A Matter of Husbands by Ferenc Molnar | Summary, Analysis and Question-Answers | Class XII English | NEB

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.

0 Comments