The Proposal Class 10 English Chapter 11 Summary, Question Answers from First Flight Book ||NCERT Solutions for Class 10 English First Flight Chapter 11 The Proposal

THE PROPOSAL

[By Anton Chekov]

INTRODUCTION

The Proposal is a one-act play that begins with a young man, Lomov presenting a marriage proposal to his neighbour’s daughter. Before he could actually convey it to the girl, they enter into an argument about Oxen Meadows. Chubukov, the lady’s father also joins the heated discussion. After they end this, they enter into another argument about their dogs and which one is better than the other. In the midst of all this, proposal gets forgotten until Lomov falls off due to his palpitations and Chubukov instantly puts her daughter’s hands in Lomov’s. Unfortunately, the quarrelling still continues.

SUMMARY

The chapter, The Proposal is a comedy drama that is based on the tendency of two wealthy families who seek ties with each other to increase their estates by encouraging marriage that would improve their wealth. The play began with Ivan Lomov who visited Stephan Chubukov, a wealthy neighbour of Lomov. Lomov was a wealthy person himself who was dressed neatly and had come to seek Chubukov’s twenty-five-year-old daughter, Natalya Stepanovna’s hand in marriage. On  entering his neighbour Chubukov’s house fully dressed up in his evening attire. Chubukov is surprised to see him well-dressed and asks him the occasion. Lomov reveals that he had come to make a request. Chubukov anticipates that he must have come to ask for money which he doesn’t intend on giving. On being revealed that Lomov had come to ask for Chubulov’s daughter, Natalya’s hand in marriage, Chubukov gets filled with excitement and leaves to call Natalya. Lomov is a 35 year- old gentleman who suffers from palpitations, gets upset very easily and doesn’t sleep well. He thinks it is the best age for him to get married and he is happy that he has his mind made-up about Natalya. According to him, Natalya is average-looking and a good housekeeper. When Natalya arrives, Lomov begins the conversation about how grateful and glad he is that both their families are on good terms since the very beginning. While continuing to talk about his land, he somehow mentions about Oxen Meadows which earlier was a disputed property but is now his. Natalya couldn’t believe a word he was saying because she believes that Oxen Meadows belong to her family. Both of them enter into a heated discussion and act childishly when Chubukov enters just to get the conversation more heated. They shout and scream while Lomov suffers from extreme pounding of the heart, a side pull and a numb foot. They throw Lomov out of the house and continue cursing him. While speaking ill of him, Chubukov unintentionally reveals that he had come with a marriage proposal for Natalya which surprises Natalya and she immediately regrets sending him out. She tells her father to bring him back immediately and Chubukov curses himself on being a father of a grown-up daughter. When Lomov returns, Natalya tries to deviate to another topic and starts talking about shooting. Somehow they enter into an argument involving their dogs. Natalya feels that her Squeezer is better than Lomov’s Guess. They continue arguing when Chubukov enters the scene only to make the situation worse, once again. Everyone gets hyper and Lomov finally falls due to his palpitations. Even then, the cursing continues when suddenly Natalya notices that he is unconscious. They try to get water down his throat but end up getting unsuccessful and declare him dead. It is only when Lomov moves a little bit, they feed him some water and Chubukov forcefully hands over Natalya’s hands to him, gives his blessings and asks them to kiss. Lomov, still not fully conscious doesn’t understand what is going on. When he finally comes to his senses, he expresses his excitement and kisses Natalya’s hands. Natalya, being childish as she is, manipulates him into accepting that Squeezer is better than Guess but Lomov, being adamant as he is, refuses to accept it. Thus, once again, the quarrelling continues.

Questions and answers

Thinking About the Play
(Page 157)

Question 1.
What does Chubukov at first suspect that Lomov has come for? Is he sincere when he later says ‘And I’ve always loved you, my angel, as if you were my own son”? Find reasons for your answer from the play.
Ans:
At first Chubukov suspected that Lomov had come to borrow money as he was in his evening dress. He was not sincere when he told Lomov that he had always loved him and that he was like his own son, because he had decided to not give any money to Lomov. It was only when Lomov asked for his daughter’s hand in marriage that his attitude changed and he rushed out to call his daughter, Natalya.

Question 2.
Chubukov says of Natalya: “……. as if she won’t consent! She’s in love; egad, she’s like a lovesick cat……” Would you agree? Find reasons for your answer.
Ans:
Yes, Natalya is in love. This is clear by the way she behaves when she gets to know that Lomov came to propose to her. She starts weeping and asks her father to bring Lomov at once.

Question 3.
1. Find all the words and expressions in the play that the characters use to speak about each other, and the accusations and insults they hurl at each other. (For example, Lomov in the end calls Chubukov an intriguer; but earlier,Chubukov has himself called Lomov a “malicious, doublefaced intriguer.” Again, Lomov begins by describing Natalya as “an excellent housekeeper, not bad-looking, well-educated.”)
2. Then think of five adjectives or adjectival expressions of your own to describe each character in the play.
3. Can you now imagine what these characters will quarrel about next?
Answer:
The words and expressions that have been used to describe each other by various characters of the play are Chubukov: intriguer, grabber, old rat Natalya: a lovesick cat, an excellent housekeeper, not bad-looking’ well-educated. Lomov: a good neighbour, impudent, pettifogger, malicious, double faced intriguer, rascal, blind hen, turnip ghost, a villian, scare crow, stuffed sausage, etc.

Thinking About the Language
(Page 157)

Question I.
1. This play has been translated in English from the Russian original. Are there any expressions or ways of speaking that strike you as more – Russian than English?
For example would an adult man be addressed by an older man as my darling or my treasure in an English play?
Answer:
Expressions not used in contemporary English are- my angel, my beloved, my beauty (Here these expressions, are used for an adult man) and ‘all that sort of thing’ (not explaining what it is just leaving it as it is) and ‘how may you be getting on’? reported speech

2. You must have noticed that when we report someone’s exact words, we have to make some changes in the sentence structure. In the following sentences fill in the blanks to list the changes that have occurred in the above pairs of sentences. One has been done for you.
Questions.

1. To report a question, we use the reporting verb asked (as in sentence set 1).
2. To report a declaration, we use the reporting verb
3. The adverb of place here changes to _____
4. When the verb in the direct speech is in the present tense, the verb in reported speech is in the tense (as in sentence set 3).
5. If the Verb in direct speech is in the present continuous tense, the verb in reported speech changes to ____ tense. For example, ____ changes to was getting.
6. When the sentence in direct speech contains a word denoting respect, we add the adverb ____ in the reporting clause (as in sentence set 1)
7. The pronouns I, me, our and mine, which are used in the first person in direct speech, change to third person pronouns to such as _____ or ____ in reported speech.

Answer:
2. declared
3. there
4. past
5. past continuous, is getting
6. respectfully
7. he, him, their or his

By Yatendra Kumar

VECTOR STUDIES