Hi Everyone!! This article will share Fourteen Questions & Answers.
In my previous posts, I have shared the questions and answers of Exiled, The Village Schoolmaster and The Necklace so, you can check these posts as well.
Fourteen Questions & Answers
Question 1: At the start of the play, Mrs Pringle is calm, composed and in charge. Give evidence from her actions and what she says to show this statement to be true.
Answer: At the start of the play, Mrs Pringle learns that one of her guests, Mr Harper will not be able to come. Her butler tells her that the cook is in a temper as usual. Mrs Pringle, instead of being upset, is unaffected, which is proof that she is calm, composed and in charge.
Question 2: At what point does Mrs Pringle composure change? What brings about the change and what does she say or do?
Answer: When she realises that the number of people at the table would be thirteen, she is a little upset and her composure changes. She looks madly through her list of acquaintances, to see whom to invite.
Question 3: How does Dunham behave throughout the scene? Study his words and actions and comment.
Answer: Dunham is totally in charge, and doesn’t mince his words. He seems to know his mistress well. ‘It is a certainty! You wouldn’t sit down with thirteen.’ He is polite and truthful.
Question 4: What is the difference in Mrs Pringle’s manner and tone when she is speaking on the telephone and when speaking to others in the room?
Answer: When she is speaking on the telephone, she is extremely polite and courteous, unlike when she is speaking to other people in the room, then she is curt and blunt. She is delighted when Mrs Sedgwick informs her about her inability to attend the dinner party, though outwardly she expresses her feeling of regret.
Question 5: Why is Mrs Pringle so upset when she learns Mr Farnsworth will be unable to attend the dinner?
Answer: She was hoping, by inviting Mr Farnsworth, she would be able to fix Elaine’s match with him; so, she was upset on learning that he was unable to come.
Question 6: From the way she acts and speaks, what impression do you get of Elaine?
Answer: Elaine is in awe of her mother, is not so confident, and is unable to do things on her own. She bungles things up and is unable to get out of a situation.
Question 7: According to Mrs Pringle and the others, what is the ideal number to have at dinner? How and why are all the other numbers unsuitable?
Answer: According to Mrs Pringle and the others, fourteen is an ideal number to have at dinner because other numbers will not allow her husband to sit at the head of the table, which is a manner of honour and prestige for her. Also, other numbers will go against the aesthetic value of her party and the amount of food prepared.
Question 8: Read and answer the questions:
1. ‘No – you’re his secretary? He’s what? Instructed you to make his excuses! He had to leave for Boston at once on important business – Oh!’
(a) Who is speaking?
Answer: Mrs Pringle is speaking.
(b) What does the speaker do at this point in the conversation and what does she say immediately afterwards?
Answer: She hangs up without completing the conversation and hits the telephone, and paces back and forth in a rage, saying ‘How dare he!’
(c) How does her mood change when she discovers her misunderstanding?
Answer: When she discovers her misunderstandings, she is extremely excited and happy.
2. ‘Great Caesar, now what have I done!’
(a) Who says these words?
Answer: Elaine says these words.
(b) To whom has the speaker been speaking prior to this?
Answer: The speaker has been speaking to Ella Tupper, her friend.
(c) What has the speaker been told for the speaker to react in this way?
Answer: That they accepted the invitation, but they had two house guests, and asked if it would be all right to bring them along.
(d) How is this particular situation resolved?
Answer: They decided to insert another board on the table.
So, these were Fourteen Questions & Answers.