DEAR DEPARTED

Summary:

The play ‘The Dear Departed’ presents an interesting situation that has tragically become common place in the world of today. The scene of the play is set in the sitting room of a small house in a lower middle-class district of a provincial town. The setting of the play reveals that the tea-table has been laid. Mrs. Slater, a plump and active lady is in mourning and she is getting ready to receive some guests. She beckons to her daughter Victoria, who is ten year old, and instructs her to change into something sober. It is revealed that Victoria’s grandfather has passed away and the Slater family is getting ready to receive Aunt Elizabeth and Uncle Ben.

Victoria expresses surprise at this news because her aunt and uncle had not paid them a visit for years. Mrs. Slater reveals that they were coming over to talk about grandfather’s affairs, on hearing of his death. In the meanwhile Mr. Slater enters. He is a heavy man who stoops he is also in mourning dress. Henry Slater is skeptical whether Elizabeth will come, for the last time when Mrs. Slater and Elizabeth had  quarreled, she had vowed never to pay a visit again to their house. Mrs. Slater gives Henry new slippers of her father.

She also plans to take away the new bureau of the grandfather and shift it to their room, before Elizabeth and Ben arrive. Both the husband and wife, lock the front door and shift the bureau down and put their old chest of drawers there. Victoria wants to know why they were stealing grandfather’s things but her mother tells her to remain quiet. Grandpa’s new clock is also taken away. Meanwhile there is loud knocking at the door and the Slaters take plenty of time to look normal. Mrs. Jordan and Ben pretend to be emotional at the death of Mr. Abel Merryweather.

Both the ladies compare their mourning dresses, criticizing the other’s outfit. Mrs. Jordan is surprised to discover that no doctor had been summoned to check on her father. Mrs. Slater insists in a stubborn manner that she had been keen on Mr. Pringle and if he was out of station, they couldn’t be offensive and call someone else. Mrs Slater reveals that her father had been happy in the morning and he had apparently gone to pay the premium of his insurance policy. He was generally going to “Ring-O-Bells’ frequently and the night before he had come drunk and had gone to bed without having dinner. Mrs Jordan and Ben prefer to have tea before going and looking up father.

All four of them start discussing about the obituary and the kind of announcement in the newspapers to be inserted. Mrs Jordan wants a long poem but Mrs Slater protests by saying that it will cost a lot. Meanwhile Mrs Jordan reveals that her father had willed his gold watch to her son Jimmy. Mrs.Slater feels very offended and refuses to believe it. Victoria says that grandfather had not gone in the morning to pay his premium but had instead gone over to ‘The Ring of Bells,’ the public house, managed by John Shorrock’s widow. Everyone starts blaming the old man for not paying his premium. Victoria is instructed to go over to grandpa’s room to get the receipt of the premium.

Mrs Jordan is surprised to note a new bureau and she wishes to know the details, because she doubts Mrs Slater’s version. Victoria enters, looking dazed. She gives the shocking news that ä  Grandpa was stirring and moving. After some time Mr Abel Merryweather enters and is surprised to see his otherdaughter and son-in-law, Mr and Mrs Jordan. He reveals that he was well and just had a slight headache he notices Henry wearing his new slippers and takes them. Abels wishes to know, why all were in mourning dresses. Mrs Jordan makes up some story to pacify him. Abel Merryweather enjoys tea and has a generous slice of the apple-pie.

He grumbles and scolds Mrs Slater for taking away his bureau. Mrs Jordan gets agitated and accuses her sister of robbing her father. The husbands also join their wives in hurling accusations at each other Abel discovers about his death. He addresses his daughters directly and declares that he was going to change his will and all the money will go to the one, in whose house he dies. Both the daughters fight with each other to keep their father. Abel is amused and watches all the fun. At last he makes his announcement which shocks everyone. On Monday, he would go to the lawyer and alter his will, then he would go to the insurance office and pay his premium.

