Vila for Sale

Vila for Sale

1.In the opening conversation under what circumstances did

Juliette say that she would feel that she had been a fool to sell the

Villa?

a. Juliette says that she would feel that she had been a fool to sell the

Villa if someone had bought the Villa on the very day she had

placed it for sale.

b. What did she say later on about being a fool?

She said that she felt that she was a real fool on the day she

bought it because she had invested in a house that wasn’t worth

the money she had paid for it. It hadn’t been a sold for a month

since it went up on the market.

c. What does the phrase ‘all the same’ mean? What did the maid

say to contradict her mistress’s eagerness to sell the house?

The phrase ‘all the same’ means despite what has been said. The

maid reminded her mistress that she (the mistress) did not put up

the ‘For Sale’ sign the day it was ready. She waited until night and

then went outdoors and hung it up herself.

d. What did the mistress feel when she put the house up for sale?

What was the reaction of her neighbours? What did she feel

about their reaction?

The mistress felt that the house would be sold the moment she put

up the ‘For Sale’ sign. That was the reason she hung on to the sign

for a day and put it up only in the night when no one would see it

and she could hold on to the house for one more day.

Her neighbours looked at her in a strange kind of way. She felt that

her project of selling the house would be a failure: a sell more than

a sale.

e. What were her feelings now? How did this attitude reflect on the

price she was asking for the Villa?

She felt frustrated that no one was buying her house and now she

just wanted to get the house off her hands. She was willing to sell it

at only twice the cost of the house which was a thousand francs

although she wanted two hundred thousand francs.

f. Why was Juliette forced to sell the house? What did she say about

the condition of the property market?

She was forced to sell the house since she was facing hard times:

her business was not doing very well. For fifteen years, the property

market had had no sellers. Although people had money, they

weren’t ready to buy a home. In the present circumstances,

nobody had the money to buy and hence there were no buyers in

the market.

g. What advice did the maid give Juliette about making some

money?

The maid suggested to Juliette that she (Juliette) could make a

little money taking up a job as a film actor. Many people were

doing the same in the neighbourhood and it was rather looked up

to by the people around town. She further added that since

Juliette had a funny face and she looked comical with her hair

slicked back she could easily get a job as an actor.

h. Why did Juliette go upstairs when the doorbell rang?

When the doorbell rang, Juliette presumed that the prospective

buyers had come. She felt that it wouldn’t do any good for the

lady(buyer) to know she (Juliette) was so eager to sell the house

that she was ready and waiting for the customer.

i. Why was Gaston refusing to buy the Villa?

Gaston knew that his wife’s primary objective of buying the villa

was to provide her parents with a home for the summer. He

speculated that his in-laws would move into the house in with

Jeanne’s sister’s children and he was not willing to spend money

so that they could enjoy living in a Villa during the summer.

j. The choice of a frame is not so easy when you have such a

delightful pastel to place in it.

Who is the speaker? What is the speaker trying to hint at by using

this comparison?

The speaker is Juliette. She tries to compare Jeanne to a pastel

and the house to a frame that will support the pastel. By saying

that the house is a prefect frame for a pastel as beautiful as

Jeanne she tries to flatter Jeanne so that Jeanne will be urged to

buy the house.

k. What opinion does Mrs Al Smith have of the French and their ways

of doing business?

According to Mrs. Al Smith the French have a ‘cute’ way of doing

business. They don’t give all the information at a time. For instance

there is a board outside the house that says ‘For Sale’ but this

board does not have the price written on it.

Frenchmen usually have to consult about ten people before they

get a move on. They can’t decide on their own. They take the

opinions of many people and then go along with what the majority

vote is. She believes that they also like to talk about the past. She

makes this conclusion when Gaston begins to give a sales talk

about the house by saying that his grandfather had lived in the

house.

l. What is different in Gaston’s conversation after Jeanne and

Juliette return to the salon?

Gaston shows an eagerness to buy the house. He tells Jeanne that

while she was upstairs he had been thinking of the needs of her

parents. He shows concern for them.

m. What kind of a man is Gaston?

Gaston is a example of cleverness, meanness, and dishonesty. He

is non-cooperative and uncaring in his relations with his wife. He is

cruel in his behaviour towards Jeanne. He shows his meanness by

criticising his in-laws and not agreeing to buy the house so that

they can visit Gaston and Jeanne. He lets Mrs Smith believe that

he is the owner of the house He shrewdly makes a hundred

thousand francs without spending a penny.

Refer to the lines from the play and discuss the quality revealed by

the speaker.

One hundred thousand francs and that is twice what it cost me-
Juliette-greed

It you don’t want the house tell me so at once and we’ll say no

more about it.- Jeanne – Practical, innocent

No!

Mrs. Al Smith makes many statements about the French. Pick out

any two and explain them.

Mrs. Al Smith makes the following statements about the French:

(i) “You French have a very cute way of doing business”.

(ii) “Frenchmen usually have to consult about ten people before

they get a move on”.

Mrs Al Smith believes that the French do not mention costs or

prices upfront.

Moreover, she also believes that the French are fickle- minded

and they cannot make their own decisions.