Question

This play, written in the 1950s, is a humorous and satirical depiction of the status of the mother in the family.
(i) What are the issues it raises?
(ii) Do you think it caricatures these issues or do you think that the problems it raises are genuine? How does the play resolve the issues? Do you agree with the resolution?

Answer 1

(i) Mother's Day is a comical satire. The story is a simple one, yet it strongly condemns the position of women in the society. Our mothers and wives work hard daily, turning our houses into homes. They receive no wages and have no weekends off but work all day long, round the clock. Little do we realize, the hard work they put in to make it all perfect. We take them for granted and never appreciate them or stop by to drop a word of 'thanks'. The story very clearly states that our mothers and wives have equal right to relax, enjoy their lives and deserve acknowledgement and appreciation. They sacrifice their whole life building ours'. Husbands stay busy at work and kids are occupied in their own lives. Amidst all this women lose their self trying to contain our world.

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(ii) A model answer has been provided for students' reference. It is strongly recommended that students prepare the answer on their own. The issues that the story raises are genuine and we must heed to them. In the story the major complaint of Mrs. Pearson is that her family does not spend time with her. The author has tried to highlight the fact that how lonely can a woman feel when all the members of her family leave early morning to work and then return in the evening just to get the supper and then leave again to socialize outside home. They pay her no time or attention. She selflessly makes the home and asks nothing in return. However, little do we realise that they also yearn for company and wish to spend time with their loved ones.
In the play, Mrs. Fitzgerald, a determined lady who lives in the neighbourhood and is a fortune teller, helps Mrs. Pearson by exchanging body with her and deals with Mrs. Pearson's family. She makes the Pearsons understand that Mrs. Pearson is a human after all and that even after working she receives no acknowledgement and appreciation from her family members. She doesn't prepare the supper and iron the clothes and makes George, Doris and Cyril realize that how dependent they are actually on Mrs. Pearson. She is the sole pillar who keeps their lives in place and keeps everything ready for them before even they ask for it. Finally when the three receive such harsh treatment and see Annie sitting back and not doing household chores, they feel helpless and find it all difficult to manage on their own. They realize that their lives are absolutely incomplete without Mrs. Pearson.
The resolution was perfect and very well decided. The Pearsons needed the harsh treatment after all else they would have never realized the blunder they were going on committing. After what all happened and when Mrs. Fitzgerald and Mrs. Pearson exchanged the bodies back to the original ones, Annie tells George, Doris and Cyril to stay back and play cards with her and proposes that kids would do cooking while she could sit back and relax talking to her husband, to which the three approved merrily.