10th std The Proposal

 

10^th std The Proposal

Exrta Questions

Question 1.
Chubukov: We just get along somehow, my angel, thanks to your prayers, and so on. Sit down, please do… Now you know, you shouldn’t forget all about your neighbours, my darling. Me dear fellow, why are you so formal in your get-up! Evening dress, gloves, and so on. Can you be going anywhere, my treasure?
(i) Who is the speaker?
(ii) Who do ‘my darling’ and ‘my Angel’ refer to?
(iii) Do you think Chubukov means all the nice words he speaks?
(iv) What is antonym of‘formal’?
Answer:
(i) Chubukov is the speaker of these lines.
(ii) ‘My darling’ and ‘ my angel’ refer to Lomov.
(iii) Not at all, he is a bit hypocritical and shows excess hospitality to Lomov.
(iv) ‘informal’.

Question 2.
Lomov: Well, you see, it’s like this. (Takes his arm) I’ve come to you, honoured Stepan Stepanovitch, to trouble you with a request. Not once or twice have I already had the privilege of applying to you for help, and you have always, so to speak… I must ask your pardon, I am getting excited. I shall drink some water, honoured Stepan Stepanovitch.
(i) Who is the speaker?
(ii) What was he hoping for?
(iii) Why is he so excited?
(iv) Pick out the word from the passage that means the same as ‘opportunity’.
Answer:
(i) Lomov is the speaker of these lines.
(ii) He was hoping for marriage proposal for Natalaya.
(iii) He is excited because he had to propose to his daughter, Natalaya.
(iv) ‘privilege’.

Question 3.
Chubukov: [Interrupting] Me dear fellow… I’m so glad, and so on… Yes, indeed, and all that sort of thing. [Embraces and kisses Lomov] I’ve been hoping for it for a long time. It’s been my continual desire. [Sheds a tear] And I’ve always loved you, my angel, as if you were my own son. May god give you both—His help and His love and so on, and so much hope… What am I behaving in this idiotic way for? I’m off my balance with joy, absolutely off my balance! Oh, with all my soul… I’ll go and call Natasha, and all that.
(i) Who is the speaker?
(ii) What was he hoping for?
(iii) Why is he excited?
(iv) What does the speaker wish for the listener?
Answer:
(i) Chubukov is the speaker of these lines.
(ii) Chubukov was hoping for the marriage proposal for his daughter from Lomov.
(iii) Chubukov is excited because Lomov had come with marriage proposal for his daughter.
(iv) Chubukov wishes for Lomov that God may give him His help and His love.

Question 4.
Lomov: It’s cold… I’m trembling all over, just as if I’d got an examination before me. The great thing is, I must have my mind made up. If I give myself time to think, to hesitate, to talk a lot, to look for an ideal, or for real love, then I’ll never get married. Brr… It’s cold! Natalaya Stepanovna is an excellent housekeeper, not bad-looking, well-educated. What more do I want? But I’m getting a noise in my ears from excitement.
(i) Who is the speaker?
(ii) Who is feeling cold her?
(iii) Why did he feel cold?
(iv) Pick out the word from passage that means the same as ‘to decide’.
Answer:
(i) Lomov is the speaker of these lines.
(ii) Lomov is feeling cold here.
(iii) He feels cold as he has come to propose Natalaya. He is not sure how she would react.
(iv) ‘Mind made up’ means to decide.

Question 5.
Natalya: Then smoke. Here are the matches. The weather is splendid now, but yesterday it was so wet that the workmen didn’t do anything all day. How much hay have you stacked? Just think, I felt greedy and had a whole field cut, and now I’m not at all pleased about it because I’m afraid my hay may rot. I ought to have waited a bit. But what’s this? Why, you’re in evening dress! Well, I never! Are you going to a ball or what? Though I must say you look better… Tell me, why are you got up like that?
(i) Who is speaking these words and to whom?
(ii) Why is she not pleased?
(iii) What does she offer him?
(iv) Pick out the word from the passage that means the same as ‘managed in a pile’.
Answer:
(i) Natalaya is speaking these words to Lomov.
(ii) Natalaya is not pleased because she thinks her hay might rot. She had a whole field cut and hay stacked but unfortunately it had rained the previous day.
(iii) She offers him a cigarette to smoke.
(iv) ‘stacked’.

