Class 12 English Lesson 19: Play: Facing Death Reference to Context & Reference beyond Text Literature Section
a. Sketch the character of Monsieur Durand.
Monsieur Durand is the main character of the play "Facing Death". He is a widower, the lodge owner, and a former railway worker. He is a financially ruined person who has three daughters. All of them live in the lodge. The relationship between Durand and his daughters isn't good. Here, in this play, we find him so loving, caring as well as protective father. Due to his bankruptcy, he is spending his miserable life along with his three daughters. His daughters hate him and blame him most of the time. But he keeps on thinking about the well-being of his daughters.
Monsieur Durand, the father sacrifices his life for the welfare of his daughters who hate him. He is full of patience and endures injustice from his late wife and remains silent for the rest of his life, blaming her for the financial ruin. He is also a loving husband. He is a patriot too who loves his native France, although he is forced to live in Switzerland. He is a tragic hero who faces financial difficulties and eventually ends his life tragically committing suicide for the well-being of his three daughters.
b. How do we know that the Durand family has reached a dead end?
We know that the Durand family has reached a dead end by seeing their miserable state in their lodge. This family is completely bankrupt. When Mrs. Durand was alive, both husband-wife had lost their maternal and paternal inheritances. Mr. Durand and his daughters spend their miserable life in an economic crisis. Due to their miserable economic status, they have converted their living house into a lodge.
Mr. Durand's household has been borrowing money from others for years. Numerous bills in the name of the Durand household must be paid to different debtors. Among all family members, the condition of Durand is so bad. We find him living a tolerant life. He doesn't have good relationships with his daughters. His daughters hate him and blame him for many reasons.
We even find that the family doesn't have money to buy bread for coffee. Due to hunger, we find Durand eating the rat's bait. This family has reached a dead end due to this financial crisis. Due to this financial hardship, Durand has planned to kill himself and burn down his lodge for the welfare of his daughter. Here, we find Durand successful in his deadly plan at last.
c. ‘The mother, though already dead, seems to have had a great influence on the daughters, especially Theresa.’ Do you agree?
Yes, I agree with this statement. Here in this play, we find that the mother has had a great influence on her daughters, especially Theresa. While their mother was alive, she used to teach the children to hate their father Durand. She made them obey herself. Most of the time, she blamed her husband and became successful to make the children against their father. After her death, Mr. Durand remained silent all his life because he did not want his daughters to doubt their mother's goodness. He is full of patience and endures injustice from his late wife and remained silent for the rest of his life, blaming her for the financial ruin. Due to the mother's teaching, all three daughters hate their father. They think that their father was the main cause of their financial ruin.
Theresa is the one who has been influenced much by her mother. She shows rude behavior most of the time. She snatches the matches away from her father when he was about to inhale tobacco with a briar pipe. Similarly, she seizes the glass of milk from him. She seems so unkind towards her father. Among the three sisters, she is the one who is filled with much anger against her father.
d. Discuss the relationship between Monsieur Duran and his wife.
The relationship between Monsieur Durand and his wife was not so good. While Mrs. Durand was alive, she used to blame Mr. Durand though she had ruined the ancestral property. Due to her negligence and foolish conjecture, she ruined the ancestral property. She used to spend household money on lottery tickets. After being abused, she threatened her husband to become a prostitute for money. He called her a lone soldier. She taught all her daughters to hate their fathers and filled their minds with all the negativities. She had become successful to divert her daughters' minds and making them against their father.
e. 'Money determines the relationship between characters in this play.' Elaborate on this statement with examples from the play.
Mr. Durand has to live with hunger for a long time. He is even seen eating rat bait in the drama. Mr. Durand is unable to provide for the basic needs of his daughters due to this economic crisis. The relationship between Mr. Durand and Mrs. Durand also deteriorated due to the struggle to lose wealth. The daughters do not like the father because he doesn't have enough money to support the family. Economic crisis leads them to convert their living house into a lodge. Here, we find that money determines the relationship between the characters.
Mr. Durand's three daughters hate and blame him most of the time. They show their rude behavior to him. The daughters do not even give a glass of milk because the father cannot bring bread. They snatched the glass of milk from him. They snatch the matches from him when he goes to smoke. They show their kind behavior to their father when their father says "I'll bring you money." They even kiss him lovingly. They use the words kindness and love. They even apologize for their rude behavior.
f. Monsieur Durand kills himself so that his daughters would get 5000 francs as compensation from the insurance company. What does his plan tell us about him?
