A Crtical Analysis Of The English Morality Play EVERYMAN

1
A Friendly Way to
Reading
DRAMA
(Based on the Sri Lanka GCE (O' Level) Literature Syllabus)

3
EA Danilo Fonseka
BELLARIA
36, Amunudowa
Bandarawela
(Sri Lanka)
© EA Gamini Fonseka, 2007
All rights reserved; no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written
permission of the publisher.
National Library of Sri Lanka – Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
Printed at WAS Graphics, Bandarawela (Sri Lanka)
DEDICATION
To
Gaavithri
Fonseka, E. A. Gamini
Friendly Way to Reading Drama EA Gamini Fonseka – Bandarawela
Author: 2007
73 pp. : 24 cm Price: 300.00
ISBN 955-97297-5-4
i. 821 DDC21 ii. Title
1. English Literature 2. Drama 3. Criticism 4.

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Study Guide No. EAGF/8
EA Gamini Fonseka - Friendly Way to Reading Drama 130pp.
ABSTRACT
This publication of Friendly Way to Reading Drama has been designed in such a way,
that the reader can enjoy reading the two plays Villa for Sale and Everyman with a
clear perception of the philosophical and artistic foundations on which they have
been developed. The historical background of each play helps the reader in gathering
a diachronic and synchronic understanding of the artistic and moral issues of them.
The reader can further intimate him/herself with the entire action of the plays with
guidance from the detailed synopsis of each. The analyses of the structure and style of
each play contributes to the understanding of the theatrical principles on which they
are founded. The characterisations and the analyses of the conflicts among them
contribute to sociological and moral perception of the philosophy of each play. The
separate essays on the general vision and achievements of each play helps to develop
aesthetic and philosophical premises about the messages projected in them and the
techniques the authors have applied. The glossary to Everyman unravels all the
Mediaeval English words to ease reading the text with understanding. Moreover,
there are guidelines to the organisation of essays and questions to prompt critical
thinking of the multifarious issues that can be dealt with in relation to the two
particular plays in this book. Thus the book aims at serving the reader in a variety of
ways in his/her pursuit of drama for academic purposes as well as for intellectual
recreation.
E.A. Gamini Fonseka BA (Kelaniya), MA (Edingurgh), PhD (Vaasa), FRSA
Head - English
University of Ruhuna
Wellamadama
MATARA
(Sri Lanka)
20. 05. 2007
_______________________________________________________________
Available from
E.A. Danilo Fonseka, BELLARIA, 36, Amunudowa, Bandarawela. Tel: 057-2222916
CONTENTS

5
Introduction 5
Sacha Guitri (1885-1957) 11
VILLA FOR SALE 13
A detailed synopsis of the play 26
Structure and style of Villa for Sale 37
Characters and the conflicts among them 48
General vision and achievements of Villa for Sale 57
Everyman (After 1485) 59
EVERYMAN 60
A detailed synopsis of the play 85
Structure and style of Everyman 97
General vision and achievements of Everyman 113
A word about organising essays 115
Questions on Villa for Sale 116
Questions on Everyman 118

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INTRODUCTION
This book has been very much inspired by my experience of the reception its
predecessors have been enjoying since 1995. All my previous books except Friendly
Way to Reading Poetry (2006) were composed of notes prepared for small groups of
students I coached at home in Bandarawela for the Sri Lanka GCE (O’ Level) and (A’
Level) Examinations. The materials in those books could be edited based on the
feedback I received from my students, before they were compiled as books. I humbly
share with my readers the pleasure of them being highly valued by teachers and
students not only in Sri Lanka but also in Finland where two of the publications were
introduced to the Åbo Akademi University English Teacher Education Programme in
Vaasa and the Vasa Övningskola IB Programme.
I started my Friendly Way books because of my friends and well-wishers who
requested me incessantly to prepare guides for the new GCE (O’ Level) English
Literature Syllabus which came out in 2005. Despite my perception of it as a careless
piece of work, I wrote the first in this series Friendly Way to Reading Poetry (2006), and
later I found the syllabus had been revised in response to numerous controversies it
invited. However, I was happy to note that the Drama component of the syllabus
had been revised for the better with the replacement of Samuel French’s Monkey Paw
by the mediaeval morality play Everyman.
I had been shocked by the NIE-appointed syllabus development committees’
obsession with monkeys. In the Prose Component there are still two pieces on
monkeys, Durrel Jones ‘Cholomndaley’ and Punyakanthi Wijenayake’s ‘Monkeys’,
and with Samuel French’s horror play ‘Monkey Paw’ in the Drama component, the
students of English Literature would be spending a considerable part of their
precious time reading about nothing but monkeys. However, this replacement
rightly reduced the amount of time being spent on that wretched obligation imposed
on the poor school students.
Still I have taken a different direction in my treatment of the Drama component. The
version of the mediaeval morality play Everyman in the anthology published by the
Sri Lanka Ministry of Education is an adaptation by a member of the syllabus
development committee presented in modern conversational English. I do not object
to it. But I selected for this book the original version of the play in the Mediaeval
Texts which is composed in rhyming verses. I feel that given the right backing the
students will tackle the problem of reading it. My idea is to give the reader an
authentic exposure to mediaeval drama and develop in them an ability to appreciate
stylised theatre. While Sacha Guitri’s Villa for Sale functions as a realistic play, this
morality play Everyman will function as a stylised play, giving exposure to the reader
to two main divisions of theatre.

