Characters of the Play The Dear Departed

Sisters ……………………………………………………   MRS. SLATER

                                                                                       MRS. JORDAN

Their Husbands ………………………………………..HENRY SLATER

                                                                                       BEN JORDAN

A girl of ten, daughter of Amelia and Henry Slater…… VICTORIA SLATER

Grandfather of Victoria Slater…………………………... ABEL MERRYWEAT

may not agree with it.)

About the Characters 

Abel Merryweather - Mr. Merryweather is over seventy, he is bright and vigorous with a
twinkle in his eye. He believes in eating, drinking and being merry he is frank and
straightforward. He takes the wise decision of disowning his children and start making his life
more comfortable by remarrying at the age of past seventy.

Amelia Slater - She is the elder daughter of Mr. Abel Merryweather. She is a greedy, stingy and
materialistic woman. Mrs. Slater can stoop down to any level to satisfy her greed. She is a
dominating wife and a vulgar woman, prepared to do any amount of straight talking to get her
own way.  

Elizabeth Jordan - She is the sister of Amelia Slater and the second daughter of Mr. Abel
Merryweather. Like her sister, she too has no feelings for her father nor for her sister. She is
stout, complacent, impassive and has an irritating air of being always right.

Henry Slater - Henry Slater is Amelia’s husband and is far more scrupulous than any other
person in this play. He is more sensible than the other characters of the play.Hence, he gives the
logical suggestions while talking about the obituary notice to be given in the paper. He is a
henpecked husband.

Ben Jordan - Ben Jordan is the husband of Elizabeth and he is a jolly little man with a chirpy
voice. Accustomed to be humorous but at present he is trying to adapt himself to the regrettable
occasion.

Victoria Slater - A girl of ten, Victoria is an obedient child. Very fond of her grandfather and
she has genuine feelings of love towards him. She is a precocious child. The presence of this
young girl in the play comes as a whiff of cool breeze in the stuffiness generated by the adults’
scheming, quarrelling and scrupulosity.
 

Summary

In the play The Dear Departed, Stanley Houghton satirises the degradation of moral values in the
British middle class. In trying to grab the things belonging to their father, the children
completely disregard modesty, decency and obligation towards their family.

 In the beginning of the play,Mrs. Slater goes to offer something to her father Abel Merryweather
and finds him quite cold, not responding at all. He is motionless. So, she declares that her father
is no more. Accordingly, her sister and her husband, the Jordans are informed about the sudden
demise of their father. Mrs. Slater and her husband are busy making arrangements for the
mourning. They are expecting the Jordans to join them. They start using the various belongings
of their father. Victoria, daughter of Mrs.Slater does not like all this but reluctantly she is helping
her parents in these matters.

Victoria is asked to keep a watch on the main door to inform her mother about the arrival of the
Jordans. Mrs. Slater is not willing to share her father's belongings with Mrs. Jordan. When the
articles are being shifted, the Jordans arrive. The family members start a detailed conversation on
the deeds of their deceased father, planning the details of the obituary announcement in the
papers and the insurance premium payment. They start a discussion over the distribution of their
father's belongings among them.

Surprisingly, at this point of time, the play witnesses a turn of events. Victoria who has been sent
to the grandfather's room, returns very scared. She tells everyone that grandfather is alive. To
everybody's surprise, grandfather is seen coming downstairs. He is surprised to find the Jordans
over there too. No one dares to tell him that he had been declared 'dead'. While taking tea, the
truth comes out and he gets to know how his daughters have been in a hurry to divide his
possessions among them.

On knowing the harsh reality, the grandfather decides not to live with any of his daughters. He
even expresses his final intention to change his will. He declares that he is going to give
everything to Mrs. Shorrocks whom he will marry. He feels that by marrying Mrs. Shorrocks he
will have someone to look after him whole-heartedly without considering him to be a burden.

Q1. Bring out the irony in the title of the play.

A. Ans. The title of the play 'Dear Departed' is ironical. In the beginning of the play, we come to
know that grandfather Mr. Abel has departed from this world. He is not dear to his own
daughters. They are eager to divide his belongings between them. Even Mrs. Slater with whom
he has been living fetches his clock and bureau from his room where he is lying 'dead'.They
cannot wait for the last rites. Even their husbands Ben and Henry do not love him. So, no one is
grieved at his departure. In this way, we can say that the title of this play 'Dear Departed' is an
ironical statement of dying love and absence of filial obligations.
Q2. Why does Mrs. Slater decide to shift the bureau from grandfather's room before the arrival
of the Jordans? How does Henry react to the suggestion?

A. Mrs. Slater wants to shift the bureau before the arrival of the Jordans as she wants to keep it
with her. She does not want to tell her sister that the bureau belonged to their father because she
fears that her sister will fight for it. Henry is shocked initially but as he is dominated by his wife,
he helps her in shifting the bureau.

Q3. What is the reason for the Jordans taking a long time to get to the house of the Slaters? What
does it show about the two sisters' attitude towards each other?

A. The Jordans took a long time to reach as they were waiting for their new mourning dresses to
get ready. This shows that both the sisters were desperate to outshine each other.

Q4. What does Mrs. Jordan describe as 'a fatal mistake'? What is the irony in the comment she
makes on Mrs. Slater's defense?

A. Mrs. Jordan says that the Slaters did not call a doctor to check upon their father. This was a
fatal mistake that they had committed. The irony in her comment is that she was not actually
concerned about her father and wished that he was dead. She was imitating to be concerned

Vigorous – strong
stoop - lower one's moral standards so far as to do something wrong
vulgar – immoral
straight talking - be frank and blunt
stout – fat
complacent - very pleased and satisfied with their own achievements
impassive - not feeling or showing emotion
scrupulous - extremely honest
obituary - a notice of a death
hen-pecked husband - Dominated and ordered about by his wife
chirpy – cheerful
accustomed – usual
humorous – causing laughter
precocious child – having developed certain abilities or inclinations at an earlier age than is usual
or expected.
Scrupulosity - guilt about moral or religious issues

THE COMPANY OF LOVERS: JUDITH WRIGHT

Judith Wright’s 1946 poem “The Company of Lovers” makes a juxtaposition of two essential
forces of major impact upon human existence, the effects of love and those of death. Within the
poem it can be noted that the two stanzas reflect each of the certain themes. The first, a universal
description of love and the ambitions two lovers might have, whilst the second a reflection of
how quick all may soon be lost through the loneliness of death.

Wright is renown for her use language, and many of her poems contain paradoxes in which the
reader is confronted with a phrase completely unrealisable, but effective in portraying the nature
of the poem. “The Company Of Lovers” itself opens with the use of a paradox “…We meet and
part now…” instils an image of simultaneous unity and depart, evoking in a sense of temporary
cohesion that may soon be lost. This may represent a changing nature of ‘lovers’ and perhaps
such a quick meeting and farewell represents the promiscuous nature of some who class
themselves as ‘lovers.’

Nonetheless, a different approach is taken as the first stanza introduces ‘the lost company’ which
could quite well represent lost ideals or values that once offered what was a company of lovers,
which has now become short-term relationships. This emphasis goes on to describe, with
passion, the joining of ‘hands together in the night’ of those “who sought many things, throw all
away for this one thing, one only” – love.

Such descriptions change, however, as the last lines change in tone, bringing forth a harsh
reality, even to those submerged in the unified joys of love with a strategically placed ‘narrow
grave’ to emphasise the loneliness of death.

Ambiguity can also be noted through the use of many words within the poem, even from the first
lines of the title itself. The word ‘company’ has several connotations of which could signify the
reader being within the company of lovers, or perhaps lover’s in the company of one another.