The Mother Question Answer and Summary pdf chse plus two english

THE MOTHER By Charlie Chaplin 

Introduction to Charlie Chaplin: 

Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin is an English comic actor, film director and composer. His stage name is Charlie Chaplin. He was one of the most creative and influential personalities of the silent-film era. He used mime, slapstick and other visual comedy routines and continued well into the era of the talkies. 

Introduction to "My Mother" 

Mother is the most respectable person in the world, for she gives everything and demands nothing. She contributes her life to the improvement of her children. She spends every minute for her household. She discards her comfort, luxury, happiness and works ceaselessly for her house. She never complains, never feels tired. The happiness of her children is her happiness. 

Mother is extraordinary. Whatever you tell her will be insufficient. She is incomparable, inexpressible. Her blessings make our path bright. Her tears are unbearable for us. We want to see her in a better living condition. 

In the present biographical sketch, Chaplin has illustrated his mother with a critic's eye. There is no exaggeration, no humiliation, rather an exact character portrayal of his mother is given here. The narrator has described how she has struggled to live, to arrange food and shelter for her son when her sweet voice has gone. 

Summary of "My Mother":

The writer's father was a vaudevillian. He had left the writer's mother when the writer was a small child. So the writer had no memory of him. But he had heard from mother that he drank excessively and spent all his income, quarreling with mother. So they got separated. Yet mother loved him very much. She spoke of him without bitterness. He died at the age of thirty seven because of over-drinking. Mother was sorry for him. 

The writer's mother was a stage entertainer too. She had a sweet voice. She performed on the stage and earned good money. Once she had a cold which continued for many years. While singing her voice collapsed. So his theatrical engagements fell off. 

One day my mother was performing. The writer was standing in the green room. Her voice cracked and the audience laughed. Mother was obliged to walk off the stage. She told the manager that her son Charlie would give the performance. Then he came to the stage and started to sing. People showered money on him. He collected the money. Then again started the performance. He talked to the audience, danced, and did several things including mother's cracking voice. People liked it very much. That night was his first appearance on the stage and mother's last. 

Mother could not give a performance. So she could not earn money. All her savings were over. They left comfortable rooms and moved to a small room. Mother went to church to restore her voice. There she heard Reverend F.B. Meyer's good voice and shed tears. Her theater world collapsed. She tried to get a job,but failed to get any prestigious one. She took up menial work against her will. She even made dresses for the members of the church. 

Analytical outlines of the mother

• Charlie Chaplin's father was a vaudevillian.
• He had a good income.
• He spent it all on wine. 
• He quarrelled with his wife. 
• The husband and wife divorced. 
• Charlie lived with mother. 
• He had not seen his father since young 
• He had heard from mother about him. 
• He looked like Napoleon. 
• At that time wine was available at the theater. 
• The big actors were drinking more wine. 
• Charlie's father died at the age of 37 due to over-drinking. 
• Mother told stories about him with humor and sadness. 
• He had a violent temper when drinking. 
• She never spoke about him with bitterness. 
• She gave a sympathetic account of him. 
• Charlie's mother was a star. 
• She earned 28 pounds a week. 
• She sang songs on the stage. 
• Once she had a cold for a few days. 
• Her voice cracked and she could not sing. 
• Her theatrical engagements fell off. 
• She used to take Charlie to the performance ground with her. 
• When she was performing, Charlie was watching. 
• She was playing the canteen at Aldershot. 
• To performers, Aldershot was a week of terror. 
• While singing mother's voice choked and cracked. 
• The audience criticised her. 
• Mother came down and requested the manager of the show to allow Charlie to perform. 
• Charlie sang accompanied by the orchestra. 
• A shower of money poured on the stage. 
• He talked to the audience, danced, and made imitations. 
• He imitated his mother's Irish song, 
• He imitated mother's cracking voice. 
• The audience applauded him. 
• That night was the first appearance of Charlie. 
• That night was the last appearance of his mother. 
• Mother became jobless. 
• She sold her goods to support family. 
• She sold jewellery and others.  
• They moved from comfortable rooms to small rooms.
• Mother went to church to restore her voice. 
• She wept hearing the sweet voice of others. 
• In Spite of her attempts her voice did not return. 
• She searched for menial jobs. 
• She worked as a nurse for a few days. 
• She did the drudges of sweatshops. 
• She made dresses for members of the church. 

