Class 11 English Lesson 19: A Sunny Morning: References beyond the text

 

References beyond the text

a.      What do you predict will happen in the next meeting between Dona Laura and Don Gonzalo? Discuss.

I predict that Dona Laura and Don Gonzalo will be much more excited in the next meeting. They will talk and share their feelings through fake means this time too. Both of them will try to make each other happy. Don Gonzalo will certainly be much franker this time. He will try to show his respect towards her. The readers will get a chance to see their shyness. They will surely have more fun through their pretentious acts.

b.     Was it wise for Dona Laura and Don Gonzalo to keep their identities secret? How might their secrets affect future meetings?

Yes, it was wise for Dona Laura and Don to keep their identities secret. At the age of seventy, they both realized that they were former lovers who had separated due to their ill fate. But, they did a good job of not revealing their real identities. Both of them were quite old with weak physical conditions. They were not happy due to their old looks. At this age, the revelation of their reality would be vain. They thought it better to hide their identities and pretend to be unfamiliar. They chose the best way to enjoy their sweet, youthful memories through fake means. Their secrets might affect them in their future meetings if they keep on lying in such a way. There was a high risk of the revelation of secrets due to their old age. If they reveal their realities unknowingly, they won’t get to meet with each other soon. Hence, it was wise for them to keep their identities secret.

c.      Write a summary of the play.

The play "A Sunny Morning" is a comedy of Madrid in one act, by Serafin and Joaquin Alvarez Quintero. On a sunny autumn morning in a quiet corner of a park in Madrid, Dona Laura, a graceful, white-haired lady of about seventy, is feeding pigeons in the park. Don Gonzalo, a gentleman of seventy, gouty and impatient, enters. Their servants, Petra, Dona Laura's maid, and Juanito, come and go nearby.

The conversation between the two seventy-year-olds begins ironically, with each accusing the other of intruding on their private space. Don Gonzalo complains the priests have taken his bench and says Dona Laura is a "Forgetful old lady! She ought to be at home knitting and counting her beads." She finds him "an ill-natured old man!" He resigns himself to "sit on the bench with the old lady." A pinch of snuff helps to clear their heads, and they find something in common with alternating sneezes three times each. Dona Laura confides to the audience, "The snuff has made peace between us." They begin to banter back and forth in a friendly manner. Then Don Gonzalo reads out loud from a book of poems.

They begin to discuss Valencia and, without acknowledging it to each other, realize he and she are two lost lovers. He was a native of Faencia and she spent several seasons at a nearby villa. He remembers her as "The Silver Maiden," and they discuss a duel involving his cousin. When the play ends, they agree to meet at the park again, still not acknowledging what they both know to be true."

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0x2zC7yS7PU

 

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