Summary
'A Matter of Husbands' is a one-act play by Ferenc Molnar about twisted story. It depicts the story of an ordinary young woman who is married to a lawyer. Her husband is closely associated with an actress. She finds suspicious activity of her husband with Famous Actress.
The play focuses on the roles of actors on the stage and in real life, and how much they are capable of fooling us by means of their acting. The audience simply takes their illusionary acts for real. At the beginning of the play, Earnest Young Woman is presented on the stage impatiently waiting for Famous Actress whose name is Sara. Earnest Young Woman asks Famous Actress to return her husband. The actress denies her involvement with her husband and says she hasn’t stolen her husband.
She pretends as if she is unknown about it. She says that she knows her husband during a case. But they don’t have any relation. She tries to find the reason behind Earnest Young Woman’s suspicion. She makes a fake story to fool her. She claims that she hasn’t received any gifts and letters from her husband. She pretends that some misunderstanding must lead her to suspect their relation.
The actress becomes successful to convince her that her husband is doing it to make her jealous and gain her attention and love back. After hearing all this, the young woman believes in the actress' story and accepts her mistake. She also apologizes for creating misunderstanding. She becomes her admirer and leaves. When she makes an exist from the stage, the actress calls the man (Alfred), her lover, from her personal bedroom. In this way, the play ends.
Theme: The play tries to show the double standard nature of human being. All that appears in front of us can not be fully trusted. We need to go deep into it to explore its reality.
Exercises
a. What favour does Earnest Young Woman ask from The Famous Actress?
Ans: Earnest Young Woman asks a favour of returning her husband from The Famous Actress because she loves her husband very much but she comes to know The Famous Actress has stolen her husband from her.
b. What, according to The Earnest Young Woman, are the indications that her husband has fallen in love with a Famous Actress?
Ans: According to The Earnest Young Woman, the indications that her husband has fallen in love with a Famous Actress are her husband sends flowers and love letters to The Famous Actress. She comes to know about it from a florist. One day, her husband forgets the love letter on the table, which says her husband is unable to call the Famous Actress and beg an apology offering her thousands of kisses.
c. Is Earnest Young Woman convinced by the argument of Famous Actress? How?
Ans: Yes, Earnest Young Woman is convinced by the argument of a Famous Actress. The Earnest Young Woman kisses the Famous Actress as a sign that she has accepted the Famous Actress' argument as absolute truth. She believes she has reclaimed her husband.
d. Where is the Earnest Young Woman's husband hiding as they are talking to him?
Ans: The Earnest Young Woman's husband is hiding in the bedroom of the famous Actress. He comes towards the play's ending when the Famous Actress calls him from her bedroom.
e. When do you feel that Famous Actress is really good at acting?
Ans: I think she's incredibly skilled at acting. Famous Actress tells Earnest Young Woman that her husband plays a game on her to pique her interest so she'll transform herself and do whatever it takes to please him. Famous Actress is able to convince Earnest Young Woman as well as the audience through her acting and soothing words. We are stunned at the end of the play when Alfred is called out by Famous Actress from her bedroom.
f. How do we come to know that Famous Actress and the husband of Earnest Young Woman are in love?
Ans:-We come to know that Famous Actress and the husband of Earnest Young Woman are in love when the Famous Actress calls Earnest Young Woman's husband to come out of the bedroom.
g. Write down the plot of the play in a paragraph.
Ans : 'A Matter of Husbands' is a one-act play written by the most celebrated and controversial Hungarian playwright Ferenc Molnar. This play sheds light on the role of actors on the stage and in real life and how much they are capable of keeping us in an illusion. In the beginning, the Earnest Young Woman rushes to the Famous Actress angrily, asking her to return her husband. The famous Actress boldly denies that she has stolen her husband. She says she knows him because once the contract for a case was given to him. Earnest Young Woman tells her that her husband sends her flowers and writes love letters. She reads her husband's love letter for the actress. Upon the circumstance, the actress smiles and still begin to deny that she has received any flowers or any letters from him. Now she fools Earnest Young Woman by saying that a misunderstanding may have arrived between her and her husband. She makes Earnest Young Woman believe that her husband has been playing with her to make her jealous and gain her love back. Then, the Earnest Young woman innocently realizes her misdeed and begs for sorry for her. Earnest Young Woman leaves the stage and the famous Actress calls Alfred to come out of her boudoir.