Question Answer of the play the mother (questions to be answered carrying 5 marks each) 

Question.1. What does Chaplin speak about his father ? 

Answer. Chaplin had not seen his father in his consciousness because his father and mother had divorced when he was only one year old. However he had heard from mother that he was a vaudevillian, looked like Napoleon. He was quiet, brooding and had dark eyes. He had a baritone voice and got forty pounds a week for his stage show. 

Question.2. What account of Vaudevillian do you get from the text ? 

Answer. A Vaudevillian is an entertainer who performs a dramatic or musical work for an audience. He gave a beautiful stage performance. He had a good figure and a male voice. He earned forty pounds for a week. He spent all the money on wine as most of the Vaudevillians were doing at that time. They earned much and drank wine with it. 

Question.3. What is the mother's attitude towards Charlie's father ? 

Answer. Charlie's mother and father had got separated. Yet mother showed no bitterness towards him. She would tell stories about him with humour and sadness. She was too objective to have been deeply in love. Sometimes she would give a sympathetic account of him and at other times talk of his drunkenness and violence. 

Questiob.4. Why did his mother's theatrical engagements fall off ? 

Answer. The writer's mother was a star.She was singing on the stage to amuse the audience, She was getting 25 pounds per week and was living happily. Once she had a terrible cold. Still she was obliged to keep working. So her voice grew worse. Once while giving a performance her voice cracked and disappeared into a whisper. The audience laughed. The manager of the show denied her the stage. So her theatrical performance fell off.

Question.5. How and why did Charlie first go to the theatre ? 

Answer. When Charlie was five years old, mother took him to Aldershot theatre where she was performing. While she was giving a stage performance, Charlie was waiting in the wings. She took him with her because she didn't want to leave him alone in the rented house. She did it for his safety. 

Question.6. Why did his mother walk off the stage ? 

Answer. Once Charlie's mother was giving a stage performance. Her voice cracked and went into a whisper. The audience began to laugh and sing falsetto and made catcalls. The shouting increased and her voice did not come to normal position. So she was obliged to return to the wings. 

Question.7. How did Charlie make his debut on the stage ? 

Answer. Charlie's mother was giving a stage performance. Her voice choked. The audience criticised. So she returned to the wings and proposed to the stage manager that her son Charlie would perform for her. Then Charlie came to the stage. He began singing accompanied by the orchestra. Half way through, a shower of money poured on him. His way through, a shower of money poured on him. His debut performance was a great success. 

Question.8. How did the audience respond to his first performance on the stage ? 

Answer. Charlie came to the stage to replace his mother. He sang accompanied by the orchestra. He talked to the audience, danced and did several limitations including one mother singing her Irish march. He even imitated mother's voice cracking. The audience appealed, showering money on him. His first performance was a great success. 

Question.9. How did his mother make her living when her career on the stage ended? 

Answer. Charlie's mother's career on the stage ended due to the cracking of her voice. Then a hard time was waiting for him. Her earning source stopped. She spent her savings. Then she sold her jewellery and other possessions. She hoped that oneday her voice would return.

Question.10. Why did Charlie's mother turn to religion ? 

Answer. Charlie's mother's voice went bad. She was denied stage performance. She earnestly wished to restore her voice. In spite of her attempts she was unable to do so. Then she went to the church in Westminster Bridge Road to restore her voice. 

Question.11. How does Charlie remember the Holy communion on one hot summer's day ? 

Answer. Charlie remembers Holy Communion on one hot summer day and the cool silver cup containing delicious grape juice that passed along the congregation, and mother's gentle restraining hand when he drank too much of it. He felt relieved when the reverend closed the Bible which meant that the sermon would soon end and they would start prayers and the final hymn. 

Question.12. Give an account of his mother's suffering. 

Answer. Charlie's mother lost her job due to her cracking voice. Then life became miserable for her. She struggled hard to earn bread. She sold all her belongings. She shifted from a big house to a small one. She accepted menial work. Occasionally she got work in nursing, but such employment was rare. She made dresses for the members of the church.

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