Facing Death (One Act Play 12) Exercises

 FACING DEATH

EXERCISES

Understanding the text

Answer the following questions.

a. Where does the play take place?

Answer: The play takes place in a dining room with a long table of the house of Monsieur Durand.

b. Why do the grocery, the baker and the butcher send their bills to the Durand household?

Answer: The grocery, the baker and the butcher send their bills to the Durand household because the Durant family had ordered so many foodstuffs from their shops and the due was in large amount but has not paid the money.

c. Why does Monsieur Duran spend money on candles when he doesn't have money to buy even bread?

Answer: Monsieur Durand spends money on candles when he doesn't have money to buy even bread because he has deep sense of affection, emotion, respect and love for late Rene which was more significant to him in comparison to food stuffs and hunger.

d. Why did Monsieur Duran sell his life insurance?

Answer:  Monsieur Duran sold his life insurance to pay the debt or due of a person who irritates him very much.

e. Why has Monsieur Duran paid fire insurance?

Answer: Monsieur Duran has paid fire insurance by keeping his house as mortgage so that his daughters get loan or money to run their house.

f. How did Monsieur Duran and Mrs. Duran run out of their inheritances from both the sides?

Answer: Monsieur Duran and Mrs. Duran ran out of their inheritances from both the sides because of their foolish speculations and carelessness and furthermore, the inheritances were utilized in bringing up their children as well.

g. Why does Monsieur Duran tell a lie about his birthplace?

Answer: Monsieur Duran tells a lie about his birthplace for the sake of his wife and his inclined towards his nation or patriotism.

h. What business is Monsieur Duran running to make a living?

Answer: Monsieur Duran is a pension proprietor. He runs a business of a Home Stay where provides welcomes the visitors and tourists like guests and offers services like food, beds, rooms etc. like that of a house and earns money by that.

i. What plan does Monsieur Duran have to help his daughters with money?

Answer:  Monsieur has fire insurance and he plans to help his daughters with money by killing himself in the fire and burning his house. He knows that fire insurance company will provide his daughters large sum of money after that.

j. How does Monsieur Duran die?

Answer: Monsieur first sets the fire in his house and then he takes poison to show that fire has killed him to provide compensation to his daughters and he dies.

REFERENCE TO THE CONTEXT

a. Sketch the character of Monsieur Duran.

Answer: Monsieur Durand is the protagonist (main character) of the play "Facing Death." He is the head of the family. He has three daughters: He is a loving, caring and responsible father as well as husband. He loves his country very much, too. He is now a widower who lives his daughters. But his daughters don't love him and regard him as not a good father or head of the family as he was unsuccessful in taking care of his family properly. He is a pension proprietor who once worked in the state railroad.

He seems protective and supportive to his daughters. He gets stressed as he finds Antonio kissing his daughter Therese.

He is a tragic hero and an ideal person who takes responsibility of faults and misdeeds he commits. Though his daughters regard him as a bad and irresponsible person but he is not so in practical life. He shows and offers lots of love and respects for his daughters, too.

He suffers from financial crisis in a way that no way to come out of it. And, he sacrifices himself and his life for saving and fostering the bright future of his three daughters at the end.

 

b. How do we know that the Duran family has reached a dead end?

Answer: We know that the Duran family has reached a dead end due to following reasons:

The Duran family is unable to manage or buy food, breakfast, and coffee for the family.

The grocery, the baker and the butcher send their bills to the Durand family because the Durant family had ordered so many foodstuffs from their shops but had not paid the due.

Durand states when his business was down for three months, he was helped by an American family.

Durant sells his life insurance to pay due of a person who irritates him very much.

The family has reached such dead end regarding financial crisis that Durand kills himself in the fire at the end to provide his death insurance money to his daughters.

c. 'The mother, though already dead, seems to have had a great influence on the daughters, especially Theresa.' Do you agree?

