Special Brief Suggestion Modern Drama
Part – A
Importance of Being Earnest
1. When did Oscar Wilde win the Newdigate Prize?
Ans. Oscar Wilde won the Newdigate Prize in 1879.
2. Who is Gwendolen Fairfax?
Ans. She is the only daughter of Lord and Lady Bracknell and is loved by Jack Worthing whom she knows as Earnest Worthing.
3. Who is Algernon Moncriff?
Ans. Algernon Moncriff is the nephew of Lady Bracknell and the younger brother of Jack.
4. Who is Bunbury?
আরো পড়ুনঃDiscuss the Theme of Isolation in Harold Pinter’s “The Caretaker.”(বাংলায়)
Ans. Bunbury, the chronically sick person, is a friend of Algernon.
5. What is the meaning of ‘divorces are made in heaven’?
Ans: It is an opposite expression of the notion ‘marriages are made in heaven’.
6. Who is Cecily Cardew?
Ans. Cecily Cardew is Jack’s beautiful eighteen-year old ward who is tutored by Miss Prism.
7. Why does Jack call Miss Prism his mother?
Ans: Miss Prism identifies the leather handbag as her own in which Jack is also found. That’s why Jack calls Miss Prism his mother.
8. How does the play ‘The Importance Being Earnest’ end?
Ans. The play ends happily when Algernon embraces Cecily, Jack embraces Gwendolen, and
Miss Prism and Dr. Chasuble embrace each other.
9. What is the final realization of Jack Worthing?
Ans: He finally realizes the vital importance of his being earnest in his life.
10. What is the real name of Jack Worthing?
Ans. The real name of Jack Worthing is John.
আরো পড়ুনঃDo You Call “The Caretaker” by Harold Pinter is a Comedy? (বাংলায়)
11. Who is the rector of the estate of Jack?
Ans. Dr. Canon Chasuble is the rector of the estate of Jack.
12. Why does Lady Bracknell refuse Jack’s proposal of marriage to her daughter Gwendolen?
Ans. Because of Jack’s unknown parentage, Lady Bracknell refuses his proposal of marriage to her daughter Gwendolen.
13. What is Jack’s income?
Ans: His income is between seven and eight thousand pounds per year.
14. Who is the antagonist of the play?
Ans: Lady Bracknel is the antagonist of the play.
15. What is a comedy of manners?
Ans: A comedy of manners is a humorous play or literary work that satirizes the social behaviors and conventions of a particular society or class.
16. Why did Algernon make his imaginary friend, Banbury?
Ans: He made it so that he could enjoy the country life escaping the bustles of city life and his aunt’s dinner party.
17. How does Dr. Chausble try to be witty?
আরো পড়ুনঃEstragon and Vladimir are Waiting for Godot Everybody’s Waiting for Something Unattainable.(বাংলায়)
Ans: He tries to be witty by saying that if he were fortunate enough; he would hang upon Miss Prism’s lips.
18. Whom never do girls marry according to Algernon?
Ans: According to him, girls never marry the men with whom they flirt before.
19. In What way has Jack a double identity?
Ans: Jack is familiar as ‘Earnest’ in London and as ‘Jack’ in the countryside. Thus, he possesses a double identity.
20. Who is Miss Prism?
Ans: She is a humorless middle-aged nurse in Lord Bracknell’s house.
21. What is the nick name of Algernon?
Ans: His nickname is Algy.
22. What is the significance of ‘cucumber sandwiches’?
Ans: The term signifies the contemporary people’s interest of the artificial society.
Waiting for Godot
1. Who is Samuel Beckett?
Ans: Samuel Beckett (1906-1989) is an Irish dramatist and novelist.
2. When was Beckett awarded the Nobel Prize?
Ans. Samuel Beckett was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1969.
3. What is Theatre of the Absurd?
Ans: The Theatre of the Absurd is a genre of drama that emphasizes the irrational and nonsensical aspects of human existence, often characterized by unconventional storytelling, disjointed dialogue, and absurd situations.
4. How is the title ‘Waiting for Godot’ justified?
Ans: The prime theme of the play deals with purposeless waste of time that makes the title justified.
আরো পড়ুনঃDo You find any Religious Significance in Waiting for Godot? (বাংলায়)
5. Who are the major characters in ‘Waiting for Godot’ and what nationalities do they represent?
Ans. The major characters in the play ‘Waiting for Godot’ are Estragon (Frenchman), Vladimir (Russia), Pozzo (Italian) and Lucky (Englishman).
