English Notes Latest Questions

In: ,
  1. Amelia mazumder
    Amelia mazumder
    This answer was edited.

    Interior monologue is a dramatic technique that exhibits the thoughts passing through themes of the protagonist. It is seen here through the protagonist, Miss Meadows. The emotional turmoil that she is undergoing is reflected through her inner thoughts, which is only for the reader’s eyes. Her despaRead more

    Interior monologue is a dramatic technique that exhibits the thoughts passing through themes of the protagonist. It is seen here through the protagonist, Miss Meadows. The emotional turmoil that she is undergoing is reflected through her inner thoughts, which is only for the reader’s eyes. Her despair, her grief and then her joy and her happiness are all unsaid but expressed through her inner thoughts.

    Read summary of The Singing Lesson

    See less
    • 0
In: ,
  1. Amelia mazumder
    Amelia mazumder
    This answer was edited.

    Miss Meadows’s inner turmoil was revealed when she communicated with the Science Mistress. She was seen in her thoughts to be absolutely hating everything about the Science Mistress. She replied quite curtly as she was filled with anguish from within. She even ignored the chrysanthemum offered by heRead more

    Miss Meadows’s inner turmoil was revealed when she communicated with the Science Mistress. She was seen in her thoughts to be absolutely hating everything about the Science Mistress. She replied quite curtly as she was filled with anguish from within. She even ignored the chrysanthemum offered by her favorite student as she was in no mood to entertain anyone. She behaved in a curt manner and made the class sing a fast-paced lament, irrespective of the fact whether they were comfortable with it or not. Miss Meadows was in a conflict within herself over the contents of the letter sent by her fiancé who wanted to break off the engagement. Her resentful attitude throughout the lesson showed her emotional state of mind.

    Read summary of The Singing Lesson

    See less
    • 1
In: ,
  1. Amelia mazumder
    Amelia mazumder
    This answer was edited.

    Music plays an important role in this story, thereby justifying the title. Miss Meadows’s state of mind is reflected by the music played in the class. The lament at the beginning of the story expresses her sadness and grief which she is feeling after reading Basil’s letter. It ends with a cheerful sRead more

    Music plays an important role in this story, thereby justifying the title. Miss Meadows’s state of mind is reflected by the music played in the class. The lament at the beginning of the story expresses her sadness and grief which she is feeling after reading Basil’s letter. It ends with a cheerful song about flowers and celebration, mirroring Miss Meadows’s happiness on finding out that her marriage will not be in any harm’s way. Music is one of the main themes in the story around which the plot revolves. It expresses all of Miss Meadows’s inner thoughts and emotions to the readers.

    Read summary of The Singing Lesson

    See less
    • 12
In: ,
  1. Amelia mazumder
    Amelia mazumder
    This answer was edited.

    Aspects of feminism was found in this story while tracing the events in Miss Meadows’s life. She was an unmarried woman of thirty years and already in quite a tension. During the 19th century, when women were past their marriageable age, they were in quite a distraught. Miss Meadows wanted to get riRead more

    Aspects of feminism was found in this story while tracing the events in Miss Meadows’s life. She was an unmarried woman of thirty years and already in quite a tension. During the 19th century, when women were past their marriageable age, they were in quite a distraught. Miss Meadows wanted to get rid of the tag of a spinster and hence, it did not matter to her whether Basil loved her or not, as long as he married her. She was a financially independent woman yet it was the idea of settling down with someone that appealed to her. The fact that marriage is the last resort for women is quite a patriarchal concept and that the society put pressure on women like Miss Meadows. She even had the thought of disappearing from there as she would not be able to face everyone once the news of her engagement broken off got spread. The fact that the inner turmoil of a woman is not given much importance as much it was given to the need to get married, showed how the society viewed women during that century.

    Read summary of The Singing Lesson

    See less
    • 6
In: ,
  1. Amelia mazumder
    Amelia mazumder
    This answer was edited.

    Miss Meadows noticed the nature outside being in sync with her sadness. She noticed that the willow trees, outside the high, narrow windows, waved in the wind. They had lost half their leaves. She felt as if that mirrored her grief- left with only a little bit of happiness which itself was fading awRead more

    Miss Meadows noticed the nature outside being in sync with her sadness. She noticed that the willow trees, outside the high, narrow windows, waved in the wind. They had lost half their leaves. She felt as if that mirrored her grief- left with only a little bit of happiness which itself was fading away quickly. Repetition of the lament which reflected her sorrow also hinges on pathetic fallacy. While she was thinking of the line, “soon Autumn yields unto Winter Drear” she realized slowly that she too would have to disappear somewhere. Just like the voices beginning to fade, to whisper, she too would have to vanish away slowly and quietly.

