A Matter of Husbands (One Act Play 12) Exercises

  

A Matter of Husbands  

by Ferenc Molnár

Exercises 

Understanding the text

Answer the following questions.

a.  What favour does Earnest Young Woman ask from The Famous Actress?

Answer: Earnest Young Woman is a simple and straightforward lady who asks a favour of returning her husband from Famous Actress             because she loves her husband and her husband is in deep love with her.

 

b.  What, according to The Earnest Young Woman, are the indications that her husband has fallen in love with Famous Actress?

Answer: According to the Earnest Young Woman, her husband sends flowers to Famous Actress. She comes to know about it from a florist. He also writes love letter to her which is found by her when he has forgotten to take it with him.

c.  Is Earnest Young Woman convinced by the argument of Famous Actress? How?

Answer: From the play we come to know that there is basic conversation between Earnest Young Woman and Famous    Actress. It is found that Earnest Young Woman is fully convinced by argument of Famous Actress. She tells her that her husband has shown love affair to her so that she gets jealous and regains love from her. She also adds that many actresses accept the proposals like her husband for the reunion of the family. She is convinced by the argument. She is also hopeful to get her husband back.

d.  Where is the Earnest Young Woman’s husband hiding himself as they are talking about him?

Answer: In the play, Alfred, the Earnest Young Woman’s husband has been hiding in the boudoir and he appears at the end of the play   when the Famous Actress calls him to come out. Throughout the whole play the Earnest Young Woman's husband has been hiding in the famous Actress bedroom.

e.  When do you feel that Famous Actress is really good at acting?

Answer: Until the end of the play, it is full of suspense. I feel the Famous Actress is really good at acting when she tells the Earnest Young Woman that her husband has pretended to love to her or to show the love affairs so that Earnest Young Woman gets jealous and regains love from Famous Actress.

f.  How do we come to know that Famous Actress and the husband of Earnest Young Woman are in love?

Answer: At the end of the play, we come to know that Famous Actress and the husband of Earnest Young Woman are in love. When Alfred is called to come out by the Famous Actress, he comes out of the boudoir of Famous Actress.  From the situation it's clear that they are in love.

g.  Write down the plot of the play in a paragraph.

Answer: A Matter of Husbands is a play written by Ferenc Molnar. He is the most celebrated and controversial play wright. This is the play of suspense. The Earnest Young Woman comes to the Famous Actress and asks her to give her husband back. She thinks that her husband is in deep love with Famous Actress. She appears there very angrily and asks the Famous actress to return her husband because she complains that her husband is in love affair with her. She has found the evidences as love letters and flowers. The famous Actress replies her that he does so to get more affection and love from his wife. Earnest Young Woman believes the story of the Famous Actress. She fools Earnest Young Woman by saying that a misunderstanding may have arrived between her and her husband. Then, the Earnest Young woman innocently realizes her misdeed and begs sorry with 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 Famous Actress.

Answer: The Famous Actress is a young, renowned, and beautiful actress who is envied by the ordinary woman. On the outside, she looks innocent and harmless but in reality, she is cunning and wicked. Her deception may be apparent in the way she tells a lady that her spouse is cheating on her with someone else. She also lives an immoral life as seen in the conclusion of the story. It is revealed that Alfred is in her bedroom which proves that they have immoral and unethical relations. 

b. Shed light on the difference between an ordinary woman and an actress.

Answer: In the story, "A Matter of Husband", the ordinary woman is portrayed as a simple- minded and timid person who was easily manipulated by the actress's fabricated story or false story. She comes to the Famous Actress in tears completely sure that her husband is having love affair with her. The Famous Actress makes a story to her about her husband. According to her, her husband is trying to regain love by doing things to get her jealous. Without asking questions, the ordinary woman believes her story and she is convinced too. At the end, it is revealed that her husband is in the actress's room. This shows that the actress is cunning while the  ordinary woman is 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?

Answer: No, I don’t agree with her argument that the men associated with theatre mostly use the actresses of theatre to make their estranged wives jealous so as to woo them back. Theatre performers have an ordinary, simple-minded and timid wife who can be easily deceived by the false story. In this play, Alfred’s wife is so simple minded who is easily deceived by the cunning actress. Her husband also gets chance to take advantage to stay in the room of the Famous Actress.

d. How does Famous Actress make a fool of Earnest Young Woman?

Answer: Famous Actress makes a fool of Earnest Young Woman by saying that her husband wants to get love from her. She makes Earnest Young Woman believe that he wants to gain love from her so he is playing such a trick to make jealous. As a result, the Earnest Young woman innocently realizes her misunderstanding and apologizes to her.

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 setting play in A Matter for Husband?

Answer: The theatre house is suitable for the setting of the play. It has appropriate environment for the two women to take part in the conversation. When the curtain rises the Earnest Young Woman discovers the edge of a gilt chair. It is plain she has been sitting there a long time. At last the Famous Actress enters through the curtained door at the right which leads to her boudoir. The context of private room inappropriate to share private issues.

 

f. What do you think about the ending of the play?

Answer: The play ‘A Matter of Husbands’ is totally perfect. It has illusive and twisty ending. The last scene of the play is most remarkable and touchy. In this play it is clearly shown that skillful people always take advantage from simple minded innocent people. At the end of the play the young woman becomes very happy about her husband because her husband wants to get much love from her according to the Famous Actress. In the play, the Famous Actress is able to cheat her easily. The Famous Actress and the husband of Earnest Young woman live together without any obstacle. The ending of the play is romantic but full of irony.

From the ending of the play ‘A Matter of Husbands’, we can think that innocent people are always suffered by cunning people because they are often sincere by hearts but the cunning people always take advantage from their innocence.

 

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