6. What is the symbolic meaning of the name of Vladimir?
Ans. Vladimir or Didi symbolizes rationality in man’s nature.
7. What is the subject of the song sung by Vladimir?
Ans: The subject of the song is the story of a dog which steals a piece of meat from a kitchen and is killed by the cook. This song serves as an ominous precursor to the arrival of Estragon, who has also been beaten.
8. How are Gogo and Didi represented as parts of a divided self?
Ans. Gogo represents the Unconscious Mind, the ID, (irrational part of the psyche). On the other hand, Didi represents the Conscious Mind, the EGO, (rational part of the psyche)
9. Who is Pozzo in ‘Waiting for Godot’?
Ans. Pozzo is a rich man who loves traveling and is careful of his dress. In this play, he stands for power.
10. Who is Lucky in ‘Waiting for Godot’?
Ans. Lucky is the slave of Pozzo.
11. What did Estragon see in the Holy Bible?
Ans. Estragon saw in the Holy Bible the maps of the Holy Land including the Dead Sea, the weather of which was pale blue.
12. Why does Estragon say ‘people are bloody ignorant apes’?
Ans: Estragon ends his discussion with Vladimir by uttering this phrase that means people are totally ignorant about their future happenings.
13. What do Gogo’s nightmares symbolize?
Ans. Gogo’s nightmares symbolize the discomfort and trouble.
14. What is mandrake?
Ans. Mandrake, a poisonous plant symbolizes fertility.
আরো পড়ুনঃDiscuss “Look Back in Anger” as a Play of Class Distinction. (বাংলায়)
15. What does the tree with four or three leaves in the setting of Act II signify?
Ans. The barren tree signifies the passage of time.
16. What does the ‘Macon Country’ refer to?
Ans. The ‘Macon Country’ refers to the Garden of Eden.
17. What does Estragon mean by ‘Cackon Country’?
Ans. Estragon refers to the present world by ‘Cackon Country’.
18. What does the word ‘godot’ refer to?
Ans: The word refers to happiness, eternal life, love, hope, future, and death.
19. What does Pozzo’s blindness signify?
Ans: His blindness signifies his confusion over time.
20. What does Lucky symbolize?
Ans: Lucky symbolizes the genteel slave.
21. Who utters the words ‘nothing to be done’ at the beginning of the play?
Ans: Estragon utters these words at the outset of the play.
22. What is the significance of Pozzo and Lucky relationship?
Ans: Their relationship stand for the relations between master and slave, or mankind and Christ.
23. How does Pozzo address Lucky?
Ans: Pozzo address Lucky as ‘pig’ and ‘hog’.
24. What is existentialism?
Ans: Existentialism is a philosophy that focuses on the individual’s freedom, responsibility, and the meaning of life. It emphasizes personal choice and the importance of creating one’s own purpose.
25. What is the original title of the play in French version?
Ans: En Attendant Godot.
আরো পড়ুনঃDo You find any Religious Significance in Waiting for Godot? (বাংলায়)
26. Why is time meaningless to Estragon?
Ans: Estragon finds time meaningless due to the repetitive nature of waiting, absence of purpose, and existential uncertainty.
27. What does Estragon call Vladimir?
Ans. Estragon calls Vladimir a punctilious pig.
28. What does the boy address/call Vladimir?
Ans. The boy addresses Vladimir as Mr. Albert.
29. What do the grapes as described by Vladimir symbolize?
Ans. The grapes, described by Vladimir, are the Biblical symbol of fertility.
30. What do the words ‘corpses’, ‘skeletons’, and ‘charnel-house’ signify?
Ans. These words refer to the barrenness, sterility and lifelessness of the modern world.
The Caretaker
1. Who is Mick?
Ans: He is a young man of late twenty and a successful businessman.
2. Why does Davies intend to go to Sidcup?
Ans: He intends to go to Sidcup to collect the papers that contain his identity.
3. What is Mick’s first question to Davies?
Ans. His first question is ‘What’s the game?’ that means ‘What are you doing’?.
4. What is Electrolux?
Ans. Electrolux is the trade name of a vacuum cleaner brand.
5. Why does Davies abuse Aston?
Ans. Because of Aston’s snorting and noise causing disturbance in Davies’ sleep, he(Davies) reacts angrily and abuses Aston.
