George and Martha: "The Mirror"

Marshall uses the rule of threes in an early story, "The Mirror":

Act One-- Martha admires herself in the living-room mirror.

Act Two-- Martha, consumed by madness, admires herself alone in her bedroom, via handheld mirror, late at night. She giggles a bit--perhaps nervously, realizing on some level that she has a problem.

Act Three-- Extension of the pattern. Martha returns to the mirror. But, a twist: George, deeply irritated, has pasted a monster-face onto the surface of the glass. "That's what happens after too much self-admiration. You grow several extra eyeballs." And Martha, chastened, vows never to be Narcissus--never again.

Quick, strange, and satisfying. Special points for the late-night giggling in Act Two.....

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