    Read summary of The Singing Lesson 

    See less
    • 0
In: ,
  1. Amelia mazumder
    Amelia mazumder
    This answer was edited.

    Basil, Miss Meadows’s fiancé, never made a physical appearance in the story. He is twenty-five years old. Through the letters, we the readers, formed an opinion. The reason for him writing such letters was not known and he came off as a fickle minded person. At one time, Basil wrote a letter callingRead more

    Basil, Miss Meadows’s fiancé, never made a physical appearance in the story. He is twenty-five years old. Through the letters, we the readers, formed an opinion. The reason for him writing such letters was not known and he came off as a fickle minded person. At one time, Basil wrote a letter calling off the engagement and another time he wrote saying to ignore the previous letter, with no explanation given. He didn’t seem to care much about Miss Meadows’s feelings when he had scratched the word “disgust” lightly in his letter. Whether he was marrying Miss Meadows out of love also seemed doubtful. Basil came off as a cruel and a self-centered man with no care about his fiancé’s feelings.

    Read summary of The Singing Lesson 

    See less
    • 4
In: ,
  1. Amelia mazumder
    Amelia mazumder
    This answer was edited.

    Miss Meadows, the protagonist of the short story, was a thirty-year old woman who taught music at a school and was engaged to a man called Basil. Miss Meadows was highly sensitive. She reacted to things very quickly and took things to heart. When she received the letter from Basil, where the latterRead more

    Miss Meadows, the protagonist of the short story, was a thirty-year old woman who taught music at a school and was engaged to a man called Basil. Miss Meadows was highly sensitive. She reacted to things very quickly and took things to heart. When she received the letter from Basil, where the latter had written to say that their marriage would be nothing but a mistake, she plunged into grief. Her grief and sadness was reflected through music and nature, showing that she had a connection with them. Whether she was marrying Basil out love was not clear, but it was eminent that she was marrying so that she no longer was a spinster. When she received a telegram where Basil asked her to ignore the previous one, instead of getting mad at Basil and demanding reasons, she was overjoyed at the news. She felt happy as she realized that she would get married soon and would avoid being a spinster. Miss Meadows loved for emotions and music as seen here.

    Read summary of The Singing Lesson

    See less
    • 6
In: ,
  1. Amelia mazumder
    Amelia mazumder
    This answer was edited.

    Hugging the knife is used metaphorically here. It means that the letter received from her fiancé, Basil, is stuck in her throat, making her feel as if a real knife is stabbing her. The cold feeling within her heart is resonated her through this metaphor. Read summary of The Singing Lesson

    Hugging the knife is used metaphorically here. It means that the letter received from her fiancé, Basil, is stuck in her throat, making her feel as if a real knife is stabbing her. The cold feeling within her heart is resonated her through this metaphor.

    Read summary of The Singing Lesson

    See less
    • 5
In: ,
  1. Amelia mazumder
    Amelia mazumder
    This answer was edited.

    The narrative technique device used by Katherine Mansfield in this short story is interior monologue. Read summary of The Singing Lesson

    The narrative technique device used by Katherine Mansfield in this short story is interior monologue.

    Read summary of The Singing Lesson

    See less
    • 0
In: ,
  1. Amelia mazumder
    Amelia mazumder
    This answer was edited.

    This story showed the protagonist of a thirty-year old spinster engaged as a music teacher at a school. However the social anxiety of perhaps remaining as a spinster for the rest of her life is well portrayed in this story as during the 19th century, women above the age of marriage felt emotionallyRead more

    This story showed the protagonist of a thirty-year old spinster engaged as a music teacher at a school. However the social anxiety of perhaps remaining as a spinster for the rest of her life is well portrayed in this story as during the 19th century, women above the age of marriage felt emotionally strained. Lonely women like Miss Meadows, during that time, carried on with their lives by having a professional life alongside to it. They even remained aloof from their colleagues as seen by the cold distant behavior of Miss Meadows towards the Science Mistress. Miss Meadows aptly represented the idea lonely middle class working women of the 19th century.

    Read summary of The Singing Lesson

    See less
    • 1