WORKSHEET/ NOTES
Details
Category Worksheet Notes Session 2022-23
Topic/Lesson Mother’s Day Work Sheet No. Number/ Month/ Year
Grade 11 Subject English
Name Date 8.11.2022
Mother’s Day
Question 1:
This play, written in the 1950s, is a humorous and satirical depiction of the status of the mother in
the family.
1. What are the issues it raises?
2. 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?
Answers:
1. The play raises many serious issues. The first and foremost is proper appreciation of a
housewife’s role and responsibilities. Those who work eight hours a day and forty hours a
week treat the housewife as an unpaid domestic servant, who must carry out their
orders. They neither request her nor thank her for her services. The second issue is the
reciprocity of love and gratitude towards the mother or wife. The husband, son and
daughter leave the lady of the house alone every night and go out to enjoy themselves in
several ways. They do not take any notice of her and have become thoughtless and
selfish. The mother’s excessive love, care and promptness to serve them also spoil them.
2. The problems the play raises are serious. The treatment is, of course comic. The
playwright adopts an unusual method to resolve the issues. He takes the help of magic
from the East. Incantation of a magical spell helps in the interchange of personalities.
Now Mrs Pearson, with the strong and sinister personality of Mrs Fitzgerald, gives rough
treatment to the daughter, son and husband respectively. Her stern looks and
commanding tone suggests to them that she can be really tough. The spoiled members
are brought round by the heavy dose of exposure of reality to them. They agree to stay
and help in preparing the supper while the housewife has a talk with her husband.
The resolution of the issues seems far-fetched and unnatural but extreme means have to
be adopted in disaster management
Prepared By:_____________
Verified By:___________
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WORKSHEET/ NOTES
A. Short Answer Type Questions
Question 1:
How are Mrs Pearson and Mrs Fitzgerald contrasted?
Answer:
The two ladies are sharply contrasted. Mrs Pearson is a pleasant but worried looking woman in her
forties. She speaks in a light, flurried sort of tone with a touch of suburban cockney. Mrs Fitzgerald is
older, heavier and has a strong and sinister personality. She smokes. She has a deep voice, rather
Irish tone.
Question 2:
“I’m much obliged,” says Mrs. J Pearson. What for does she feel obliged and to whom?
Answer: Mrs. Pearson feels obliged to Mrs Fitzgerald for telling her fortune. She thinks it quite
wonderful having a real fortune teller living next door
Question 3:
What fortune does Mrs Fitzgerald predict for Mrs Pearson?
Answer: Mrs Fitzgerald is quite equivocal in her predictions. She says it could be a good fortune or a
bad one. All depends on Mrs Pearson herself now. She asks her to decide firmly. Her fortune depends
on it.
Question 4:
What problem does Mrs Pearson face? Who do you think is responsible for this state of affairs?
Answer:
Mrs Pearson devotes all her time and energy to serve her husband, son and daughter. These
thoughtless and selfish persons go out every night to enjoy themselves leaving Mrs Pearson alone at
home. She is no better than a servant in her own home. Mrs Pearson herself is responsible for the
ill-treatment, neglect and lack of concern shown to her.
Question 5:
What course of action does Mrs Fitzgerald suggest to Mrs Pearson to tackle the situation?
Answer:
Mrs Fitzgerald tells Mrs Pearson to decide firmly and stick to her decision. She must assert her
position and become the real mistress of the house. Her own initiative can help her. She must let
them wait or look after themselves for once.
Prepared By:_____________
Verified By:___________
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