Obsession In The Odd Couple By Neil Simon

In the play, The Odd Couple, the author, Neil Simon, uses Felix’s concerns to argue obsession destroys relationships.
The author uses Felix’s concerns to illustrate the idea of obsession. The first example of Felix’s obsession occurs when he is being comforted by his friends after his wife divorced him. Felix tunes out their efforts in comforting him and instead responds to their support with phrases such as “I can’t imagine what Frances must be going through” (Simon, 34). This shows he is an obsessive person because he is overly concerned with the feelings of his wife even though the divorce should have been harder on him. It is good for Felix to be concerned with the feelings of his significant other, but when his concerns began to control his entire outlook on his life and situation, it became unhealthy. Another example of Felix’s obsession is the sharp contrast between the

This dramatic difference shows how much time Felix must have sacrificed to clean Oscar’s apartment. The author even included that Felix washed each individual playing card with disinfectant. Felix’s attention to detail shows that he is very meticulous and sacrificed a large portion of his time into cleaning. The amount of time Felix put into cleaning the apartment reveals how much a he is concerned with the cleanliness of the apartment. Felix did not balance his time wisely; instead, he obsessed over one thing. This illustrates Felix’s character trait of obsessiveness.
Felix’s obsessiveness destroys his relationships with others. The first relationship that was destroyed by Felix’s obsessive behavior was his relationship with his wife, Frances. In Felix’s rant to Oscar, he states