Class 11 English Lesson 19: A Sunny Morning by Serafin and Joaquin Quintero

 

2 Play: A Sunny Morning by Serafin and Joaquin Quintero (page 302)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPshyVcNdoY  

About the Playwrights

Serafin Álvarez Quintero (1871-1938) and Joaquin Álvarez Quintero (1873-1944) were Spanish dramatists. They began writing for the theatre at a young age.

They were popularly known as the Golden Boys of the Madrid theatre. They collaborated in almost 200 dramas depicting the life, manners, and speech of Andalusia.

Theme of the Play

‘Sunny Morning’ is a light comedy that narrates the reunion of two lovers now in their 70s, meeting at a park who, in their youth, were passionate lovers but torn apart by the cruelty of fate. The setting of this play is a sunny morning in Madrid, Spain, on a bench in the park.

Casting Characters

a.    Dona Laura – a white-haired old lady of about seventy

b.      Petra - a maid of Dona Laura

c.     Don Gonzalo -

d.     Juanito, his servant

Scene: A park in Madrid, the capital of Spain

Summary of the Play

A Sunny Morning is a one-act romantic comedy written by two famous Spanish playwrights, Serafin and Joaquin Alvarez Quintero. The play is meant to entertain the audience with humor, love, and the reunion of two former lovers. The story centers around Don Gonzalo and Dona Laura, who were deeply in love during their youth but got separated due to bad luck and family interference. Now, both are in their 70s and meet again by chance in a park in Madrid after many years.

The play begins on a peaceful, sunny autumn morning in a quiet corner of a park. Dona Laura, a graceful and elegant elderly woman, is sitting on a bench feeding breadcrumbs to pigeons. Her maid, Petra, is also with her but leaves for a while to talk to the park guard. Soon after, Don Gonzalo, an old man, enters the park with his servant, Juanito. He is annoyed because the bench he usually uses is occupied by three priests. He reluctantly asks to share Dona Laura’s bench.

At first, the two old people argue. Dona Laura is angry because Gonzalo scared away her pigeons, and she calls him rude. Gonzalo, too, is not happy to sit with her, and they exchange some harsh words. However, things calm down when Gonzalo offers Dona Laura some snuff (powdered tobacco), and they both sneeze together. This funny moment helps them become friendly.

As they talk, Gonzalo reads poems from a book. He mentions that he is from Valencia. When Laura says she’s from Maricela, also in Valencia, Gonzalo is surprised. He remembers a beautiful young girl named Laura who lived in a villa there. Hearing this, Laura also realizes that Gonzalo might be the same man she once loved. But instead of revealing their true identities, they both pretend to be other people and speak about their younger selves as if they were friends or relatives.

They describe a beautiful love story between young Laura and Gonzalo. Laura was known as “The Silver Maiden” and was very beautiful. Gonzalo was a brave and romantic young man. He used to ride past her house every morning, throw flowers onto her balcony, and she would throw them back in the afternoon. They were deeply in love. However, Laura’s parents wanted her to marry a rich merchant. One day, Gonzalo fought with the merchant and injured him. Fearing punishment, he ran away to Seville and then to Madrid. He tried to contact Laura through letters, but her parents kept them from her. Laura never received them and thought Gonzalo had forgotten her.

In the park, the old Gonzalo and Laura continue pretending. Gonzalo says that the young man died a hero in war, and Laura says the young girl drowned in the sea after waiting for her lover. In truth, both of them survived and moved on. Gonzalo eventually married a ballet dancer, and Laura married someone else two years later. Even though they recognize each other, they keep up the act. They know the truth but choose to hide it, perhaps to protect their memories or avoid painful emotions. By the end of the play, they have accepted the past and seem happy to have seen each other again. They agree to meet at the park again the next day, if it is a sunny morning.

Understanding the text

Answer the following questions.

a.      What makes Dona Laura think that Don Gonzalo is an ill-natured man? Why do neither Dona Laura nor Don Gonzalo reveal their true identities?

Gonzalo looks at everything negatively. He does not prefer to sit on the bench on which Laura is sitting and insists that he wants his own bench. When he sees his usual bench occupied by the priests already, he is angry and he curses them. He asks his servant, Juanito, to drive them away. Gonzalo scared the pigeons that Laura was feeding. Because of all these reasons, Laura thinks that Gonzalo is an ill-natured man.

They are both ashamed of their failed love affair. Now they have lost their youth and taken different courses in life. That’s why talking about their past relationship directly is meaningless. Exposing their identities simply makes them unhappy. That’s why to avoid bitter feelings by not revealing their identity.

b.     At what point in time, do you think, Laura and Gonzalo begin to recognise each other?

When both of them start talking about the failed love affair of Laura and a gallant lover, they slowly recognize each other. However, Laura says that the woman was her best friend, and Gonzalo says that the lover was his cousin. Both of them know the events in detail. It makes them sure that they were the old lovers.

c.      When does Dona Laura realise that Don Gonzalo was her former lover?

When Laura says that the silver maiden was very unfortunate because of her sad love affair, Gonzalo also answers in the same way as if he knows about that affair. It makes Laura clear that Gonzalo was her lover; otherwise, he would not have known the personal matters of others.

d.     Why do Dona Laura and Don Gonzalo spin fictitious stories about themselves?

They spin fictitious stories to prove that they were really serious in their love, but because of the providence of destiny, their love could not be successful. They wanted to hide their weaknesses and prove each other helpless. They do it to collect sympathy.

e.      How do Dona Laura and Don Gonzalo feel about each other?

When they know each other as old-time lovers, they feel good. The emotional tides again bind them together. A new friendship starts, and they promise to meet again at the park. Someone has rightly said about lovers and wine older they are, the better they taste and feel.

 

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