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English (Core) · Class 11 Languages

Ch 14Mother's Day — Class 11 English (Core), concept-first.

J. B. Priestley (John Boynton Priestley, 1894-1984) was a well-known English novelist, playwright and broadcaster. He wrote a great many plays and essays, often mixing warm humour with sharp social comment on ordinary middle-class English life.

19

Q&A

7

Concepts

31m

Section weightage

Section C · Literature Textbooks (Hornbill & Snapshots) · across all 16 lessons

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Key concepts

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Character Transformation

Imagine you're looking at a function that describes some shape — say, a smooth curve. Now suppose you want to shift that curve to the right by 3 units.

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Chapter contents

The NCERT structure, section by section. Open a section to see its questions, then read the concept-first solution.

About the Author and the Text

J. B. Priestley (John Boynton Priestley, 1894-1984) was a well-known English novelist, playwright and broadcaster.

1.1

Summary of the Play

The whole action takes place one autumn afternoon in the living-room of the Pearsons' suburban house in London.

1.2

Themes

The status of the homemaker The central theme is the undervalued position of the mother/housewife in her own family.

1.3

Character Sketches

The play turns on just five characters — the put-upon mother, her bold neighbour, and the three family members who take her for granted. Below is a short sketch of each.

1.3.1

Mrs Annie Pearson

Mrs Pearson is the play's central figure — a pleasant but worried-looking woman in her forties who speaks in a light, flurried, apologetic tone.

1.3.2

Mrs Fitzgerald

Mrs Fitzgerald is the Pearsons' next-door neighbour — an older, heavier woman with a strong, almost sinister personality and a deep, rather Irish voice.

1.3.3

George Pearson

George is Mrs Pearson's husband, a man of about fifty who is fundamentally decent but solemn, self-important and pompous — a heavy, slow-moving type.

1.3.4

Doris Pearson

Doris is the Pearsons' daughter, a pretty girl in her early twenties who would be pleasant enough had she not been spoilt.

1.3.5

Cyril Pearson

Cyril, the Pearsons' son, is described as the masculine counterpart of Doris — equally spoilt and self-absorbed.

1.4

Title and Message

The title and the underlying message of the play are closely linked — both point to the value of the mother whose worth the family has forgotten.

1.4.1

Significance of the Title

The title Mother's Day is gently ironic. 'Mother's Day' is normally the one day set aside to honour mothers with love, gifts and gratitude — yet in the Pearson household the mother is honoured on no d…

1.4.2

Message of the Play

The message is that a mother is a person with her own rights, feelings and need for rest — not an unpaid servant, and that families must value and respect her instead of taking her for granted.

Summary

- Context: A humorous one-act play by J. B. Priestley (1950s), set one autumn afternoon in the Pearsons' suburban London living-room; a satire on the status of the mother in a family.

Questions

+Questionsi5 questions
  1. Q1This play, written in the 1950s, is a humorous and satirical depiction of the status of the mother in the family. (i) What are the issues it…Free
  2. Q2If you were to write about these issues today what are some of the incidents, examples and problems that you would think of as relevant?Free
  3. Q3Is drama a good medium for conveying a social message? Discuss.Preview
  4. Q4Read the play out in parts. Enact the play on a suitable occasion.Preview
  5. Q5Discuss in groups plays or films with a strong message of social reform that you have watched.Preview

Additional Practice

Extra exam-style practice questions written by us on this lesson — beyond the NCERT textbook's own exercises — for more CBSE board-exam preparation.

+Additional Practicei14 questions
  1. Q1Why is Mrs Pearson unhappy at the beginning of the play, and why does she hesitate to deal with her family herself? (Answer in 30–40 words.)Free
  2. Q2How do Mrs Pearson and Mrs Fitzgerald exchange personalities, and how does each woman react immediately after the change? (Answer in 30–40 w…Free
  3. Q3What surprises Doris when she comes home, and what is she told when she asks about her yellow silk dress? (Answer in 30–40 words.)Free
  4. Q4How does the transformed 'Mrs Pearson' reduce Doris to tears over Charlie Spence? (Answer in 30–40 words.)Preview
  5. Q5How is Cyril's demand for tea received, and what does his mother say about the hours she has worked compared with her children? (Answer in 3…Preview
  6. Q6What conclusions do Doris and Cyril reach about their mother's strange behaviour when they confer privately? (Answer in 30–40 words.)Preview
  7. Q7What does 'Mrs Pearson' reveal to George about the way he is regarded at his club? (Answer in 30–40 words.)Preview
  8. Q8Why does the real Mrs Pearson, in Mrs Fitzgerald's body, come hurrying back to her own house, and what does she plead for? (Answer in 30–40…Preview
  9. Q9What parting advice does Mrs Fitzgerald give after the change-back, and how does the play end? (Answer in 30–40 words.)Preview
  10. Q10Draw a character sketch of Mrs Fitzgerald, bringing out how she acts as the engine of the play's plot. (Answer in 120–150 words.)Preview
  11. Q11Contrast Mrs Annie Pearson at the beginning of the play with the woman who smiles at the final curtain. What does her transformation say abo…Preview
  12. Q12'Mother's Day' is a humorous play built on a serious social problem. Discuss the theme of the unvalued homemaker with instances from the pla…Preview
  13. Q13Justify the title 'Mother's Day'. In what ironic sense does the day of the play become a real day for the mother? (Answer in 120–150 words.)Preview
  14. Q14How does Priestley use the fantastic device of the personality swap to satirise the suburban family, especially the pompous George Pearson?…Preview