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If you were to write about these issues today what are some of the incidents, examples and problems that you would think of as relevant?


J.B. Priestley raises certain important issues particularly related to the mothers in his famous one-act play ‘Mother’s Day’. Mrs Pearson is a typical mother. She runs after her husband and children all the time. She takes their orders as if she were their servant. She has to stay at home every night, while they go out enjoying themselves. It is ruining her as well as her family. The important issue raised is that sons, daughters and husbands should take notice of their mothers and wives.

Poor wives try to come out of this miserable situation. But they can’t muster enough courage. Poor Mrs Pearson doesn’t know how to deal with them either. Doris has to go out tonight. She has to iron her yellow shirt. She gets angry with her mother when she doesn’t do it. Cyril is angry because his mother doesn’t serve him tea. The poor mother has to put in twice the hours and gets no wages nor thanks for it. Mothers in the families are the most exploited lot. Drinking, smoking and playing cards are the luxuries that such women can’t enjoy. When Mrs Pearson tries to enjoy such luxuries, she is considered ‘off colour’ or ‘barmy’.

Women must assert themselves in their families. They must make their husbands and children learn to help themselves.

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Discuss in groups, plays or films with a strong message of social reform that you have watched.


Group A : Have you seen Amitabh’s ‘Bagaban’

(Ram, Hari and Geeta)

Group B : Who hasn’t ? Oh! Amitabh at his best.

(Rittu, Manish and Gopi)

Group A : Well, Amitabh is superb. But I am talking of the powerful message that the film gives to the viewers.

Group A : Certainly. The film highlights the sacrifices done by the parents to bring up their children.

Group B : And how conveniently do the children forget those pains and sacrifices ? Group A : The father does everything to make his children happy and comfortable. Group B : And then comes the retirement. The sons and daughters-in-law seek their own pounds of flesh. They expect money.

Group A : They understand no human feelings. They prove thankless. So inhuman that they force their parents to be separated.

Group B : Poetic justice is done in the end. Erring sons and daughters-in-law suffer shame and humiliation. The wheel turns the full circle.

Group A : Powerful social message is conveyed through a sterling performance by Amitabh. Hema is also quite good.

Group B : All said and done, it is a good film based on familial problems and relations.

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This play, written in the 1950s, is a humorous and satirical depiction of the status of the mother in the family.

(i) What are the issues it raises?

(ii) Do you think it caricatures these issues or do you think that the problems it raises are genuine? How does the play resolve the issues? Do you agree with the resolution?


J.B. Priestley’s ‘Mother’s Day’ is a humorous and satirical play. But the play deals with some serious issues. The most important of them is the status or position of mothers in the family.

(i) The play was written more than fifty years ago in 1950s. The position of mothers in the family was in every way inferior to that of men. They were exploited and intimidated not only by their husbands but also by their children. It raises another issue. Are mothers just the beasts of burden? They work in kitchens cooking meals for the family. They iron the clothes. They prepare tea when their husbands arrive home from work or outside. Mrs Pearson is such a woman of forty. Overburdened with her familial responsibilities, she has neither rest nor peace. She has no freedom. She is always dancing to the tunes of her son Cyril and daughter Doris. She can t have any fun. Mothers like Mrs Pearson are marginalised and neglected.

(ii) The play raises real issues. It doesn’t merely caricature them. The problems it raises are genuine. Millions of women have to lead such a miserable life as Mrs Pearson is forced to lead. Their husbands and children care only for themselves, their interests and entertainment. The play also resolves the issues. Women can set their spoilt children and arrogant husbands by asserting themselves. Self denial will lead them nowhere. They must change the dominating behaviour of their husbands and children. Only by refusing more than they do, they can find some time for leisure, fun and rest.

Certainly, there is no scope of showing any disagreement with the resolution of the issues as mentioned above.

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Read the play out in parts. Enact the play on a suitable occasion.


Try it yourself with the help of your class-teacher and classmates.

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Is Drama a good medium for conveying a social message? Discuss.


Certainly drama is a useful and forceful medium for conveying a social message J. B. Priestley uses the dramatic art very convincingly to highlight certain issues. The basic issue is the exploitation of housewives and mothers of the families. The play presents the plight of Mrs Pearson. She has to dance to the tune of her husband George and children Doris and Cyril. The play ends with a social message. The message is the message of equality. Equal work for men and women. ‘Forty-hour week for all now’ says Mrs Pearson (actually Mrs Fitzgerald).

J.B. Priestley effectively uses drama as a powerful medium. He uses it to highlight the protest of a mother against her exploitation by her spoilt children and husband Mrs Pearson is helped in this way by Mrs Fitzgerald. She knows how to change personalities through magic. Mrs Pearson and Mrs Fitzgerald are two contrasting characters in every way. The familial issues and problems find a good expression through this drama. Not only that, Priestley also reveals the tender heart of a mother. When Mrs Fitzgerald shouts at Mr Pearson saying “I’ll slap your big fat silly face”, the wife in Mrs Pearson revolts. She realises that this drama “has gone far enough”. She tells her frankly that she can’t bear it any more.

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