27 pages • 54 minutes read
SakiThe Open Window
Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1911A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Background
Authorial Context: Saki
Hector Hugh Munro, or H. H. Munro, wrote under the pen name Saki. Saki was born in Burma to Charles Augustus Munro and Mary Frances Mercer in 1870. When Saki was just two years old, his mother was killed, and Saki and his two older siblings were sent back to England to be raised by their maiden aunts, Charlotte and Augusta. These aunts raised the three children in a strict, puritanical household. Many of Saki’s works feature an aunt archetype—often strict and unable to control the children they are raising due to their inability to relate to and understand them. The aunts in his stories are also often victims of the children’s mischief, like Mrs. Sappleton in “The Open Window,” who unknowingly became the protagonist in her niece’s tragedy, causing her visitor to flee the home in fright.
Saki, like his father, became part of the Indian Imperial Police and moved to Burma, but fevers caused him to leave the post after a short time. He then moved to London and became a writer. Initially, he worked as a journalist and published under his given name. However, he soon forayed into satire, writing criticisms of Edwardian society, and he began to publish under his pen name. His pseudonym’s source is unconfirmed, but it has been noted that it might be a reference to the cupbearer in the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyam. Although he published novels in addition to journalism and history, Saki is best known for his short stories, and he is considered the master of the short story by most scholars. He died in 1916 when he was shot by a German sniper while fighting in World War I.
Historical Context: Edwardian Affluence and Femininity
The Edwardian period of British history, named for King Edward VII, refers to the epoch between the turn of the 20th century and the beginning of World War I. The Edwardian era was marked by heavy class differences and an upper class that put its wealth on display in luxurious dinners, parties, leisure, and art. Though the period was also marked by social reform—women’s voting rights, for instance—those in the upper class were often happy to enjoy their station without change. Upper-class women spent much of their time socializing and entertaining, and being a good hostess was considered one of a woman’s most important virtues. Proper dress was to be donned during different times of the day, and visitors—who were often announced to strangers through letters of introduction—were received promptly upon arrival by the woman of the house. Young women were presented to society at the age of 18, and until then, they could not play the part of hostess. They were treated like decorations and not meant to speak in the presence of adults.
For those who were not part of the upper class, the customs of the affluent seemed extravagant and useless—most of what they did was for appearance. Saki, who both participated in and satirized the Edwardian upper class, often drew attention to these useless etiquette standards in his short stories. In “The Open Window,” Sake depicts how easily Edwardian etiquette can be subverted by an adolescent girl—not yet a proper lady of the house—who both knows the customs and subverts them to create mischief.
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