6. What is the Great West Road?
Ans: It is the main road towards the south-west isles of England from London.
7. When does Davies draw knife towards Aston?
Ans. Aston accuses Davies to smell the room badly which forces Davies to draw the knife towards Aston.
8. Why does Mick refuse to offer Davies a job or a home?
Ans. Mick refuses to offer Davies a job or a home as he falsifies himself as an expert interior decorator.
9. Why did Davies leave his wife?
Ans: He left his wife as she washed his underwear in a saucepan of cooking vegetable.
10. When was Harold Pinter awarded Nobel Prize?
Ans: He was awarded Nobel Prize in 2005 in literature.
11. Why was Davies expelled from the house of Aston and Mick?
Ans: Davies tried to create a quarrelsome atmosphere in the house which results in his expulsion.
12. Why did Davies quarrel in the café?
Ans: Davies quarrels in the café with someone over the matter ‘who should carry the bucket of rubbish outside?’
13. What is Sidcup?
Ans: Sidcup is a town, fourteen miles away from London.
14. How was Aston’s brain damaged?
Ans: Pincers were put in his skull during his operation that made his brain damaged.
15. Why does Mick call Davies ‘a wild animal’?
Ans: Davies calls Mick a madman in return Mick calls Davies a wild animal.
Look Back in Anger
1. What is the cause of tension in the marital life of Jimmy and Alison?
Ans. The social inequality between them is the cause of tension in their marital life.
2. What does Jimmy call Alison and her brother Nigel?
Ans. Jimmy calls Alison and her brother Nigel sycophantic, phlegmatic and pusillanimous.
3. What religious practices in the Midlands are ridiculed by Jimmy?
Ans. Jimmy ridicules the religious practice in midnight invocating the Coptic Goddess of fertility.
4. Why does Jimmy criticize people offering sacrifices to the gods?
Ans. Jimmy condemns people who offer sacrifices to placate the gods because he feels that most people give up something they never really wanted in the first place or are incapable of truly wanting.
5. Why does Jimmy criticize female sex?
Ans. Jimmy dislikes the female sex because, in his perspective, women try to bleed men to death and males have no choice but to allow women to torture and murder them.
6. What is Alison’s comment on marriage after her return to Jimmy?
Ans. Alison says that marriage lasts on the mutual understandings of the couple.
7. How does Alison surrender to Jimmy?
Ans. Alison returns to Jimmy after her miscarriage, lowering her face to him and saying, “I’m groveling and crawling in my mind.” Thus, Alison surrenders to Jimmy after collapsing at his feet.
8. How are Alison and Jimmy reconciled?
Ans: Alison and Jimmy reconcile after playing the ‘bear and squirrel’ game.
9. What is Alison’s realization about female domination?
Ans: She says if a woman tries to dominate her husband, she will surely be neglected.
10. How does Jimmy mock Alison’s father?
Ans: He mocks at Alison’s father thus: “I think I can understand how her daddy must have felt when he came back from India, after all those years away.”
11. What do Jimmy and Alison call each other?
Ans: Jimmy calls Alison ‘a beautiful squirrel’ and Alison call him ‘a really marvelous bear’.
12. Who helped Jimmy to start a sweet stall?
Ans: His friend, Cliff Lewis helped him to start a sweet stall.
13. Why does Jimmy hate Sundays?
Ans: The conventional Sunday rituals fail to attract Jimmy that’s why he hates Sunday.
14. Who is called ‘Pusillanimous’?
Ans: The hero, Jimmy porter, calls his wife, Alison, ‘Lady pusillanimous’.
15. What is profession of colonel Redfern?
Ans: He is an army commander.
16. What does Jimmy’s constant smoking signify?
Ans: His constant smoking signifies his dissatisfaction, tension, and intolerance with his surroundings.
17. Why is Jimmy annoyed with Alison?
Ans. Jimmy is annoyed with Alison for her going to the church with Helena.
18. Why is Jimmy playing the trumpet loudly?
Ans. To irritate Alison and Helena’s conversation, Jimmy is playing the trumpet loudly.
19. Which classes do Jimmy, Alison and Cliff belong to?
Ans. Jimmy and Cliff belong to the working class while Alison belongs to the upper class.
20. Why does Alison hesitate to reveal her pregnancy to Jimmy?
Ans. As Jimmy verbally abuses her constantly, she hesitates to reveal her pregnancy to Jimmy
