The Open Window

Saki satirizes the social practices of his time and class, displaying them as absurd through their failure and misappropriation. At the beginning of the story, the antagonist is introduced as “a very self-possessed young lady of fifteen” (Paragraph 1). She has been allowed to greet a visitor on her own, which is inappropriate according to Edwardian-era custom. At 15, she was not yet presented to society, thus, she was not considered a woman fit to entertain—especially if the guest was a man—no matter how “self-possessed” she was. Already out of place due to her age, Vera takes advantage of Edwardian customs for her entertainment, gaining control of a situation in which, as a young woman, she had no formal power.

Framton calls on the Sappleton house because Edwardian etiquette demands that it is necessary to visit those to whom letters of introduction have been supplied. Such letters made it possible for people to force hospitality from strangers with only pen and paper as leverage. In Framton Nuttel’s case, the sister who provided the letters barely knew the individuals they addressed and had not had contact with them for four years. To display the absurdity of such a custom, Saki highlights the anxiety such meetings caused the man partaking in a “nerve cure” (Paragraph 2).