Question 6.
Lomov: I shall try to be brief. You must know, honoured Natalaya Stepanovna, that I have long, since my childhood, in fact had the privilege of knowing your family. My late aunt and her husband, from whom, as you know, I inherited my land, always had the greatest respect for your father and your late mother. The Lomovs and the Chubukovs have always had the most friendly, and I might almost say the most affectionate, regard for each other. And, as you know, my land is a near neighbour of yours. You will remember that my Oxen Meadows touch your birchwoods.
(i) Who is the speaker?
(ii) Who is being addressed?
(iii) What type of relations they had in the past?
(iv) What is common between the Lomovs and Chubukovs?
Answer:
(i) Lomov is the speaker of these lines.
(ii) Lomov is being addressed to Natalaya.
(iii) They had good relations in the past. Both the families had respect and affection for each other.
(iv) Lomov’s Oxen Meadows touch Chubukov’s birchwoods.

Question 7.
Lomov: …Oxen Meadows, it’s true, were once the subject of dispute, but now everybody knows that they are mine. There’s nothing to argue about. You see my aunt’s grandmother gave the free use of these Meadows in perpetuity to the peasants of your father’s grandfather, in return for which they were to make bricks for her. The peasants belonging to your father’s grandfather had the free use of the Meadows for forty years, and had got into the habit of regarding them as their own, when it happened that.
(i) Who is the speaker of these lines?
(ii) What are they arguing about?
(iii) Who gave the Meadows and to whom?
(iv) What were they supposed to do?
Answer:
(i) Lomov is the speaker of these lines.
(ii) They are arguing about the ownership of the Oxen Meadows.
(iii) The Oxen Meadows were given by Lomov’s aunt’s grandmother to the peasants belonging to Chubukov’s father.
(iv) They were supposed to make bricks for her aunty.

Question 8.
Natalya: No you’re simply joking, or making fun of me. What a surprise! We’ve had the land for nearly three hundred years, and then we’re suddenly told that it isn’t ours! Ivan Vassilevitch, I can hardly believe my own ears. These Meadows aren’t worth much to me. They only come to five dessiatins, and are worth perhaps 300 roubles, but I can’t stand unfairness. Say what you will, I can’t stand unfairness.(Page 148)
(i) Who is the speaker? Who is being addressed?
(ii) How much are the Meadows worth.
(iii) What does she find ‘unfair’?
(iv) Pick out the word from the passage that means opposite to ‘gradually’.
Answer:
(i) Natalaya is the speaker. She is speaking to Lomov.
(ii) The Meadows are worth 300 roubles.
(iii) Natalaya finds Lomov claim that Oxen Meadows are his as unfair.
(iv) ‘suddenly’.

Question 9.
Natalya: Ours! You can go on proving it for two days on end, you can go and put on fifteen caress jackets, but I tell you they’re ours, ours, ours! I don’t want anything of yours and I don’t want to give anything of mine. So there!
(i) Who is speaking these words and to whom?
(ii) What are they arguing over?
(iii) Pick out the word from the passage that means the same as “confirm”.
(iv) What does the speaker offer to prove two days on end?
Answer:
(i) Natalaya is speaking these words for Lomov.
(ii) They are arguing over the ownership of Oxen Meadows.
(iii) ‘prove’(PROVE)
(iv) The Natalya offer to prove for two days on end to ownership of oxen meadows.

Question 10.
Natalya: I can make you a present of them myself, because they’re mine! Your behaviour, Ivan Vassilevitch, is strange, to say the least! Up to this we have always thought of you as a good neighbour, a friend; last year we lent you our threshing-machine, although on that account we had to put off our own threshing till November, but you behave to us as if we were gypsies. Giving me my own land, indeed! No, really, that’s not at all neighbourly! In my opinion, it’s even impudent, if you want to know.
(i) Who is the speaker?
(ii) Who is being addressed?
(iii) What does the speaker offer?
(iv) What does the speaker remind the listener?
Answer:
(i) Natalaya is the speaker.
(ii) Natalaya is addressing Lomov.
(iii) She offers that she can give Lomov her Oxen Meadows as a gift.
(iv) She reminds Lomov that they were good friends and her family gave him their threshing machine last year.

Question 11.
Lomov: But, please, Stepan Stepanovitch, how can they be yours? Do be a reasonable man! My aunt’s grandmother gave the Meadows for the temporary and free use of your grandfather’s peasants. The peasants used the land for forty years and got accustomed to it as if it was their own, when it happened that…
(i) Who is the speaker?
(ii) Who is being addressed?
(iii) What do ‘They’ stand for?
(iv) Pick out the word from the passage that means the same as “familiar”.
Answer:
(i) Lomov is the speaker of these lines.
(ii) Lomov is addressing Chubukov.
(iii) ‘They’ refer to the ‘Meadows’. Each one is trying to prove that the Meadows belong to them.
(iv) ‘accustomed’.