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Drama is basically a technique of communication. It is an art form in the performing
art category that actualises through the fusion of several art forms, or maybe all the
art forms in the cultures round the world. A drama concretises through the
disciplined application of gesture, facade, voice, postures, and kinesics that are
produced by the actor through the properties of his body. Depending on the script
of the play, the body is associated with many other assets – costumes, masks, make-
up, other actors, sets, properties, music, light, colours, visual effects, and sound
effects. As art has passed many stages in this electronic era, today drama in
industrially advanced places may involve very sophisticated electronic devices too
to mime reality with the highest degree of accuracy. Notwithstanding, drama can be
produced even with the least amount of paraphernalia depending on the
imagination of the actor and the audience. What is importance is the perception of
the script and the training in acting it out. When a drama is studied as a prescribed
text for an examination, there are quite a few aspects of it to understand from a
literary angle, as any arguments about its genre, theme, style, technique, etc. have to
be dealt with a proper knowledge of them.
In that respect, with an acknowledgement to Paul P. Reuben (2005), I briefly define
a few major aspects of drama in this introduction, namely, plot, characters, theme,
point of view, symbolism, irony, and techniques.
1. Plot is the sequence of events or incidents of which the story is composed.
The plot may contain a conflict that is a clash of actions, ideas, desires or
wills, between two persons; between a person and his/her environment –
some external force, physical nature, society, or "fate"; between a person and
her/himself regarding some element in her/his own nature; maybe physical,
mental, emotional, or moral.
A conflict prevails between the Protagonist and an Antagonist - the
protagonist is the central character, sympathetic or unsympathetic. The
forces working against her/him, whether persons, things, conventions of
society, or traits of their own character, are the antagonists.
A plot becomes successful only when there is artistic unity which is essential
to a good plot; nothing irrelevant; good arrangement.
A good plot should not have any unjustified or unexpected turns or twists;
no false leads; no deliberate and misleading information. A plot has to be
without such manipulation, in order to become successful.
2. Characters furnish another essential part of a play. There are ways of
representing a character. Sometimes there is direct presentation of a
character, i.e., the author tells us about it by exposition or analysis, or
through another character. In indirect presentation of a character, the author
shows us the character in action; the reader infers what a character is like
from what she/he thinks, or says, or does. These are also called dramatized

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characters and they are generally consistent (in behaviour), motivated
(convincing), and plausible (lifelike).
There are identified character types - a flat character is known by one or two
traits; a round character is complex and many-sided; a stock character is a
stereotyped character (a mad scientist, the absent-minded professor, the
cruel mother-in-law); a static character remains the same from the beginning
of the plot to the end; and a dynamic (developing) character undergoes
permanent change. This change must be a. within the possibilities of the
character; b. sufficiently motivated; and c. allowed sufficient time for
change.
3. Theme is the controlling idea or central insight the play provides. It can be
a revelation of human character may be stated briefly or at great length but
not the "moral" of the story. A theme must be expressible in the form of a
statement or as a generalization about life without referring to the characters
or specific situations in the plot. It must not be a generalization larger than
is justified by the terms of the story.
A theme is the central and unifying concept of the story. 1. It must account
for all the major details of the story. 2. It must not be contradicted by any
detail of the story. 3. It must not rely on supposed facts - facts not actually
stated or clearly implied by the story. Although there is no hard and fast rule
about stating the theme of a play, any statement that reduces a theme to
some familiar saying, aphorism, or cliché should be avoided.
4. Points Of View in drama is very much like that in other forms of narrative.
A. Omniscient - a story told by the author, using the third person; her/his
knowledge, control, and prerogatives are unlimited; authorial subjectivity.
B. Limited Omniscient - a story in which the author associates with a major
or minor character; this character serves as the author's spokesperson or
mouthpiece. C. First Person - the author identifies with or disappears in a
major or minor character; the story is told using the first person "I".
D. Objective or Dramatic - the opposite of the omniscient; displays authorial
objectivity; compared a roving sound camera. Very little of the past or the
future is given; the story is set in the present.
5. Symbolism in a play actualises through the names of the characters; through
the objects utilised; and through the actions and situations that are being
enacted on the stage. A literary symbol means more than what it is. It has
layers of meanings. Whereas an image has one meaning, a symbol has many.
The ability to recognize and interpret symbols requires experience in literary
readings, perception, and tact. It is easy to "run wild" with symbols - to find
symbols everywhere. The ability to interpret symbols is essential to the full
understanding and enjoyment of literature.

