Mother’s Day English Summary
Mother’s Day Characters
Mrs. Fitzgerald-
She was Mrs. Annie
Pearson’s neighbor and a fortune teller. She was a lady with strong
determination and helped Annie to stand and earn respect from her husband and
children. She tries and succeeds in revamping the characters of her family.
Mrs. Annie Pearson–
She was a
pleasant woman but felt nervous at times. Her excessive love and care have
spoiled her own family and she has lost her self-confidence in the way to
fulfill her family’s wishes. Now she wishes to take a stand of her own and earn
respect and work for her feelings.
Doris Pearson–
She was around twenty
and Annie’s elder daughter. She never contributes to household work and doesn’t
care about herself. She had an affair with Charles Spence.
Cyril Pearson-
He is Annie’s son and
never sympathizes with her and never cares to do anything for her. He was
equally demanding and also needs to change his attitude towards her mom.
Mr. George Pearson–
He was the better
half of Annie but never cares to understand or respects his wife’s feelings. He
dominates the house, but he was mocked in the club by his friends.
Mother’s Day English Summary
J. B. Priestley is one of the noted authors of the contemporary era. His satirical prose pieces are very iconic in explaining the then conditions of society. In this chapter, Mother’s Day English Class 11, he explains how Mrs Pearson has been continuously disregarded by her husband and children. Every day, she received ignorance and pity from her children, Doris and Cyril. Even. Even her husband George did not pay attention to the children’s misbehaviour towards their mother.
One day, she went to have tea with Mrs Fitzgerald, an old lady and a fortune teller by profession. She explained the terrible treatment she got from her family members every day to the old lady. Mrs Fitzgerald had a sinister personality. She was determined that those good-for-nothing fellows must be taught a lesson. This is where the story starts taking a new turn. It is quite interesting to study the chapter too. If you follow the Class 11 English Mothers Day summary, you will understand the main plot of the chapter.
The play begins with a candid conversation between two friends at Mrs Pearson's house. Mrs Fitzgerald tells Mrs Pearson her fortune and gives her advice on it. Mrs Pearson goes on and on about how her family members do not value her and do not appreciate anything she does for them.
Mrs Fitzgerald was capable of using and casting charms on others. She wanted to see what actually happened in the family and how they treated Mrs Pearson. Mrs Fitzgerald tells her to take her place as the woman of the house, but Mrs Pearson, being the pure and loving lady she is, does not want to cause any trouble for her family. She handles their angry outbursts because she doesn't know where to begin disciplining them.
She told Mrs Pearson her plan. One day, she suggests that they briefly swap personalities using a magic spell she learned in the East. She takes Annie's hand in hers and says some magical words. Mrs Fitzgerald's personality moves into Annie's body, and vice versa.
Mrs Pearson was scared of the consequences but Mrs Fitzgerald told her to rely on her. Annie is terrified, but Mrs Fitzgerald confirms that the transformation is reversible. She cast a spell and exchanged her personality with that of Mrs Pearson.Mrs Fitzgerald, now in Annie's body, stays at Annie's house and sends Annie in Mrs Fitzgerald's body to her house to loosen up. She then entered her home along with Mrs Fitzgerald (actually Mrs Pearson).
She started drinking wine and smoking cigarettes inside. Doris Pearson, Mrs Annie Pearson's daughter, is taken aback when she sees her mother smoking and playing cards alone. She wanted to go on a date and ordered her mom to iron a dress. Doris inquires about her mom's yellow dress, but she receives no response. When she asks for tea, her mother responds angrily, telling her to iron her dress herself and make tea if she desires.Doris gets angry but gets a decent chiding from her mother.
She did not stop there, and then Annie mocks Doris' boyfriend, Charlie Spence, for having protruding teeth and being a moron. She tells Doris bluntly that she would have found someone better than Charlie Spence at her age. Doris felt ashamed and miserable in front of Mrs Fitzgerald and started crying. Doris is upset by this bizarre behavior and walks out of the room crying.
Cyril entered and asked their mother to prepare tea. She also reacted in a repulsive way. Cyril found that his sister is also crying for her mother’s rude behaviour. Cyril then tried to insult Mrs Fitzgerald and told his mom to mind her language.His mother did not even listen and started to revolt. She said that she will not work on the weekends as she will party with her friends.
George Pearson then enters the scene, surprised to see his wife day-drinking. When he objected, Mrs Pearson said that she can drink wine whenever she wants.He discloses that he has a memorable match at the club and will not be needing tea this afternoon. He becomes irritated once more when told there is no tea. Mrs Pearson makes fun of him for being irritated at not receiving something he didn't want. She also told him that the friends whom he goes to meet every day, make fun of him when he is not there.She tells him about the slang he hears at the club. She goes on to mock him, saying that this would not have occurred if he had stayed at home now and then.
