The Romance of a Busy Broker

Romance of a Busy Broker: Short story by O. HenryThis title of this humorous but unlikely story by William Porter (aka O. Henry) might be a clever play on words. The setting is the office of Harvey Maxwell, a busy New York stockbroker, over the space of a single morning. When Harvey sits down at his desk, it is as if he changes from a man into a machine. He puts everything else out of his mind. It is a bad day on the stock market and, when things get quieter at lunchtime, he realizes that he has forgotten something more important than making money.

General Comments

Throughout his busy morning, Harvey gives little thought to the woman that he married the previous evening. One must assume that the two of them spent the night together as they both came into the office late and at the same time. Later in the story, Harvey admits that he hasn’t had time to “make love to her” in the ordinary way. The only explanations I can think of for this comment are that either:

  1. although spending the night together, he was too tired or stressed after a long day’s work to make love to her; or
  2. he can remember the love-making (or at least waking up in bed together that morning), but doesn’t think that he courted her properly.

It seems to me that the word “romance” in the title may not only relate to Harvey’s relationship with Miss Leslie. It could also refer to the excitement and adventure associated in his work, which seems to drive everything else out of his mind.

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