SOURCE: An excerpt from The Short Stories of John Galsworthy, Haskell House, 1966, pp. 43-6, 56-60, 143-46.

Below, Smit explores stylistic aspects of certain stories by Galsworthy and discusses his contributions to the development of the short story genre.

Stories belonging to the older school were more or less rounded off, had a beginning, contained dramatic action, and ended at a definite point, in a word contained plot.

With the earlier fiction we are well aware that the events narrated are over and done with. The first paragraphs rouse our curiosity, and from that moment the plot progresses with a singleness of purpose to the conclusion. The shapeless short story of the present age is a far different matter. Modern writers, especially the followers of Tchehov,

have tried to effect an illusion of present time, to produce a feeling of immediacy.

Using every device of artifice to generate an...