A Matter of Husbands
- Ferenc Molnar
Translated by Benjamin Glazer
Widely regarded as Hungary’s most
celebrated and controversial playwright, Ferenc Molnár’s (1878–1952) primary
aim was to entertain people by transforming his personal experiences into
literary works of art. Out of his many plays, The Devil (1907), Lilion (1909),
The Guardsman (1910), The Swan (1920), and The Play’s the Thing (1926) endure
as classics. He immigrated to the United States to escape persecution of
Hungarian Jews during World War II and later adopted American citizenship. Molnár’s
plays continue to be relevant and are performed all over the world. Published
in 1923, A Matter of Husband sheds light on the basic function of actors: to make
the audience believe in illusion.
• Main characters:
1. FAMOUS
ACTRESS
2. EARNEST
YOUNG WOMAN
• Summary:
‘A Matter of Husbands’ is a one
act play written by Ferenc Molnar. He is widely regarded as Hungary’s most
celebrated and controversial playwright. There are three main characters in the
play. They are Earnest Young Woman (Alfred’s wife), Sara (Famous Actress) and
Alfred (Lawyer, husband of Earnest Young Woman). It is a very twisted one act
play which depicts the story of Earnest Young Woman. She is married to a lawyer
who knows Famous Woman.
This play sheds the light on the
roles of actors on the stage and in real life and how much they are capable of
keeping us in an illusion. In the beginning of the play, the Earnest Young
Woman is shown on the stage impatiently waiting for the famous actress. The
Famous Actress is called ‘Sara’. As Sara enters the stage through the curtain,
Earnest Young Woman rushes to her and angrily asks her to return her husband.
The Famous Actress boldly denies that she has stolen her husband. She says she
knows him because once the contract for a case has been given to him. She asks
Earnest Young Woman that what makes her believe that Alfred is in love with
her. Earnest Young Woman tells her that her husband sends her flowers and
writes love letter.
After hearing this, the actress
blushes and continues to deny receiving any flowers or notes from him. In order
to make Earnest Young Woman believe that she and her husband have a
misunderstanding, she now claims that something strange happened. Famous Woman
convinces Earnest Young Woman that her husband is playing with her in an
attempt to make her jealous and gain her attention and love back. Then, the
innocent young lady realizes her mistake and apologizes. Famous Actress calls
Alfred from her personal bedroom after the eager young lady exits the stage. In
this way, the play ends.
Understanding the text
Answer the following questions.
a. What favour does Earnest Young Woman ask from The Famous Actress?
Answer: Earnest Young Woman is a
simple and straightforward lady who asks a favour of returning her husband from
Famous Actress because she loves her husband and her husband is in deep love
with her.
b. What according to The Earnest Young Woman, are the indications that her husband has fallen in love with Famous Actress?
Answer: According to the Earnest
Young Woman, her husband sends flowers to Famous Actress. She comes to know
about it from a florist. He also writes love letter to her which is found by
her when he has forgotten to take it with him.
c. Is Earnest Young Woman convinced by the argument of Famous Actress? How?
Answer: From the play we come to
know that there is basic conversation between Earnest Young Woman and
Famous Actress. It is found that
Earnest Young Woman is fully convinced by argument of Famous Actress. She tells
her that her husband has shown love affair to her so that she gets jealous and
regains love from her. She also adds that many actresses accept the proposals
like her husband for the reunion of the family. She is convinced by the
argument. She is also hopeful to get her husband back.
d. Where is the Earnest Young Woman’s husband hiding himself as they are talking about him?
Answer: In the play, Alfred, the
Earnest Young Woman’s husband has been hiding in the boudoir and he appears at
the end of the play when the Famous
Actress calls him to come out. Throughout the whole play the Earnest Young
Woman’s husband has been hiding in the famous Actress bedroom.
e. When do you feel that Famous Actress is really good at acting?
Answer: Until the end of the
play, it is full of suspense. I feel the Famous Actress is really good at
acting when she tells the Earnest Young Woman that her husband has pretended to
love to her or to show the love affairs so that Earnest Young Woman gets
jealous and regains love from Famous Actress.
f. How do we come to know that Famous Actress and the husband of Earnest Young Woman are in love?
