Question 1.
If you could buy your dream house today what are some specific features you would want for your house? Write them in the bubbles below:
Question 2.
Copy and complete the following paragraph about the theme of the play using the clues given in the box below. Remember that there are more clues than required.
sell, buying, house, enthusiastic, comes, 200 thousand francs, taking, favour, get, sleeps, money, 300 thousand francs, unhappy, his in-laws, walks in, strikes, keep
Juliette, the owner of a Villa, wants to 1. it as she is in need of 2. Moreover, she is not in 3. of the house. Jeanne and Gaston, a couple, visit her with the aim of 4. the villa. While Jeanne is 5. high ceiling good surroundings about buying, Gaston detests the idea as he does not want his 6. in that house. Also, he finds the asking price of 7. to be expensive. When Jeanne and Juliette go around the house another customer 8. and starts talking to Gaston 9. him to be Juliette’s husband. Gaston 1o. a deal with the customer by which he is able to give 11. to the owner and 12.
himself.
1. sell
2. money
3. favour
4. buying
5. enthusiastic
6. in-laws
7. 200 thousand francs
8. walks in
9. taking
10. strikes
11. two hundred thousand francs
12. keep
Question 3.
Answer the following questions briefly:
(a) Why does Jeanne want to buy a villa?
(b) Why is Gaston not interested in buying the villa in the beginning?
(c) Mrs. A1 Smith makes many statements about the French. Pick out any two and explain them.
(d) Juliette says “ now I have only one thought that is to get the wretched place off my hands. I would sacrifice it at any price.” Does she stick to her words? Why/ Why not?
(e) Who is better in business—Juliette or Gaston? Why?
(f) Do you like/dislike Gaston? Give your reasons.
(a) Jeanne wants to buy a villa for her old parents.
(b) Gaston is not interested in buying the villa in the beginning. He is very clear that his wife Jeanne is not buying the villa for themselves. She wants to put her father and mother in it. Her parents would take possession of it every year from April to September. They would also bring all her sister’s children with them. Therefore, he starts finding fault with the villa and its excessive price.
(c) Mrs. A1 Smith makes many statements about the French. She asks Gaston to consult his wife before making a deal. Gaston replies that he need not consult her. Mrs. A1 Smith considers Gaston an ‘exception’. She comments, “Frenchmen usually have to consult about ten people before they get a move on.” Her next comment is that “the French think about the past all the time while Americans always think about the future. She also mocks at the funny way of the Frenchmen while doing business deals.
(d) Juliette tells her maid that she wants “of get the wretched place off’ her hands. She is ready to sacrifice it at any price. But she doesn’t stick to her words. She demands two hundred and fifty thousand francs. Gaston finds it “decidedly excessive”. Then she tells him that she can’t let it go for less than two hundred thousand francs. She is interested in making a bargain. She accepts two hundred thousand francs when the final deal is made.
(e) Gaston is definitely better in business. Juliette is also a hard bargainer. She pretends that she is going to sell the wretched place at any price. But she makes a bargain at two hundred thousand francs. She thinks that she is outsmarting Gaston. But Gaston proves more than her. He outsmarts both—Juliette and Mrs. A1 Smith. He buys the house in two hundred thousand and sells it for three thousands francs to Mrs. A1 Smith. In the bargain he saves a cool hundred thousand francs.
(f) It is rather difficult to dislike Gaston. He is a man of this world with the vices and virtues of a worldly-wise businessman. He is not interested in buying the villa : He knows that his wife is simply trying to put up her father and mother in it. What is more, all the children of his wife’s sister will live with them. However, he changes his stand in the end. He realises that he can earn one hundred thousand francs by outwitting both Mrs. A1 Smith and Juliette.
Question 6.
Read the following extracts and answer the questions that follow by choosing the correct options:
(A) But the sign has been hanging on the gate for over a month now and I am beginning to be afraid that the day I bought it was when I was the real fool.
(a) Why is Juliette disappointed?
(i) She is unable to get a role of cook in the films.
(ii) Her maid is leaving as she has got a role in the films.
(iii) She is unable to find a suitable buyer for her villa.
(iv) Gaston is offering a very low price for the villa.
(iii) She is unable to find a suitable buyer for her villa.
Question 7.
