In the plays Barefoot in the Park and The Odd Couple the relationships between the main characters and the coupes in the play are very similar in which they each face some sort of problem but differ in how they handled there problems they were face, for example Corie and Paul go through a strain in their relationship while Felix and Oscar are barely holding on to their friendship.

In the play Barefoot in the park Corie and Paul are recently married and very happy in the beginning, but towards the end their relationship take a toll for the worst. Corie want her marriage to be full of adventure and excitement while Paul doesn’t think every day has to be full of excitement and adventure. In the play The Odd Couple Felix and Frances are in the middle of a divorce their relationship hit its worst because there wasn’t enough compromise on Felix part from example “I can’t help myself. I drive everyone crazy. A marriage counselor once kicked me out of his office he wrote on my chart, “lunatic” I don’t blame her it’s impossible to be married to me” (Simon, p. 246) this shows how Felix did things to put more strain in relationship just like Corie in the play Barefoot in the Park she wanted and expected things from Paul, but wasn’t willing to make any compromising on her part.

The view of marriage in Barefoot in the Park and The Odd Couple share some similarities, but have more differences than they do similarities. For example in The Odd Couple, Oscar is divorced and doesn’t seem to care, he and his ex-wife don’t get along that well so for him moving on wasn’t that hard. But for Felix he feels marriage is important and he wants to fight to save his marriage. Even when he knows it is over for him. Which is similar to Paul he doesn’t want to get a divorce because he knows he is madly in love with Corie. Corie feels that there are too many differences in her marriage for it to survive so she thinks there isn’t anything to fight for any more.

The Roles of the Female characters in each play both share one similarity they both either have gone through or are going through some sort of situation, but differ in how they have handled it. The Pigeon sisters both had bad previous relationships but instead of dwell on the past they find some sort of comic relief in their bad relationships for example Cecily says “Sometimes they can drag it out for months. I was lucky to snip, cut and I was free” (Simon, p. 277) she was talking about her marriage and how she was glad to be getting divorced. She didn’t mind moving on.
In Barefoot in the Park Corie newly married, wants more than just a plane marriage she want her life to be full of adventure and excitement but she realizes later that sometimes life isn’t like that, so instead of handling it the right way she takes it to a whole new level “Paul comes home with a fever, but Corie still insists she wants a divorce” (Saks, 1967) Paul thinks Corie is over reacting but to her she thought it was for the best for the two of them. Corie isn’t happy about wanting a divorce either, she just over exaggerates a lot of aspects in their marriage.



The two main characters in each play both are similar in which they are each faced with some sort of tension but differ in how they go about handling their problem. “Corie and Paul being an argument over their differences. Corie feels her Adventurous spirit is not equal to Paul’s Cautious Demeanor” (Saks, 1967) which causes tension in their marriage. At first they handled their first argument in the wrong way. Which eventually evolves and Corie Tells Paul she want a Divorce but later at the end they realize that they should have handled it better. Felix and Oscar start having their tension in beginning but it doesn’t hit rock bottom till the end “It’s all over, Felix. The whole marriage. We’re getting an annulment! Don’t you understand? I don’t want to live with you anymore. I want you to pack your things, tie it up with your Saran Wrap and get out of here” (Simon, p. 291) this results in Felix leaving but later they realize that by Felix moving out they might have saved their friendship.
Towards the end of the play each character in each play evolves somehow for example Paul learns to be more cares free and Corie realizes that every day in her marriage isn’t going to be full of excitement, but as long as your with the person you want to spend the rest of your life with its fine to make some compromises. They evolved from being unexperienced in how to handle different aspect in their marriage to then learning to take one step at a time in their marriage. Oscar and Felix evolve from being unhappy at each other’s actions to having an understanding about each other. Oscar can’t stand living with Felix but he still doesn’t want their friendship to be ruined over that one thing.