NCERT Solutions for Class 11 English Chapter 5 – Mother’s Day — J.B. Priestley
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Reading with Insight:
Q.
(i) This play, written in the 1950s, is a humorous and satirical depiction of the status of the mother in the family. What are the issues it raises?
Ans. The play ‘Mother’s Day’ is a comical satire. The story is a simple one, yet it strongly condemns the position of women in the society. Our mothers and wives work hard daily, day long, round the clock. Little do we realise the hard work they put in to make it all a perfect day for the family. We take them for granted and never appreciate them or stop by to drop a word of ‘thanks’. The story very clearly states that our mothers and wives have an equal right to relax, enjoy their lives and deserve appreciation for turning our houses into homes. They receive no wages and have no weekends off and that too without any acknowledgement and appreciation. They sacrifice their whole lives building ours. The husbands stay busy at work and the kids are occupied in their own lives. Amidst all this, women lose their self-satisfaction, dignity and personality, trying to maintain a balance in our world.
(ii) This play, written in the 1950s, is a humorous and satirical depiction of the status of a mother in a family. Do you think it caricatures these issues or do you think that the problems it raises are genuine? How does the play resolve the issues? Do you agree with the resolution?
Ans. The issues that the story raises are genuine and we must pay heed to them. In the story, the major complaint of Mrs. Pearson is that her family does not spend time with her. The author has tried to highlight the fact that how lonely a woman can feel when all the members of her family leave early in the morning to work and then return in the evening just to get the supper and then leave again to socialise outside home. They pay her no time or attention. She selflessly makes the home and asks nothing in return. However, little do we realise that they also yearn for company and wish to spend time with their loved ones.
In the play, Mrs. Fitzgerald, a strong and determined lady who lives in the neighbourhood is a fortune teller, helped Mrs. Pearson, by exchanging her own personality with Mrs. Pearson’s and dealt with her family. She made the Pearsons realise that Mrs. Pearson is a human after all and that even after working all throughout the day she receives no acknowledgement and appreciation from her family members. She did not prepare the supper nor ironed the clothes and made George, Doris and Cyril realise that how dependent they actually are on Mrs. Pearson. She is the sole pillar who keeps their lives in place and keeps everything ready for them before even they have asked for it. Finally, when the three receive such harsh treatment and see Annie sitting back and not doing the household chores, they feel helpless and find it all difficult to manage on their own. They realise that their lives are absolutely incomplete without Mrs. Pearson.
The resolution was perfect and very well decided. Pearsons needed the harsh treatment after all, else they would have never realised the nasty slights they went on committing towards Mrs. Pearson. After what all happened and when Mrs. Fitzgerald and Mrs. Pearson exchanged the personalities back to their original ones, Annie tells George, Doris and Cyril to stay back and play cards with her and proposed that the kids would do cooking while she could sit back and relax while talking to her husband, to which the three approved merrily.
Q. If you were to write about these issues today, what are some of the incidents, examples and problems that you would think of as relevant?
Ans. No matter how time has changed and women in today’s society have become confident and aware about their rights, they are still dominated in the conservative societies like ours. Even in western world, one may find many such families, like Pearsons, where the lady of the house alone manages all for the rest of the members. They work round the clock, doing the house hold chores all by themselves without complaining and do not even receive appreciation. Our mothers take little liberty to enjoy or have their own leisure time. A woman is accepted only in the avatar of a home maker, we can never accept our mothers or wives going out with her friends. We all stereotype a woman as a lady who is going to cook food for us, iron our clothes, sit back at home all day cleaning our room and anxiously waiting for us to return in the evening. We behave as if she cannot have a life of her own and our upkeep is her liability. We must always keep it in mind that the woman in our house needs our attention and appreciation and we must be grateful to her.
Q. Is drama a good medium for conveying a social message? Discuss.
Ans. Drama or theatre is a perfect medium to deliver social messages to the society. Now that we are in the digital era, we have various kinds of media, print, electronic and cyber. However, in the times when there were no TVs, the only media was theatre. Media not only reflects the society but also revolutionises it. Jean Genet has made it very clear from his plays that the society dwells on images and roles. Hence, what we show by delivering our responsibilities affects the social mores and stereotyping of roles. So, in Drama or Theatre, when the characters come alive and equivocally make their point in front of the whole society, they raise questions, very strong and vital issues are highlighted, which otherwise remain ignored. People pay heed to what is displayed and learn. They not only relate but also get an emotional connect. It is believed that in drama, comedy is best way to leave a lasting effect on the audience. Comedy does not stimulate the audience emotionally; hence, there is no subsequent catharsis. Thus, the alienated audience is able to think rationally rather than getting emotional and is able to infer what the dramatist has been trying to convey. It opens the audience’s mind and they begin to think about what has been suggested or portrayed in the story rather than associating themselves with the characters and simply reach a catharsis of emotions.