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1. The story itself must furnish a clue that a detail is to be taken symbolically
- symbols nearly always signal their existence by emphasis, repetition, or
position. 2. The meaning of a literary symbol must be established and
supported by the entire context of the story. A symbol has its meaning inside
not outside a story. 3. To be called a symbol, an item must suggest a meaning
different in kind from its literal meaning. 4. A symbol has a cluster of
meanings.
6. Irony - a term with a range of meanings, all of them involving some sort of
discrepancy or incongruity. It should not be confused with sarcasm which is
simply language designed to cause pain. Irony is used to suggest the
difference between appearance and reality, between expectation and
fulfillment, the complexity of experience, to furnish indirectly an evaluation
of the author's material, and at the same time to achieve compression.
A. Verbal irony - the opposite is said from what is intended.
B. Dramatic irony - the contrast between what a character says and what the
reader knows to be true. C. Irony of situation - discrepancy between
appearance and reality, or between expectation and fulfilment, or between
what is and what would seem appropriate.
7. Drama has one characteristic peculiar to itself - it is written primarily to be
performed, not read. It is a presentation of action a. through actors (the
impact is direct and immediate), b. on a stage (a captive audience), and c.
before an audience (suggesting a communal experience). Of the four major
points of view, the dramatist is limited to only one - the objective or
dramatic. The playwright cannot directly comment on the action or the
character and cannot directly enter the minds of characters and tell us what
is going on there. But there are ways to get around this limitation through
the use of 1. soliloquy (a character speaking directly to the audience), 2.
chorus ( a group on stage commenting on characters and actions), and 3.
comments one character making on another.
These details have been adapted from “Appendix H: Elements of Drama" of
Reuben’s Perspectives in American Literature: A Research and Reference Guide at
http://web.csustan.edu/english/reuben/pal/append/axh.html. More details about
developing one’s own approach to a play can be read in the Introduction to my
Companion to Drama. The knowledge of these features of drama is useful even in
performing them. When a drama is produced for the stage, its script remains
unchanged but its atmosphere undergoes a radical change. The script silently read
by the producer acquires a number of physical elements in the process of its
actualisation. A harmonious blend of the physical elements and the intellectual
elements lead to the successful production of a play. In order to decide when and
where these elements need to be applied in what degrees some background
knowledge of these aspects of drama is important.

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It is a pleasure that the book has come up with the relevant information and guidance
and the reader can embark on any project with it with the fund of knowledge it
conveys. What is required is some commitment to read the plays and their support
materials and develop an ability to present views on them independently. As the
early books have done, I hope this also will serve the public in a large way to solve
the problem of understanding drama the genre it deals with. I wish all my readers
good luck in their pursuit of drama.
While furnishing this book, I derived support from several of my friends and well-
wishers and I feel obliged to acknowledge the support I received from them.
Assistant Director of English at the Southern Province Department of Education Mr
K.V. Wijesinghe encouraged me immensely by organising for me to address
seminars on teaching English Literature and enlightening me on the English
requirements of school education. The Vice Chancellor of Ruhuna University Senior
Professor Susirith Mendis was kind to write a preface for the book. The Dean of the
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Professor Sarath Amarasinghe and my
colleagues at the English Language Teaching Unit gave me all the necessary
cooperation by creating for me a friendly working atmosphere at the office so that I
could think about doing this work. My sons Nivanka and Danilo designed the cover
and did desktop editing for the pages. My daughter Gaavithri drew a picture for the
cover. My wife Dhammi made the situation at home conducive to work on this type
of project. So if not for all these good hearted people this book would have never
ever materialised. I gratefully acknowledge all their cooperation from the bottom of
my heart.
E.A. Gamini Fonseka
BELLARIA
36, Amunudowa
BANDARAWELA
(Sri Lanka)
29. 05. 2007