Question 12.
Natalya: There’s some demon of contradiction in you today, Ivan Vassilevitch. First you pretend that the Meadows are yours; now, that Guess is better than Squeezer. I don’t like people who don’t say what they mean, because you know perfectly well that Squeezer is a hundred times better than your silly Guess. Why do you want to say he isn’t?
(i) What does Natalaya blame Lomov for?
(ii) What do Natalaya and Lomov first argue about?
(iii) Who are Guess and Squeezer?
(iv) Pick out the word from the passage that means the same as “opposition”.
Answer:
(i) Natalaya blames Lomov for opposing whatever she says.
(ii) Natalaya and Lomov first argue about the ownership of Oxen Meadows.
(iii) Guess and Squeezer are the names of their dogs.
(iv) ‘contradiction’.

Question 13.
Chubukov: It’s not true! My dear fellow, I’m very liable to lose my temper, and so, just because of that, let’s stop arguing. You started because everybody is always jealous of everybody else’s dogs. Yes, we’re all like that! You too, sir, aren’t blameless! You no sooner begin with this, that and the other, and all that… I remember everything!
(i) Who is the speaker of these lines?
(ii) Who give this advice to whom?
(iii) Who is not blameless? Why?
(iv) Pick out the synonym of innocent or guiltless’ from the passage.
Answer:
(i) Chubukov is the speaker of these lines.
(ii) Chubukov gives this advice to Lomov.
(iii) According the Chubukov, Lomov is not blameless because he had tried to prove that Guess, his dog is superior to Squeezer.
(iv) blameless

Question 1.
Which qualities are common in all three characters of the play ‘The Proposal’?
Answer:
All the characters in the play are argumentative, full of pride and possessiveness. They are always ready to argue for petty things.

Question 2.
How does Lomov come to Chubukov’s house? What for does he come? How is he received?
Answer:
Lomov came to Chubukov’s house in the evening dress with gloves on. He cames to propose to his daughter Natalya. He is received with all the respect by Chubukov.

Question 3.
How does Chubukov react when Lomov says that he has come to ask for the hand of his daughter?
Answer:
When Lomov says that he has come to ask for the hand of his daughter, Chubukov gets off balanced with joy. He embraces and kisses Lomov, sheds a tear of joy and calls for God’s blessing for Lomov and Natalya.

Question 4.
Why did Lomov want to get married?
Answer:
Lomov wanted to gel. married as he was already 35 years old. Moreover, he was suffering due to a weak heart and sleep- sickness and wanted company of someone to look after him.

Question 5.
What happens to Lomov when he is in an excited state?
Answer:
When Lomov is in an excited state his heart beat increases, lips tremble and there is a twitch in his right eyebrow. When he goes to sleep in such a state something pulls him from his left side and he jumps like a lunatic

Question 6.
How does Natalya excite Lomov to the point of verbal fighting?
Answer:
Natalya repeatedly insisted that Oxen Meadows are theirs and told Lomov that upto now she considered Lomov as a good neighbour and friend. This excited Lomov to the point of verbal fighting.

Question 7.
How does Lomov react when Chubukov says that he is not used to misbehaviour by a young man like Lomov?
Answer:
Lomov reacts by saying that Chubukov thinks that he is a fool. He says that he cannot talk to him calmly and politely as he is making a false claim to his property. He further accuses Chubukov of being a grabber.

Question 8.
Why does Natalya ask her father Chubukov to fetch Lomov in at once? Why does she accuse her father?
Answer:
Natalya asked her father to fetch Lomov at once as she
had come to know that Lomov had come to propose her. She accused Chubukov of driving Lomov out of their home.

Question 9.
How does Natalya react when she comes to know that Lomov had come to propose her?
Answer:
When Natalya cames to know that Lomov had come there to propose her she was shocked. She wails, changes her stance and asks her father to fetch Lomov.