After that he would go to the church and get married to Mrs. Shorrock. Everyone is shocked. Abel reveals that he had at last found someone who was happy to keep him. He exits with an invitation of his marriage. He also thanks Mrs. Slater for shifting the Bureau down-stairs for now it will be easy to cart it away to “Ring-O-Bells.’

Q.5

1) How does Mrs. Slater plan to outshine the Jordans? What does it reveal about her character?

Ans.  Mrs. Slater was not very happy with the partial mourning dresses that she and her family were wearing. However, she thought that her sister in their hurry to start off for her house, wouldn’t have thought of mourning dresses and so she would outshine them.
Ans.  Mrs. Slater always liked grandfather’s bureau. After his death, she decided to shift it to her room before her sister arrived so she can say that it belonged to them

Mrs. Slater was a very superficial person. She was not concerned about the death in her family but was more bothered about her appearance and how to be better than her sister

(2) Why does Mrs. Slater decide to shift the bureau from grandfather's room before the arrival of the Jordans? How does Henry react to the suggestion?

Henry was shocked at the suggestion because he felt that the sisters should amicably divide grandfather’s things. He also felt that it was too heavy and moreover, he was worried about the arrival of the Jordans while they were shifting it.

(3) What is the reason for the Jordans taking a long time to get to the house of the Slaters? What does it show about the two sisters' attitude towards each other?

Ans.  Mrs Jordan took a lot of time to reach the home of the Slater’s because she wanted to get a complete new mourning dress before coming. Both the sisters are not grief-stricken at the death of their father but are trying to outshine each other in wearing their best mourning dresses.

(4) What does Mrs. Jordan describe as 'a fatal mistake'? What is the irony in the comment she makes on Mrs. Slater's defense?
Answer
Mrs. Slater’s not calling the doctor as soon as she realises that grandfather is dead, is described by Mrs Jordon as ‘a fatal mistake.  According to Mrs. Jordan grandfather could have been revived had Mrs. Slater sent for another doctor. It is this blunder on Mrs. Slater’s part that Mrs. Jordan describes as fatal.

(5) Ben appreciates grandfather saying 'its' a good thing he did'. Later he calls him a 'drunken old beggar'. Why does he change his opinion about grandfather?
Ans.  Ben appreciated grandfather when he came to know that he had gone out to pay his insurance premium. However, when he got to know that he had not paid the premium instead gone to a public house, he calls him a drunken old beggar.
Ben changed his opinion about grandfather when he realised that he hadn’t paid premium because now after his death they could not claim the insurance money.

(6) What change does grandfather make in his new will? What effect does it have on his daughters?
Ans  Grandfather decided that in his new will, he would leave all his money and things to the person he would be living with when he died. This led to another spat between the daughters. Since both of them were very keen to get his money and things, they wanted that he should stay with them.

(7) What are the three things that grandfather plans to do on Monday next?
Ans. The three things that grandfather planned to do on Monday next was first to go to a lawyer and change his will, then pay his insurance premium and finally go to St. Phillip’s church and get married.

6. Answer the following in detail:
(1) Bring out the irony in the title of the play.
Answer
The title of the play 'Dear Departed' is ironical. In the beginning of the play, we come to know that grandfather Mr. Abel has departed from this world. He is not dear to his own daughters though they pretend that he is dear to both of them. They are eager to divide his belongings between them. Even Mrs. Slater with whom he has been living fetches his clock and bureau from his room where he is lying 'dead'. Even they can't wait for the last rites of his burial. Even their husbands Ben and Henry do not love grandfather. So, no one is grieved at his departure. In this way, we can say that the title of this play 'Dear Departed' is an ironical statement of dying love and absence of filial obligations.

(2) How does the spat between his daughters lead to grandfather discovering the truth?

AnsAbel Merry weather recognises his bureau and wants to know the reason for its shifting. Mrs Slater had already told her sister that the bureau belonged to them. This lie is enough to start a fight between the two sisters. Mrs Jordan accuses her sister of stealing her father’s things, thinking him to be dead. That is when Abel discovers that they had gathered there for the official mourning of his death.