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SACHA GUITRY
(February 21, 1885 – July 24, 1957)
Alexandre-Georges Guitry, a French film actor, director and screenwriter
and playwright born in St. Petersburg, Russia, was the son of Lucien Germain
Guitry (1860–1925), a major Parisian stage actor who spent nine years at the
Michel Theatre in St. Petersburg, before returning to France. It was during
this time in Russia that Alexandre-Pierre Georges Guitry was born and
nicknamed Sacha.
As a five year old, he appeared on stage with his father. An intellect and a
prolific writer with a sharp wit, by the age of 17 Guitry had already written
the first of his 120 plays. In 1918 his theatrical production premiered in Paris
to critical acclaim. Guitry’s dramas include Nono (1905), Petite Hollande (1908),
Les deux couverts (1913), La Pèlerine Counselle (1914), Deburau (1918), Jean de la
Fontaine (1922), Un sujet de roman (1923). Also famous are Quadrille, Tôa,
N’écoutez pas, Mesdames, Désiré, Faisons un rêve, Le Nouveau Testament,
Beaumarchais and 100 others.
A press photographer was taking a picture of him and asked him to be
“natural and spontaneous.” “My dear sir,” Guitry answered, “WE are good
enough actors to pose in a perfectly natural and spontaneous way!”
considering the entire process of living as theatre, he said, “You can pretend
to be serious; you can’t pretend to be witty.” He conveyed his intellectual
humility, saying, “The little I know I owe to my ignorance.”
A prominent member of Parisian society, in 1919 Guitry married singing star
Yvonne Printemps. Together they performed in a number of his plays,
bringing the extremely popular 1925 production of Mozart to cities in North
America, including New York City, Montreal, Quebec and Boston,
Massachusetts. He wrote seven revues with Albert Willemetz, his best friend.
In addition to his famous plays, Sacha Guitry wrote and acted in many early
films and in 1935 directed for the first time. He went on to be recognized as
one of the truly innovative directors, sometimes compared to Orson Welles
because of his techniques and numerous innovations. Of the 30 films he

13
directed, some of his most recognized are The Story of a Cheat (1937), Pearls of
the Crown (1938) and Royal Affair in Versailles in 1953.
He was married five times, all to actresses who co-starred in either his plays
or films: Charlotte Lysès (14 August 1907 – 17 July 1918); Yvonne Printemps
(10 April 1919 – 7 November 1934); Jacqueline Delubac (23 February 1935 –
19 December 1939); Geneviève de Séréville (4 July 1940 – April 1944); Lana
Marconi (25 November 1949 – 24 July 1957).
On a day in 1918, while Paris was besieged by Germans, the first wife of
Guitry, Charlotte Lysès, came home telling her husband she had gone to
mass in the church of Saint-Gervais, but he knew that this church had been
destroyed about two hours before by a shot of the Grosse Bertha, the gigantic
German gun. That’s why they divorced the same year. “When a man steals
your wife, there is no better revenge than to let him keep her.” To his fifth
wife Lana Marconi: “Others were only my wives but you will be my widow!”
In 1931, the government of France awarded him the Legion of Honour. He
was also a member of the Académie Goncourt. Following World War II he
spent sixty days in prison for suspected collaboration with the Germans, but
a post-War court cleared him completely of all the charges, and historians
make clear now he had nothing to do with collaboration and even helped
many people.
He died in Paris in 1957. After his passing, a street was named in his honour
in Paris and the city of Nice, France and Radio France named a studio for
him. Sacha Guitry is interred with his father, brother and his fifth wife in the
Cimetière de Montmartre, in the Parisian Section of Montmartre.
AdaptedfromWikipedia

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VILLA FOR SALE
SACHA GUITRI
Characters
GASTON
JEANNE
JULIETTE
MRS. AL SMITH
MAID

