resolved when characters realize that they do not need to be the same to have happy and fulfilling relationships.

Situational comedic moments, such as the incident with the knichi (see more below), gently poke fun at characters while also revealing their limitations. For example, Paul declines to “pop” his knichi because he has “a bad arm” (51). Ethel chokes on her knichi, suggesting that she“popped it back too far” (51),and drinks Paul’s scotch. When Ethel realizes that she is mixing alcohols (gin from her martinis with Paul’s scotch) and “rich foods” (84), she laments, “Oh, my stomach” (51). Her comment sets up Paul’s quip about Ethel and Victor later in the play during his fight with Corie: “He’s probably telling her about a chicken cacciatore he once cooked for the High Lama of Tibet and she’s sitting there shoving pink pills in her mouth” (60). After Corie has demanded a divorce, she answers a phone call suggestive of setting up a date: “But how did you get my number? . . . Oh, isn’t that clever” (77). Paul grabs the phone, demands to know who is on the other end, then retorts, “No, Madam, we’re not interested in Bossa Nova lessons” (77), revealing Corie’s ruse and her tendency to embellish the truth.

One-liners pepper the play, including several uttered by the telephone repairman. His comedic responses also help convey character and underscore the play’s message. For example, when Corie says that her phone number “has a nice sound,” he replies, “Yeah, it’s a beautiful number” (10). He recognizes and accommodates Corie’s romanticizing tendency. When Corie and Paul fight, Corie admits to feeling like “a slob” compared to Paul, adding: “Before we were married I was sure you sleep with a tie” (62). Paul replies, “No, no. Just for very formal sleeps” (62). While humor cannot solve the characters’ problems, it can provide moments of relief during hard times. This element has an autobiographical element. As a child, Simon watched comedic films to emotionally escape from his parents’ volatile marriage. 

Neil Simon invented knichi for the play, where it serves a symbolic (and comedic: see above) function. Victor describes knichi as an eel dish that must be cooked exactly right and consumed within five minutes of its cooking cycle’s completion. For the flavor to be enjoyed, it must be “popped” and not “nibbled” (51). These rigid conditions mirror the characters’ emotional rigidity. Each character, to varying degrees, can only enjoy him/herself under specific circumstances.

Further, each character’s relationship to the knichi—Ethel’s unsuccessful attempt to enjoy it, Corie’s intuitive appreciation of it, and Paul’s refusal to pop it—represents his/her response when faced with the unexpected. Ethel attempts to enjoy the evening but does not. Paul accompanies the group but maintains an ironic distance (watching rather than doing, as Corie accuses at the end of act two). He nibbles when told to pop and, as Corie later points out, pokes derisively at the food in the restaurant. Corie fumes: “You won’t let your hair down for a minute. You couldn’t even relax for one night” (61). On the other hand, Corie has a wonderful time, but she is insensible to Paul and Ethel’s feelings. Victor enjoys himself but later pays with a broken foot and the medical diagnosis that he is not taking proper care of himself.