Select words from the box to describe the characters in the play as revealed by the following lines. You may take the words from the box given on the next page:
| Lines from the play | Speaker | Quality revealed | |
| (a) | One hundred thousand francs if necessary and that’s only twice what it cost me. | greedy | |
| (b) | If you don’t want the house, tell me so at once and we ’ll say no more about it. | ||
| (c) | No! I am very fond of your family, but not quite so fond as that. | Gaston | |
| (d) | Quite so. I have, but you haven’t. | ||
| (e) | I have never cared such a damned little about anybody’s opinion. | ||
| (f) | On the principle of people who like children and haven’t any can always go and live near a school. | ||
| (g) | The garden is not very large, but you see, it is surrounded by other gardens. | Juliette | |
| (h) | I will be philanthropic and let you have it for two hundred thousand. | ||
| (i) | I have been thinking a lot about your Papa and Mamma. You see, I am really unselfish. | clever |
| Lines from the play | Speaker | Quality revealed | |
| (a) | One hundred thousand francs if necessary and that’s only twice what it cost me. | Juliette | greedy |
| (b) | If you don’t want the house, tell me so at once and we ’ll say no more about it. | Jeanne | critical |
| (c) | No! I am very fond of your family, but not quite so fond as that. | Gaston | disapproving |
| (d) | Quite so. I have, but you haven’t. | Gaston | domineering |
| (e) | 1 have never cared such a damned little about anybody’s opinion. | Gaston | overbearing/ haughty |
| (f) | On the principle of people who like children and haven’t any can always go and live near a school. | Gaston | witty |
| (g) | The garden is not very large, but you see, it is surrounded by other gardens. | Juliette | cunning |
| (h) | I will be philanthropic and let you have it for two hundred thousand. | Juliette | boastful |
| (i) | I have been thinking a lot about your Papa and Mamma. You see, I am really unselfish. | Gaston | clever |
Question 9.
You are Jeanne. After coming home you realise that the villa was not actually bought and your husband has fooled both you and the landlady of the villa. You are filled with rage, disgust and helplessness because of your husband’s betrayal. Write your feelings in the form of a diary entry.
Nogent-sur-Mame. 20th July, 20XX.
All my dreams have ended in smoke. My husband, Mr. Gaston, has fooled both of us, me and the landlady of the villa. It is too much. There’s a limit to everything. Mr. Gaston’s main concern is money. He knows it that I wanted to buy the villa not only for ourselves but also for my parents. The cunning Mr. Gaston went on finding faults with the villa only not to buy it. Then suddenly comes the change. I was surprised how he got ready to buy the villa in two hundred thousand. He had rejected it just a while ago. He was not ready to pay more than sixty thousand. I was oveijoyed when he finally made the deal. I thought that the villa had been bought for us and my parents. Little did I know that Mr. Gaston was befooling all, myself, Juliette and Mrs. A1 Smith. He had earned a neat one hundred thousand francs in the …bargain. But I have lost both—the villa and my husband’s confidence.
Question 10.
Not at all. Mind you, if someone had bought it on the very day I placed it for safe, then I might have felt sorry because I would have wondered if I hadn’t been a fool to sell it at all. But the sign has been hanging on the gate for over a month now and I am beginning to be afraid that the day I bought it was when I was the real fool.” (Page 96)
(a) How would the speaker have felt if someone had bought the villa on the very day she placed it for sale?
(b) What has been hanging on the gate for over a month now?
(c) How does the speaker feel now?
(a) If someone had bought the villa on the very day she placed it for sale, the speaker might have felt sorry. She would have wondered if she had been a fool to sell at all.
(b) The sign ‘Villa for Sale’ has been hanging on the gate for over a month now.
(c) The speaker feels that she was the real fool the day she brought that villa.
Question 11.
For the first week, I was annoyed every time I passed that ‘Villa for Sale’ sign. The neighbours
seemed to look at me in such a strange kind of way that I began to think the whole thing was going to be much more of a sell than a sale. (Page 96)
(a) Why was the speaker annoyed?
(b) How did the whole thing become a ‘sell’ than a sale?
(c) Name the speaker and the play from which these lines have been taken.
(a) The speaker was impatient to dispose of her villa and had put up a ‘Villa for sale’ sign for this purpose. She was annoyed as she couldn’t get a suitable buyer for the villa even waiting for a long time.
