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Short Stories
"Mrs. Bixby and the Colonel's Coat"
Information Plot/Description Fun Stuff Teacher Resources
Information
- First published:
- Collected in:
- Televised versions:
Plot/Description
Some sources refer to this as a "story-within-a-story", but I wouldn't go so far. It's more like
a story with a little stitched-on introduction. Critics like to point to this tale as yet another
example of Dahl's misogyny, but it's actually quite different for a husband to win against a wife in
his work (see "Lamb to the Slaughter" or "The Way Up to
Heaven"). Interesting note: the official Dahl site launched with a typo that referred to the story as "Mrs. Bixby and the Colonel's Cat." Sorta changes things,
doesn't it? *grin*
Spoiler Warning! Dahl introduces the story by commenting on the ruthless practice of
American woman marrying men, using them, and divorcing them just for financial gain. He claims that
these poor overworked men meet in bars and console themselves with tales in which cuckolded men win
one over the evil forces of femininity. The most famous of these stories is "Mrs. Bixby and the
Colonel's Coat", which is about a hard-working dentist and his duplicitous wife. Mrs. Bixby leaves
home once a month ostensibly to visit her aunt in Baltimore, but really she spends the time with her
lover, the Colonel. On this particular occasion she receives a parting gift from the Colonel, and
when she opens it on the train home she is amazed to find an extremely beautiful and valuable mink
coat. In a note the Colonel explains that their relationship has to end, but Mrs. Bixby is consoled
by the thought of her fabulous new possession. Immediately she begins scheming and trying to think
of a story she can tell her husband about where she obtained it. She decides to visit a pawnbroker
and borrow $50 against the coat, receiving a blank pawn ticket in return. When she gets home she
tells her husband that she found the ticket in a taxicab and he excitedly explains how they go about
claiming it. Since she doesn't want to be recognized by the pawnbroker, she lets him go to claim the
item after he promises that he'll give whatever it is to her. He calls her from work the next day to
let her know that he has the item, and that she's going to be really surprised and happy. Mrs. Bixby
is too eager to wait, so she goes to her husband's office to pick up the coat. Imagine her surprise,
then, when her husband places a mangy mink stole around her neck! She feigns happiness for his sake,
while secretly planning to return to the pawnbroker and accuse him of switching the coat for this
worthless item. On her way out of the office, though, she is passed by her husband's young assistant
secretary, Miss Pulteney... wearing the "beautiful black mink coat that the Colonel had given to Mrs. Bixby."
Fun Stuff
Teacher Resources
- "Mrs. Bixby and the Colonel's Coat"
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Created and maintained by Kristine Howard, © 1996-2008
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