Answer: The mother, though already dead, seems to have had a great influence on the daughters, especially Theresa. I agree with the given statement. The following instances in the play justify this:

Though out the play, all three daughters especially Theresa seems to be praising her mother very much in comparison to others, two even after her death.

Theresa considers Duran as the responsible for all the problems and guilt of the family.

She praises her mother mostly though out the play associating her to innocent and gentle family member of the family.

All the daughters including Theresa have much respect and love for their mother.

They have such a belief that if their mother had been alive, they would not have gone through such a terrible poverty rather their family would have been solved in any other way

d. Discuss the relationship between Monsieur Duran and his wife.

Answer: Monsieur Duran and his wife had mutual bond close connection. They were originally from France. They loved each other deeply and then they got married and shifted to Switzerland from France. They settled in France and received neutralized citizenship. They had very good and sound relationship but when he joined French army against the Germans, their relations got worse. Furthermore, Duran degraded his relationship with his daughters and wife too due to misunderstanding among them. His wife, Mrs. Duran lost her parental inheritances completely because of her carelessness and foolish speculations. As his family relation got worse, he became compelled to depart from his business and continued his pension.

At the end of the play, Monsieur Duran revealed the fact to his daughters that it was him who was entirely responsible for the blames, faults, problems and crisis of the family as told by Mrs. Duran rather it was coincidences and circumstances that made the family suffer in such a way. He was not solely responsible for all the obstacles arose in the family. These all reveal the fact that the relationship between Monsieur Duran and his wife was not comfortable and sound.

e. 'Money determines the relationship between characters in this play.' Elaborate this statement with examples from the play.

Answer: Obviously, money determines the relationship between characters in the play "Facing Death." All the obstacles arise in the Duran's family due to money. Money plays vital role in bonding the family members and detaching them from each other as well. Mrs. Duran loves her husband even if she loses her parental inheritances due to her own foolishness. Mr. Duran doesn't have sound relationship with daughters and his wife because he is unable to fulfill basic desires of them. Even at the end of the play, Mr. Duran burns himself in the fire and has poison to kill himself assuming that his daughter will get insurance money and their concept towards their father may be changed.

Thus, it is money in the play that not only destroys the family relationship but also kills the protagonist of the play. Overall, it's clear that money can have an impact on love and relationships.

f. Monsieur Duran kills himself so that his daughters would get 5000 francs as the compensation from the insurance company. What does his plan tell us about him?

Answer: In the play "Facing Death," Monsieur Duran, the protagonist is disgusted by all the family members especially his three daughters since they regard him as an unsuccessful and irresponsible father to fulfill the basic desires of them. The family faces grim poverty and many dues and bills to pay off. He is unable to make progress in his business. Even his daughters find him as responsible for all these obstacles in the family. The family is dealing with financial hardships in this drama. Facing no income, Durand decides to burn down the house and poisons himself. He advises Adele, the oldest, to keep the truth secret and cash in on fire policy to save the family. Thus, Monsieur Duran kills himself so that his daughters would get 5000 francs as the compensation and supports from the insurance company.

g. Discuss Facing Death as a modern tragedy.

Answer: Tragedy is a branch of drama that treats in a serious and dignified style the sorrowful or terrible events caused by sufferings, deaths, destructions and troublesome incidences. The play "Facing Death" is a modern tragedy since it ends with the tragic death of the protagonist, Monsieur Duran. He suffers a lot in the play in such a way that the main character in the modern tragedy suffers

A modern tragedy uses elements like struggles, tussles, irony, sarcasm, hatred, grim poverty, murder or killing etc. As we go through the play "Facing Death", we see characters especially suffering from such above mentioned characteristics and go through difficult days that the protagonist like Monsieur Duran gets no anyway except killing himself burning in the fire and having poison so that his daughters may get the compensation or insurance money and their attitudes towards their father may change The family is unable to fulfill the basic desires of the family and many bills and dues remain due to family's grim poverty and loss in business. Thus, we can say that it is an example of modern tragedy.

 

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