(b) Juliette had waited for a long time but couldn’t find a suitable buyer for her villa. The whole thing became quite distressing and disappointing rather than a sale.
(c) Juliette, the owner of the villa is the speaker and these lines have been taken from Sacha Guitry’s play ‘Villa for Sale’.
Question 12
That was a month ago and now I have only one thought, that is to get the wretched place off my hands. I would sacrifice it at any price. One hundred thousand francs if necessary and that’s only twice what it cost me. (Page 96)
(a) What does the speaker think about the villa?
(b) Whatis she ready for?
(c) Is she really sacrificing the villa at any price? Give a reasoned answer.
(a) The speaker has only one thought in her mind. She wants to get the ‘wretched’ villa offher hands as soon as possible.
(b) She is ready to sacrifice or get the villa offher hands at any price.
(c) No, Juliette is a perfect saleswoman. Even the lowest price she may demand (one hundred thousand francs) is only twice what it cost her.
Question 13.
Oh! I’m fed up with the place. Because nobody really wants it! What time did those agency
people say the lady would call? (Page 96)
(a) Who was fed up with the place and why?
(b) Who was coming and what was her objective of coming there?
(c) Was the speaker really ready to sacrifice her villa ‘at any price’?
(a) Juliette, the owner of the villa was fed up with the place as she couldn’t get a suitable buyer for it. She was distressed at not selling it as she had expected.
(b) Mr. Gaston and Jeanne were coming to see and buy Juliette’s villa.
(c) No, the speaker, Juliette was only pretending to sacrifice her villa at any price. She wanted not even a franc less than two hundred thousand, twice the actual cost of the villa.
Question 14.
They want a cook in the film as well. They asked me if I knew of anybody suitable. You said just now. Madame, that times were hard. …Would you like me to get you the engagement?
(Page 97)
(a) Who were ‘they’ and what did they want?
(b) Who had said that “times were hard” and to whom?
(c) What did the speaker say about the ‘engagement’?
(a) ‘They’ were the people at Joinvilla Studio. They wanted someone to play the role of a cook in their forthcoming film.
(b) Once Juliette, disappointed and dejected, declared that “times were very hard” for her. She was speaking to her maid.
(c) The speaker told Juliette that she had already talked to the people at the Studio regarding her role as a cook in the film. She was only waiting for her reply.
Question 15.
“They might take you on for eight days, Madame. That would mean eight hundred francs. It’s really money for nothing. You would have to peel potatoes one minute and make an omlette the next, quite easy.” (Page 97)
(a) Who would take and whom for eight days?
(b) What would working for eight days mean?
(c) Why would she have to peel potatoes and make an omlette?
(a) The people at the Joinville Studio could employ Juliette for eight days for the role of a cook in a film.
(b) Working for eight days would mean a cool eight hundred francs.
(c) She would have to peel potatoes and make an omlette as her role as a cook in the film demanded it.
Question 16.
“It’s not lbr us … it’s for your parents. You are simply trying to make me buy a villa so that you can put your father and your mother in it. You see, I know you. If you got want you want, do you realise what would happen? We would spend the month of August in the villa, but your parents would take possession of it every year from the beginning of April until the end of September.”
(a) Why is she trying to make him buy a villa?
(b) What would happen, if she got what she wanted?
(c) Does the speaker want to buy the villa? If not, why?
(a) Gaston thinks that his wife Jeanne is trying to make him buy villa not for them but for her parents.
(b) Her parents would take possession of the villa and would bring even her sister’s children with them.
(c) No, the speaker is not interested in buying the villa. He knows that his wife is simply trying to make him buy it for her parents.
Question 17.
What’s more they would bring the whole tribe of your sister’s children with them. No! I am very fond of your family, but not quite so fond as that. (Page 99)
(a) Who is the speaker and what is the occasion?
(b) What is the speaker’s fear?
(c) Explain: “but not quite so fond as that.”
(a) Mr. Gaston is the speaker of these lines. He has come with his wife Jeanne to see Juliette’s villa which is for sale.
(b) The speaker knows that his wife Jeanne is buying the villa to put her father and mother in it. His fear is that they will also bring her sister’s children to live with them.
(c) Mr. Gaston says that he is quite fond of her wife’s family. But he reminds her very frankly that he is not so fond of her family as to keep her sister’s children with him in his house.
Question 18.