Mrs Fitzgerald (actually Mrs Annie Pearson) discovers Doris in tears. Her family is also being chastised in front of her. Mrs Annie Pearson (actually Mrs Fitzgerald) informs her that she is humiliating everyone. When Mr George Pearson yells at his wife, she threatens to smash his big, fat, ridiculous face. Mrs Fitzgerald (actually Mrs Pearson) was unable to take this anymore. She requested the actual Mrs Fitzgerald to return back to normal. When Annie smiles, her family members, for the first time, smile back and feel very comfortable. Annie believes that since they have cancelled their plans to go out, they all must play a rummy game as a family. She also requests that her children prepare dinner for the family, to which they certainly agree. She also wishes to speak with her husband, George, on which everyone concurs. The play concludes happily, with the children and husband eager to do whatever Mrs Annie Pearson suggests.
you will find that Mrs Fitzgerald taught a good lesson to George, Doris, and Cyril. She also reminded them of how miserable they felt for a few minutes. This was exactly what Mrs Pearson has felt for years. Everyone in the family understood how much Mrs Pearson was sacrificing and was being ignored. They stopped behaving badly with her and respected her from then onwards.
Mother’s Day Question and Answers
Q 1. How are Mrs. Pearson and Mrs. Fitzgerald contrasted?
Annie was very soft-spoken, pleasant in her
attitude, she was in her forties and still never remains confident of her age.
She does all the household work herself and remains at duty for her kids and
her husband. On the other hand, Mrs. Fitzgerald was very strong-headed and has
a very firm attitude towards everything. She drinks smokes and speaks in an
Irish tone.
Q 2. “I’m much obliged,” says Mrs. J Pearson. What for does she feel obliged to and to whom?
Annie was very obliged to have a fortune
teller living near her house.
Q 3. What fortune does Mrs. Fitzgerald predict for Mrs. Pearson?
She was very confident that Annie’s future was
in her own hands and now she can only decide what she wants: a bad one or a
good future ahead.
Q 4. What problem does Mrs. Pearson face? Who do you think is responsible for this state of affairs?
Annie gives her time only for her husband and
family managing all the household chores single-handedly. In return, she was
never asked about how she is feeling or what she wants. She remains beck and
call for them. She has become like a servant for them doing work all the time.
And also she was ignored by all of them every time.
Q 5. What course of action does Mrs. Fitzgerald suggest to Mrs. Pearson to tackle the situation?
Fitzgerald told her to stick to her decision
and must grab her position with respect and enjoys her rights in the house. She
should be the boss of all. But for all this to happen only she can take the
initiative.
Q 6. What difficulties does Mrs. Pearson face while dealing with the various members of her family?
Annie told her that she loves her family so
much that she cannot discuss her problems and needs with them. She is actually
lacking the courage to ask for her rights and respect. She does not get it from
where to start and what to do.
Q 7. “Then let me do it”, suggests Mrs. Fitzgerald. How does Mrs. Pearson react to it?
Fitzgerald knew how to teach them a lesson and
she told Annie to let her do all the things hereafter. Annie refused and told
her they all would resent but never understand.
Q 8. How does Mrs. Fitzgerald plan to deal with the family of Mrs. Pearson?
Fitzgerald suggested to her that she
was planning to exchange places and teach them a lesson. After that, they both
would get into their original roles.
Q 9. Why does Doris Pearson feel astounded on returning home?
Dorris was shocked to find her mother smoking
and playing cards. She ordered her to make her tea and ironed her yellow dress
and left again shocked when she did not respond to her query.
Q 10. How does Mrs. Pearson criticize Doris for going out with Charlie Spence?
Annie taunts her by criticizing her boyfriend
and making fun of his buck teeth. She told Dorris that if she were of her age
she would have made a better choice. She
should stop going with him.
Q 11. Why is Cyril Pearson annoyed with his mother? Give two reasons.
Her son Cyril was annoyed at her
because she had not prepared tea for him. He told her to be quick as he has to
leave but was vexed with her when she refused.
Q 12. How do Doris and Cyril react to Mrs. Pearson’s query about stout?
They both were surprised at her
behavior and asked for beer to drink. They both giggled also on thinking what
would be the scene when their father returned.
Q 13. How does Mrs. Pearson teach her children to be responsible adults?
Firstly she gave them a good one
about their lifestyle and reprimands them for giggling. When they boasted of
doing a lot of work she also told them that she has completed her 8 hrs like
them. She also demanded 2 days off on weekends.
Q 14. “I’ll hit you with something, girl, if you don’t stop, asking silly questions,” says Mrs. Pearson to Doris. Which ‘silly’ questions does she object to?
Doris asked this question as she was
surprised that her mom wants off on weekends. Mrs. Pearson told that doing all
these for you all is her business and she needs time off on weekends. After
listening to this, Doris thought that she had hit herself and this mother
warned him of asking silly questions.
Q 15. “Sometimes it does people good to have their feelings hurt.” Do you agree with Mrs. Pearson’s observation?
Mother has hurt the feelings of her
husband and today she felt that sometimes it is good to hurt others and be
sadistic. in my opinion, she is right as a person should fly high living in
another world of its own.
Q 16. What forces the real Mrs. Pearson to conclude: “That’s enough, quite enough”?
When Fitzgerald in Annie’s role was being harsh with the family and Annie saw Doris crying very badly. She thought that was enough and they should turn back to their roles and she could handle further herself.