Question 1.
The principle ‘forgive and forget’, helps a lot in maintaining cordial relations with our neighbors. Do you think Anton Chekov conveys this message in the play ‘The Proposal’ ?
Answer:
Anton Chekov does convey the message that the principle of ‘forgive and forget’ helps a lot in -maintaining cordial relationship with one’s neighbours. Initially, the neighbours in the play, Lomov, Natalya and Chubukov were fighting over petty issues. They were putting important issues behind them and wasting their time by arguing over small things. These arguments slowly developed into fights and they started hurling abuses at one another. This damaged their relationship with each other.
It was when Natalya came to know that Lomov had come to propose her that she left the topic of argument (Oxen Meadows) behind. She also asked for forgiveness from Lomov and requested him to come to the point. Hence it is mandatory to ‘forgive and forget’ if one wants to have cordial relationship with others.

Question 2.
The characters Natalya and Lomov lose their temper on trivial issues. It shows their poor skills at anger management. Suggest some ways that help you in maintaining cordial relationship with people around you.
Answer:
The way in which Lomov and Natalya lost their temper shows that how anger can easily effect a relationship. Thus, it becomes very important to have good anger management skills. Following are a few anger management skills that can be followed in one’s life. These would also help in building healthy relationships.Always follow the principle of ‘forgive and forget.Try to understand the person to whom you are talking.Be helpful rather than being self-centric. Always have empathy towards others.First listen and then speak.Be as courteous as possible to everyone. Don’t have the habit of always complaining about others.

Question 3.
Based on your understanding of the Play ‘The Proposal’ how do you think good relationships can be maintained? Why in today’s time we see so many people going away from each other?
Answer:
The play ‘The Proposal’ teaches us how anger and
arguments can easily ruin a relationship. Thus to maintain a good relationship, it is important to have a control over your anger. Having arguments over unimportant or small issues is extremely harmful and a waste of time. If someone commits a mistake, one should be ready to forgive and forget rather than being angry and arguing with the person endlessly. In today’s time people try to find only the positives in others and do not easily accept their negatives. Hence is becoming extremely difficult to maintain a good and cordial relationship with others.

Question 4.
It is a common observance that more attention is paid to unimportant issues at the cost of important ones. The play ‘The Proposal’ beautifully portrays this fact. Suggest some steps how we can avoid this unhealthy practice.
Answer:
It is true to an extent that people usually give more importance to the unimportant issues forgetting their priorities. Just like how Lomov came to propose Natalya but due to their argument that matter was left unaddressed. Thus, it becomes very important to set your priorities in life. One must ignore the unimportant issues. It is a waste of time to have discussions over them. One ’ should not pay too much attention on the trivialities. This energy can be saved on spending it over some useful and important issues that gives a fruitful result.

Question 5.
Neighbours must have a cordial relationship that Lomov and Natalaya do not have. Elucidate the first fight between them.
Answer:
Neighbours must have a cordial relationship but in the case of Lomov and Natalaya, it was different. Lomov and Natalaya were rich people. They were wealthy people and had a competition between them on the subject of wealth. Both were neighbours. Lomov, at a critical age of thirty-five, thought that he had to marry and found Natalaya not bad looking, an excellent housekeeper. So he decided to propose to her.

Lomov, in a well-dressed manner, wearing coat and gloves, one evening went to Chubukov’s house. Chubukov was Natalaya’s father. When he came there and said that he wanted a help, the help which could only be done by him. Chubukov, for first time suspected that he had come for asking money. But after a long struggling and shivering, Lomov uncovers his need. He had come to propose to Natalaya. Chubukov was mistaken and he was filled with extreme joy and called Natalaya. Lomov asked then, whether Natalaya would agree for it or not. Then, Chubukov said that, she would be ready to accept it because she was a lovesick cat.

When Natalaya arrived, she actually did not know that Lomov had come to propose to her. They started talking and when they were talking about land, Lomov stated “Our Oxen Meadows”. Then Natalaya said, “Our Oxen Meadows”, it is not your Oxen Meadows’, it is their. Lomov did not agree. But Natalaya initiated a heated argument. By arguing with each other, they did not solve any problem. They got trapped in a long argument just because of their lack of tolerance towards each other and their desire to keep their pride. Neighbours must have a cordial relationship which Lomov and Natalaya do not have.

Question 6
Anton Chekov has used humour and exaggeration in the play to comment on courtship in his times. Illustrate with examples from the lesson, “The Proposal”. Also mention the values, you think, any healthy relationship requires.

Answer:
Lomov and Natalaya meet for a serious purpose , i.e., to talk about marriage that decides the progress of one’s life as a member of the conventionally established society. But the purpose of their meeting gets lost on two consecutive occasions because Lomov’s faith in the values of his society disrupts his approach to the topic of marriage. He learns that the girl and her father like him, but, instead of proposing to marry her and discussing how their marriage should be organised, he goes on to talk about properties, relations, family histories, and pets, draws them into an unnecessary argument, and antagonises both of them.