Answer: At the end of the play,
we come to know that Famous Actress and the husband of Earnest Young Woman are
in love. When Alfred is called to come out by the Famous Actress, he comes out
of the boudoir of Famous Actress. From
the situation it’s clear that they are in love.
g. Write down the plot of the play in a paragraph.
Answer: A Matter of Husbands is a
play written by Ferenc Molnar. He is the most celebrated and controversial play
wright. This is the play of suspense. The Earnest Young Woman comes to the
Famous Actress and asks her to give her husband back. She thinks that her
husband is in deep love with Famous Actress. She appears there very angrily and
asks the Famous actress to return her husband because she complains that her
husband is in love affair with her. She has found the evidences as love letters
and flowers. The famous Actress replies her that he does so to get more
affection and love from his wife. Earnest Young Woman believes the story of the
Famous Actress. She fools Earnest Young Woman by saying that a misunderstanding
may have arrived between her and her husband. Then, the Earnest Young woman
innocently realizes her misdeed and begs sorry with her. Earnest Young Woman
leaves the stage and the famous Actress calls Alfred to come out of her
boudoir.
Reference to the context
a. Sketch the character of Famous Actress.
Answer: The Famous Actress is a
young, renowned, and beautiful actress who is envied by the ordinary woman. On
the outside, she looks innocent and harmless but in reality, she is cunning and
wicked. Her deception may be apparent in the way she tells a lady that her
spouse is cheating on her with someone else. She also lives an immoral life as
seen in the conclusion of the story. It is revealed that Alfred is in her
bedroom which proves that they have immoral and unethical relations.
b. Shed light on the difference between an ordinary woman and an actress.
Answer: In the story, “A Matter
of Husband”, the ordinary woman is portrayed as a simple- minded and timid
person who was easily manipulated by the actress’s fabricated story or false
story. She comes to the Famous Actress in tears completely sure that her
husband is having love affair with her. The Famous Actress makes a story to her
about her husband. According to her, her husband is trying to regain love by
doing things to get her jealous. Without asking questions, the ordinary woman
believes her story and she is convinced too. At the end, it is revealed that her
husband is in the actress’s room. This shows that the actress is cunning while
the ordinary woman is timid.
c. According to Famous Actress, men associated with theatre use the theatre actresses to make their estranged wives jealous so as to woo them back. Do you agree with her argument? Why? Why not?
Answer: No, I don’t agree with
her argument that the men associated with theatre mostly use the actresses of
theatre to make their estranged wives jealous so as to woo them back. Theatre
performers have an ordinary, simple-minded and timid wife who can be easily
deceived by the false story. In this play, Alfred’s wife is so simple minded
who is easily deceived by the cunning actress. Her husband also gets chance to
take advantage to stay in the room of the Famous Actress.
d. How does Famous Actress make a fool of Earnest Young Woman?
Answer: Famous Actress makes a
fool of Earnest Young Woman by saying that her husband wants to get love from
her. She makes Earnest Young Woman believe that he wants to gain love from her
so he is playing such a trick to make jealous. As a result, the Earnest Young
woman innocently realizes her misunderstanding and apologizes to her.
e. The conversation between the two women takes place on the stage of the theatre. What role does the theatre house as a part of setting play in A Matter for Husband?
Answer: The theatre house is
suitable for the setting of the play. It has appropriate environment for the
two women to take part in the conversation. When the curtain rises the Earnest Young
Woman discovers the edge of a gilt chair. It is plain she has been sitting
there a long time. At last the Famous Actress enters through the curtained door
at the right which leads to her boudoir. The context of private room
inappropriate to share private issues.
f. What do you think about the ending of the play?
Answer: The play ‘A Matter of
Husbands’ is totally perfect. It has illusive and twisty ending. The last scene
of the play is most remarkable and touchy. In this play it is clearly shown
that skillful people always take advantage from simple minded innocent people.
At the end of the play the young woman becomes very happy about her husband
because her husband wants to get much love from her according to the Famous
Actress. In the play, the Famous Actress is able to cheat her easily. The
Famous Actress and the husband of Earnest Young woman live together without any
obstacle. The ending of the play is romantic but full of irony.
From the ending of the play ‘A
Matter of Husbands’, we can think that innocent people are always suffered by
cunning people because they are often sincere by hearts but the cunning people
always take advantage from their innocence.