(3) Compare and contrast Henry's character with that of his wife. Support your answer with evidence from they play.
Answer
Henry is timid and honest by nature. Soft at heart, he tends to get bullied by his dominating wife. Initially he protests against stealing the grandfather’s slippers and bureau but when Mrs Slater forces him, he gets carried away. He is a worried looking man who believed what his wife says and ends up supporting her. Mrs Slater by contrast is vain, pretentious and greedy. She makes the plans and he executes them with his wife’s help of course.

7. Bring out the traits in Mrs. Slater's personality quoting evidence from the play.

Trait	Evidence from the play
Greedy	She shifted grandfather’s bureau and clock from his room before her sister arrived so that she could not lay a claim on it.
Overpowering/ dominating	She made her husband shift the bureau in spite of his reluctance.
Blunt/ straight talking	She told everybody that her father had been a little drunk that morning
Impolite	She misbehaved with her sister when she accused her of robbing grandfather of his things in spite of the fact that she was guilty of the same.
Insensitive	She did not even wait for grandfather’s funeral before she started dividing things between them.

8. Answer the following with reference to the context.

 1. "Are we pinching it before Aunt Elizabeth comes?"

a) What does 'it' refer to here?

b) How does Vicky conclude that her parents are 'pinching it'?

c) Mention the two reasons that Mrs. Slater gives for her action.

d) What does it reveal about the difference between the attitude of the elders and that of Vicky?

Answer

a) “It” refers to the bureau that was grandfather’s room.

b) When Victoria was told by her father that he and his mother were shifting the bureau downstairs, she concluded that her parents are “pinching it” because everything that was in grandfather’s room had to be equally divided amongst the two sisters.

c) Firstly, she always like the bureau of grandfather. Secondly, she knows that her sister Elizabeth would not let her take it.

d) The elders instead of mourning the death were busy dividing grandfather’s things. Victoria, on the other hand, had wisdom beyond her years. She immediately understood the meaning of their actions. She did not like her parents shifting the bureau.

Page No: 156

2. "I don't call that delicate, stepping into a dead man's shoes in such haste."

a) Who makes this comment?

b) What prompts the speaker to say this?

c) Bring out the significance of this statement.

Answer

a) Mrs. Jordan made this comment.

b) When grandfather sees Henry wearing it, Mrs. Slater quickly gives them back to him. This prompts Mrs. Jordan to make this comment.

c) Stepping into dead man’s shoe is to take the position of the dead man although one might not be capable of it. Mrs. Jordan on seeing her brother-in law wearing grandfather’s shoes feels that he was in too much of a hurry to step into the grandfather’s shoes. He didn’t even wait for his funeral.

3. "Now, Amelia, you mustn't give way. We've all got to die some time or other. It might have been worse."

a) Who is the speaker of these lines?

b) What prompts the speaker to say these words?

c) What does he mean when he says 'It might have been worse'?

d) What does it reveal about the speaker's character?

Answer

a) Ben is the speaker of these lines.

b) When he sees Mrs. Slater shedding tears for grandfather, he makes this formal statement to console and sympathise with her.

c) He means to say that death of grandfather at the age of 72 is quite normal. His death might have been worse than this death.

d) The speaker Ben is not serious at all. He is ironical and formal.



Date:
Day:
Time:
Today is the worst day of my life, when Grandpa was supposed to have passed away. I am deeply shocked at the behaviour of my mother and father, who are pinching the belongings of my Grandpa. Imagine none even went to look up Grandpa. I know Grandpa was not happy living with us, I tried my best but mummy never listens. Even papa supports her. I am so ashamed to see their hypocrisy. I don’t know how they will expect respect from me, when they have behaved so abominably. I pity Grandpa for this treatment. Oh! how I wish I was grown up enough to look after him.
Victoria.

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