Finally, Chubukov marries Lomov and Natasha by force before another problem crops up. Thus the play ends in a comic note, just because the couple gets together with their father to celebrate their marriage while the dispute over the pets is still continuing. For any healthy relationship there should be mutual understanding and respect. Quarreling over trivial issues like dog cannot guarantee longevity of a relationship.

Question 7
Is Natalaya really a lovesick cat as called by her father? If it is so, why does she quarrel with Lomov?
Answer:
Natalaya was a young unmarried girl of twenty five years. She lived in the neighbourhood of Lomov, a young unmarried man. She was an excellent housekeeper and was not bad looking. She wanted love in her life. Her father called her a lovesick cat. Lomov said that she was well educated, but she did not seem to be so.

She was very quarrelsome and abusive by nature. She began a bitter quarrel with Lomov over a piece of land that had little value. She said that those meadows were not much worth to her but she could not stand unfairness. But when she learnt that Lomov had come to propose to her, she forgot all fairness and unfairness.

She began to wail over the lost chance. She forced her father to call him back. But in no time, she started quarrelling with him again. It was on their dogs. Both claimed their respective dogs to be of a superior breed.

Question 8.
What type of person is Natalaya? Give two examples to show her quarrelsome nature.
Answer:
Natalaya is also rather hypocritical, and she is obstinate and argumentative. When Natalaya first
enters the room, she greets Lomov with warmth and is very gracious as she permits him to smoke and compliments him upon his appearance. However, when Lomov speaks of “my meadows,” she abruptly interrupts and contradicts him. An argument then ensures over who own what land.

Even when Lomov offers them to her as a gift, she continues to insist upon her ownership of them in the first place, reigniting the argument until Lomov leaves. When her father finally reveals to Natalaya that Lomov has actually come to propose marriage; she is infuriated, blaming her father for causing the neighbour to depart.

Question 9.
The principle ‘Forgive and Forget’ helps a lot in maintaining cordial relations with our neighbours. Do you think the author proves this message in the play “The Proposal”?
Answer:
Life is a journey which is often compared to the roller coaster ride. It means life is full of ifs and buts and ups and down. But the path of life can be smoothened by virtues of our actions, attitudes and behaviour. And the principle of forgive and forget comes from these virtues. Letting go of anger and bitterness can work wonders both for our attitude and for our health.

Anger may spoil anything like poison. One cannot afford to remain wallowing in the marsh of anger’or sad feelings. Life has to move on and if one wants to get ahead one has to imbibe “forgive and forget”. Only sensitive and great people can follow this gospel.

In the present play “The Proposal” we find that Lomov visits the house of Chubukov with a proposal to marry his daughter Natalaya. Chubukov’s joy knows no bound to hear this. But in course of their common talk, they pick up nonsensical issue and stand fighting and abusing each other.

Even Natalaya also jumps into the ring of verbal quarrel. When things become normal after the sudden departure of Lomov, Natalaya comes to know about the proposal, She asks her father to call Lomov back. When he comes back this time he and Natalaya starts abusing each other and have heated oral fight over dogs. But in the end, they compromise, they forget their issue and forgive each other. The proposal changes into marriage. Hence we see that the principle helped them unite.

Question 10.
What does Chubukov at first suspect that Lomov had come for? Is he sincere when he later
says, “And I’ve always loved you, my angel, as if you were my own son”? Find reasons for your answer from the play.
Answer:
Chubukov has often helped Lomov with money whenever he requested for it. So he thinks and suspects that Lomov will ask for money. But this time the case is different. He requests a proposal to get Natalaya’s hand for marriage. Since long, Chubukov wanted match for his daughter. Finding fact in his favour, Chubukov changes and uses sweet words and becomes ready for the match.

Question 11.
Chubukov says of Natalaya, “… as if she won’t consent! She’s in love; egad, she’s like a lovesick cat…” Would you agree? Find reasons for your answer.
Answer:
In reality Natalaya has got the fittest age for the marriage. She wants a life partner. On the other hand, Chubukov also desires that his daughter should be married. Lomov is the most suitable match in every respect. In order to say something outwardly, Chubukov happens to pour out these words. It is an acceptable fact that Natalaya loves Lomov from the core of her heart.