Answer the following questions briefly.
1. How does Mrs. Slater plan to outshine the Jordans? What does it reveal about her character?
Answer: Mrs. Slater was not very happy with the mourning dresses that she and her family were wearing. In fact, she had ordered new dresses for everybody. However, she thought that her sister wouldn't have thought of mourning dresses and so she would outshine them there. 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?
Answer: Mrs. Slater always liked grandfather’s bureau. After his death, she decided to shift it to sitting room before her sister arrived so she can claim it. Henry was shocked at the suggestion because he felt that the sisters should cordially 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?
Answer: Jordans took a long time in getting to reach the Slaters because they had to arrange for the mourning dresses for themselves. Since the readymades did not work for Elizabeth, she might have to get them stitched. Both the sisters had rivalry between them for every worthless thing. They could not stand each other.
4. What does Mrs. Jordan describe as ‘a fatal mistake’ ? What is the irony in the comment she makes on Mrs. Slater’s defence?
Answer: Mrs. Slater sends for Dr Pringle as soon as she realises that grandfather is dead. However, Dr
Pringle could not come as he was out. It was this that Mrs. Jordan describes 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?
Answer: Ben learnt that grandfather went in the morning to pay his insurance premium, he said ‘it’s a
good thing he did’ but later when he came to know from Victoria that he had not gone to pay premium but went to meet Mrs. Shorrocks, he commented that he was a drunken beggar.
6. What change does grandfather make in his new will? What effect does it have on his daughters?
Answer: 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 dies. This led to another fight 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. Bring out the significance of ‘Grandfather’s bureau’ in the play.
Ans: The pinching of the bureau points towards Mrs. Slater being materialistic. It reinforced the theme of greed by exposing the greedy and mean nature of Mrs. Slater who stole the bureau and then lied to the Jordan’s to satisfy her greedy nature.
8. The character of Victoria is a stark contrast to that of her parents. Justify.
Ans: Victoria or Vicky is a sweet and intelligent ten-year-old daughter of Mr. & Mrs. Slater. She is
the only person in the family who has affection for her grandfather and is upset that he is no more. Victoria is both shocked and delighted when she notices that her grandfather was alive. She does not appreciate the haste and cunningness with which her mother plans to get hold of the clock and the bureau that belongs to grandpa. Her innocence and sense of fairness, is in stark contrast to the cold and calculative attitude of her relatives.
9. What are the three things that grandfather plans to do on Monday next?
Answer: Three things he planned to do are that he would go to his lawyer and change his will, he
would go to insurance company and pay his premium, he would also go to St. Philips Church and marry Mrs. John Shorrocks.
Answer the following in detail:
1. Bring out the irony in the title of the play.
Answer: The title of the play ‘The Dear Departed’ literally means that somebody dear has departed/
died and is no more. It makes everyone closely connected with the departed person. Everyone is at a loss and tries to cope up with the situation. In this case, the title is ironical because nobody in the family loved grandfather. He was dear to no one. They all are relieved that he is no more. They talk of everything from mourning outfit to what all he has left behind but nobody is in a hurry to even go and see him. He is supposed to be dead and lying in his room. They all decide to have tea, discuss the obituary that should go in the newspapers but no one either has tears in his/ her eyes or is missing the grandfather. They are very businesslike and their business seems to be what each one of them will get now that the old man is dead. In no way was he ‘dear’ to his daughters or their husbands. Mrs Jordan had not even visited her father in the last three years since the time he had moved to Mrs Slater’s home. So much for a dear father! If she was there today, it was to show off in the society and to ensure that she gets her share of whatever he has left behind.
2. How does the spat between his daughters lead to grandfather discovering the truth?
Answer: The spat happened when Mr. and Mrs. Jordan asked grandfather on whether he remembered
anything while sleeping. Mrs. Slater, however, prevented Mrs. Jordan from asking all this to grandfather. In fact, Mrs. Slater was scared that he would remember that she and Mr. Slater had shifted the bureau and the clock from his room. Mrs. Slater’s worst fears came true when grandfather realised that the bureau and clock was shifted to the sitting room. This led to a full-fledged verbal exchange between the two sisters. Mrs. Jordan told the grandfather that Mr. and Mrs. Slater shifted the bureau and the clock from his room to the sitting room because they thought he was dead and they were shifting things out of his room so she couldn’t lay a claim on them. After discovering the truth, grandfather became very bitter because he felt that his daughters didn’t even wait for his funeral and started dividing things between them.
3. Compare and contrast Henry’s character with that of his wife. Support your answer with
evidence from the play.
Answer: Mrs and Mr Slater are seen as a couple who complement each other. Mrs Slater is a
dominating lady and always wants to have the last word. Henry follows her instructions diligently. When she asks him to wear the grandfather’s slippers, as his are torn, he does not say a word. When it comes to shifting the bureau from grandfather’s room, it is her decision. He walks behind her like a lamb. Mrs Slater does not allow him to give his opinion on any issue. He is a humble character who is scared of saying anything in front of his wife.
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