‘Quite so. I have, but you haven’t. Anyway, there’s no use discussing it. I will not buy a villa and that ends it. ’ (Page 100)
(a) Who is speaking and to whom?
(b) What has the speaker made while this other person hasn’t?
(c) What does the speaker finally decide and why?
(a) Mr. Gaston is speaking here to his wife Jeanne.
(b) The speaker claims that he has made a fortune and earned the money. He tells his wife that she hasn’t earned that money.
(c) The speaker finally decides not to buy Juliette’s. He fears that his wife wants him to buy it for her parents.
Question 19.
1 tell you what I will do. I will be philanthropic and let you have it for two hundred thousand. (Page 102)
(a) Who is telling whom?
(b) Why does the speaker claim to be philanthropic?
(c) Is the speaker really trying to be philanthropic? Give an example from the text.
(a) Juliette, owner of the villa, is talking to Mr. Gaston.
(b) The speaker claims to be philanthropic as she is ‘sacrificing’ the villa at a throwaway price just to help Mr. Gaston and Jeanne.
(c) No, the speaker has no intention to be philanthropic. She is a perfect saleswoman who doesn’t want to sell the villa not even a franc less than two hundred thousand.
Question 20 .
You are an exception. Frenchmen usually have to consult about ten people before they get a move on. (Page 103)
(a) Who is the speaker and what is her profession?
(b) Why is the speaker interested in buying that villa?
(c) Why does the speaker feel that Mr. Gaston is an exception?
(a) The speaker is Mrs. A1 Smith, a Hollywood actress who was going to shoot some films at the Paramount Studio.
(b) Mrs. A1 Smith was interested in buying the villa as it was near Paramount Studio where she was going to shoot some films.
(c) The American lady, Mrs. A1 Smith thinks that Frenchmen can’t decide anything promptly. They consult about ten people before deciding a thing. Mr. Gaston was an exception as he made the deal so fast and without consulting anyone.
Question 21.
You folk are queer. You think about the past all the time. We always think about the future. (Page 104)
(a) What do the words “You” and “We” stand here for?
(b) Why does the speaker say that Frenchmen are ‘queer’?
(c) How do the speaker and her countrymen differ from Frenchmen?
(a) Here the word ‘You’ stands for Frenchmen and ‘We’ stands for the Americans.
(b) The French people are really funny and strange as they always think about the past unlike the Americans.
(c) The speaker and her countrymen always think about the future while Frenchmen think about the past all the time.
Question 22:
“While you were upstairs, I had been thinking a lot about your papa and mamma.”
(a) Who spoke these words and to whom?
(b) How does the statement differ from the statement made by him earlier?
(c) What impression do you form about the speaker?
(a) Gaston speaks these words to jeanne.
(b) Earlier he did not want Jeanne’s parents to stay with them but now he is showing concarn for them.
(c) He is a selfish and hypocritical man.
Question 23.
Mind you, if someone had bought it on the very day I placed it for sale, then I might have felt sorry because I would have wondered if I hadn’t been a fool to sell at all.
(a) How long ago had the speaker put up her Villa for sale?
(b) Why would she have considered herself a fool if she had managed to sell it on the day she put up the notice?
(c) In what way is. her remark ironic?
(a) The speaker had put up her villa for sale more than a month ago.
(b) Because then she would have realized the villa’s true Worth too late.
(c) She is fooled by Gaston and loses a lot of money.
Question 24:
Please don’t joke, Gaston. What this lady says is perfectly right.Will you tell me, Madame, what price you are asking for the Villa?
(a) Who asks Gaston not to joke? Who does ‘this lady’ refer to?
(b) What was the joke told by Gaston?
(c) Why was Gaston joking while speaking to the lady?
(a) Jeanne asks Gaston not to joke. ‘This lady refers to Juliette.
(b) ‘On the principle of people who like children and haven’t any can always go and live near a school’.
(c) Gaston was joking because he was not at all interested in buying the villa.
Question 25:
“You are an exception.Frenchmen usually have to consult about ten people before they get a move on listen! Do you or don’t you want to sell this house?”
(a) Who is the speaker of these lines?
(b) Who is being talked about here?
(c) What is the nationality of the speaker?
(a) Mrs. Al. Smith a Hollywood filmmaker.
(b) Frenchmen.
(c) American.