"The Real Thing"

“The Real Thing” is a creative short story about a couple that were Monarchs and have falling on bad times. The narrator in the story is the artist and has an awkward encounter with this couple. The artist paints portraits of models, in this case the Monarchs don’t want to pay for a picture, they want to be paid to model for a painting. At first the artist gets excited that there are real Monarchs that came to him. After talking to them he soon realizes that they have come for a different reason. The artist is confused that such a high class couple wants to be paid for something.  This changes the mood of the story because the artist has never been in a position where a couple wants to be paid to model. As the story progresses he realizes the Monarchs are not fit for the job and they are ruining his reputation.  He ends the story with, “If it be true I am content to have paid the price-for the memory.” The Monarchs are desperate for money but do not have a skill set to earn any. The artist feeling bad and puts them to work with manual labor. He soon doesn’t want them around anymore so he pays them to leave. The artist puts it together that this couple is not what he thought they would be.