Reference to the Context
a. Sketch the character of a Famous Actress.
Ans -The Famous Actress is a young, renowned, and beautiful actress who is envied by the ordinary woman in the play. On the outside, she looks innocent and harmless but in reality, she is mean and wicked. She is cunning and deceitful as seen in the way she concocts a story to sway the woman from believing that her husband was having an affair with her. She also lives an immoral life as seen in the conclusion of the story where it was revealed that Alfred, the ordinary woman's husband was actually in her house.
b. Shed light on the difference between an ordinary woman and an actress.
Ans- In the story, A Matter of Husbands, the ordinary woman is portrayed as a simple-minded and timid person who was easily deceived by the false story told by the actress. As a straightforward and frightened woman who was easily manipulated by the actress's fabricated story. She comes tearful at the actress's home in the belief that she had discovered her husband was cheating on her with the actress but returns happy after hearing her justifications. She had come to the actress in tears completely sure that her husband was having an affair with the actress.
However, the actress told a story to her about how her husband was trying to regain the love he had for her by doing things to get her jealous. Without asking questions, the ordinary woman believed her and was brought her into the story. In the end, it was revealed that her husband was actually in the actress's room. This shows that the actress was cunning while the ordinary woman was timid.
c. According to Famous Actress, men associated with theatre use the theatre actresses to make their estranged wives jealous so as to woo them back. Do you agree with her argument? Why? Why not?
Ans: No, I don't agree with her argument. These are very rare cases. Her statement is so fake which has less connection with the reality of men associated with the theatre. According to her, men associated with theatre use the theatre actresses to make their estranged wives jealous so as to woo them back. Here, Earnest Young Woman blames her for having affair with her husband. To escape herself from that blame, she weaves a false story regarding entire men who are associated with the theatre. Not every man associated with the theatre has a timid, simple-minded and gullible wife. In the case of Alfred, we find a simple-minded wife. Famous Actress is so cunning woman who has an immoral relationship with Earnest Young Woman's husband Alfred. Both Famous Actress and Alfred are cheating Earnest Young Woman in the real sense. To convince Earnest Young Woman and save herself from the blame, she makes a so-called statement.
d. How does a Famous Actress make a fool of Earnest Young Woman?
Ans: Earnest Young Wife gets fooled by the Famous Actress, who claims that she and her husband may be in a miscommunication. She convinces Earnest Young Woman that her husband has been toying with her in order to make her jealous and reclaim her love. As a result, Earnest Young Woman sees her mistake and apologizes to the offended party.
e. The conversation between the two women takes place on the stage of the theatre. What role does the theatre house as a part of the setting of the play in A Matter for Husband?
Ans-The theatre house provided a suitable environment for the women to express their thoughts freely. If it had been opened, it would have been unreasonable to share such issues. But, the context of private rooms has played as the catalyst for their open conversation.
f. What do you think about the ending of the play?
Ans : I think the ending of this play 'A Matter of Husbands' is totally perfect and the Ironic and heart- touching scene justifies the ending of the play. The writer finishes all the nonplus of the character of the play. All the characters are satisfied with one another. The film actress and advocate are very satisfied at the end of the play. They clear the hurdle between them. They assure her that they have no affair, it is only drama for her. At the end of the play, the young woman is very happy with her husband. The film actress and the husband of a young woman live together without any obstacles. The ending of the play is too good but full of irony. The film actress narrates to a young woman that her husband really loves her but in reality, he has no love for his wife. He only cheats on his wife.
So, at the end of the play 'A Matter of Husbands, we can assume that "All is well, the end is well." Innocent people always suffer from shrewd people because they are often sincere in their hearts but cunning people always take advantage of their innocence.
Reference Beyond the Text
a. Write a paragraph describing your favourite actor/actress.
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