In the play 'Facing Death', Mr. Durand has been presented as a tragic protagonist who commits suicide by drinking poison and sets fire to his house to get compensation from the fire insurance company to improve the financial condition of his daughters. Mr. Durand has been spending his life in extreme poverty. Due to the financial crisis, he has been blamed most of the time by his daughters. He has been considered a failed and irresponsible father. His plan for the welfare of his daughters tells us that he is so caring as well as a loving father who keeps on thinking about his children's future. He is the man who sacrifices his life for the bright future of his three daughters.
g. Discuss Facing Death as a modern tragedy.
By modern tragedy, we mean a play dealing with tragic events and having an unhappy ending, especially one concerning the downfall of the main character. The play 'Facing Death' is a modern tragedy as it ends with the tragic death of the protagonist Mr. Durand. Modern tragedy deals with realistic representations and common problems. Realism and naturalism are the main features of modern play.
The protagonist of a modern tragedy is a common man. Furthermore, modern tragedy deals with the problems of the modern individual such as dysfunctional family relationships, sociocultural problems, loneliness, etc. Characters become victims of their sociocultural environment, fate,-economic class, gender, external environment, etc. Here in this play, we find the exact features of modern tragedy. This play has presented the life of a common modern man with an immense crisis in his life. Due to economic hardships, he has been suffering a lot along with his three daughters. In the play, we can easily find problems of bad relationships and poor economic status.
Mr. Durand, a common modern man has suffered a lot due to economic difficulties. This play also ends with the tragic downfall of the main character Mr. Durand. He kills himself and even burns his house for the welfare of his three daughters. This play has presented realism as well as naturalism.
Reference beyond the text
a. Write a few paragraphs describing the role of the father in the family
Father undoubtedly plays an important role in the family. Fatherhood is a responsibility, not simply a position. A father, in my opinion, is someone who adopts or accepts the role of parenthood and behaves as a parent to another at any point in time. A father in the family is loaded with an unspecified amount of roles and responsibilities. A father's role in the family is critical to the psychological and physical well-being of his or her kid or children. When a child has a positive relationship with a loving father, he or she is more likely to have good psychological health and stronger relationships later in life.
The primary responsibility of the father in the family is to provide and secure a home for the family, supply necessities, and fund academics, health bills, and other expenses. The father is responsible for raising his children by moral and societal standards. It is the father's responsibility to train his children so that they have a strong foundation for smoother stepping and rising stones. The father has a responsibility to uphold his reputation and integrity. The father also plays an essential part in decision-making. Certain judgments are better made with the father's accent, both culturally and socioeconomically.
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b. In his famous essay "The Experimental Novel," Emile Zola says: This is what constitutes the experimental novel to possess a knowledge of the mechanism of the phenomena inherent in man, to show the machinery of his intellectual and sensory manifestations, under the influences of heredity and environment, such as physiology shall give them to us, and then finally to exhibit man living in social conditions produced by himself, which he modifies daily, and in the heart of which he experiences a continual transformation. To what extent do you agree with Zola's idea that human beings' intellectual, as well as emotional capacities, are determined by their environment and heredity? Discuss with examples including Facing Death.
I agree with Emile Zola's idea that human beings' intellectual, as well as emotional capacities, are determined by their environment and heredity. In the play "Facing Death", Monsieur Durand is portrayed as a widower, the owner of the lodge, and a former railway worker. He is a financially drained man with three daughters. They all reside in the lodge. Durand's relationship with his daughters is fragile. In this play, we see him as a loving, caring, and protective parent. He is living a difficult life with his three daughters as a result of his bankruptcy. His daughters despise him and frequently blame him. But he keeps worrying about his daughter's well-being. He gives up his life for the sake of his daughters, who dislike him. He is a patient man who suffered injustice at the hands of his late wife and kept mute for the rest of his life, blaming her for his financial downfall. He is also a devoted husband. He, too, is a patriot who adores his beloved France, although he is compelled to reside in Switzerland. He is a sad hero who confronts financial hardships before tragically committing suicide for the sake of his three daughters who adores his beloved France, although he is compelled to reside in Switzerland. He is a sad hero who confronts financial hardships before tragically committing suicide for the sake of his three daughters.
Durand's environment, as well as his financial and personal circumstances, drove him to kill himself. Because he was bankrupt, he no longer had control over his emotional and intellectual well-being. He initially considered his daughters and their future, since he loved them. Durand struggled to pay all of his bills and debts. He plans to commit himself by drinking poison and setting fire to the house so that their daughters would have a secure future owing to fire insurance payouts. Like Emily Zola's famous essay "The Experimental Novel," Durand's intellectual and emotional powers are dictated by the elements, environment, and situation surrounding him.
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