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Question
This play, written in the 1950s, is a humorous and satirical depiction of the status of the mother in the family.
Do you think it caricatures these issues or do you think that the problems it raises are genuine? How does the play resolve the issues? Do you agree with the resolution?
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Solution
A model answer has been provided for students' reference.
It is strongly recommended that students prepare the answer on their own.
The issues that the story raises are genuine and we must heed them. In the story the major complaint of Mrs. Pearson is that her family does not spend time with her. The author has tried to highlight the fact that how lonely can a woman feel when all the members of her family leave early morning to work and then return in the evening just to get the supper and then leave again to socialise outside home. They pay her no time or attention. She selflessly makes the home and asks nothing in return. However, little do we realise that they also yearn for company and wish to spend time with their loved ones.
In the play, Mrs. Fitzgerald, a determined lady who lives in the neighbourhood and a fortune teller, helped Mrs. Pearson by exchanging body with her and dealt with Mrs. Pearson's family. She made the Pearsons understand that Mrs. Pearson is a human after all and that even after working 24x7 she receives no acknowledgement and appreciation from her family members. She did not prepare the supper and did not iron the clothes and made George, Doris and Cyril realise that how dependent they are actually on Mrs. Pearson. She is the sole pillar who keeps their lives in place and keeps everything ready for them before even they have asked for it. Finally when the three receive such harsh treatment and see Annie sitting back and not doing household chores, they feel helpless and find it all difficult to manage on their own. They realise that their lives are absolutely incomplete without Mrs. Pearson.
The resolution was perfect and very well decided. The Pearsons needed the harsh treatment after all else they would have never realised the blunder they were going on committing. After what all happened and when Mrs. Fitzgerald and Mrs. Pearson exchanged the bodies back to the original ones, Annie tells George, Doris and Cyril to stay back and play cards with her and proposed that kids would do cooking while she could sit back and relax while talking to her husband, to which the three approved merrily.
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