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The scene represents the salon of a small villa near Nogent-sur-Marne. When the curtain
rises, the maid and JULIETTE are discovered.
MAID: Won’t Madame be sorry?
JULIETTE: Not at all. 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. 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.
MAID: All the same, Madame, when they brought you the ‘For sale’ sign, you
wouldn’t let them put it up. You waited until it was night. Then you went and
hung it yourself, Madame.
JULIETTE: I know! You see, I thought that as they could not read it in the dark, the
house would belong to me for one night more. I was so sure that the next day the
entire world would be fighting to purchase. 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. 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. I thought I would get two hundred thousand but I suppose I must cut
my loss. Besides, in the past two weeks, four people almost bought it, so I begin
to feel as though it no longer belongs to me. Oh! I’m fed up with the place. Because
nobody really wants it! What time did those agency people say the lady would
call?
MAID: Between four and five, Madame.
JULIETTE: Then we must wait for her.
MAID: It was a nice little place for you to spend the weekends, Madame.
JULIETTE: Yes … but times are hard and business is as bad as it can be.
MAID: In that case, Madame, is it a good time to sell?
JULIETTE: No, perhaps not … But still … there are moments in life when it’s the
right time to buy, but it’s never the right time to sell. For fifteen years everybody
has had money at the same time and nobody has wanted to sell. Now nobody has
any money and nobody wants to buy. But still … even so … it would be funny if
I couldn’t manage to sell a place here, a stone’s throw from Joinville, the French
Hollywood, when all I’m asking is a paltry hundred thousand!
MAID: That reminds me, there is a favour I want to ask you, Madame.
JULIETTE: Yes, what is it, my girl?

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MAID: Will you be kind enough to let me off between nine and noon tomorrow
morning?
JULIETTE: From nine till noon?
MAID: They have asked me to play in a film at the Joinville Studio.
JULIETTE: You are going to act for the cinema?
MAID: Yes, Madame.
JULIETTE: What kind of part are you going to play?
MAID: A maid, Madame. They prefer the real article. They say maids are born maids
not made maids. They are giving me a hundred francs a morning for doing it.
JULIETTE: One hundred francs.
MAID: Yes, Madame. And as you only pay me four hundred month, I can’t very well
refuse, can I, Madame?
JULIETTE: A hundred francs! It’s unbelievable!
MAID: Will you permit me, Madame, to tell you something I suddenly thought of?
JULIETTE: What?
MAID: They want a cook in the film as well. They asked me if I knew anybody
suitable. You said just now, Madame that times were hard. . . . Would you like
me to get you-the engagement?
JULIETTE: What?
MAID: Every little helps, Madame. Especially, Madame, as you have such a funny
face.
JULIETTE: Thank you.
MAID (taking no notice). They might take you on for eight days, Madame. That
would mean eight hundred francs. It’s really money for nothing. You would only
have to peal potatoes one minute and make an 16ounsel16 the next, quite easy. I
could show you how to do it, Madame!
JULIETTE: But how kind of you… Thank God I’m not quite so hard up as that yet!
MAID: Oh, Madame, 1 hope you are not angry with me?
JULIETTE: Not in the least.
MAID: You see, Madame, film acting is rather looked up to round here. Everybody
wants to do it. Yesterday the butcher didn’t open his shop, he was being shot all
the morning. Today, nobody could find the four policemen, they were taking part
in Monsieur Milton’s fight scene in his new film. Nobody thinks about anything
else round here now. You see, they pay so well. The manager is offering a

17
thousand francs for a real beggar who has nothing to eat for two days. Some
people have all the luck. Think it over, Madame.
JULIETTE: Thanks, I will.
MAID: If you would go and see them with your hair slicked back the way you do
when you are dressing, Madame, I am sure they would engage you right away.
Because really, Madame, you look too comical!
JULIETTE: Thank you! (The bell rings.) I am going upstairs for a moment. If that is the
lady tell her I will not be long. It won’t do to give her the impression that I am
waiting for her.
MAID: Very good, Madame. (Exit JULIETTE as she runs off to open front door.) Oh, if I
could become a Greta Garbo! Why can’t I? Oh!
(Voices heard off. A second later, the MAID returns, showing in GASTON and JEANNE.)
MAID: If you will be kind enough to sit down, I will tell Madame you are here.
JEANNE: Thank you.
(Exit MAID.)
GASTON: And they call that a garden! Why, it’s a yard with a patch of grass in the
middle.
JEANNE: But the inside of the house seems very nice, Gaston.
Gaston: Twenty-five yards of cretonne and a dash of paint… you can get that
anywhere.
JEANNE: That’s not fair. Wait until you’ve seen the rest of it.
GASTON: Why should I? I don’t want to see the kitchen to know that the garden is
a myth and that the salon is impossible.
JEANNE: What’s the matter with it?
GASTON: Matter? Why, you can’t even call it a salon.
JEANNE: Perhaps there is another.
GASTON: Never mind the other. I’m talking about this one.
JEANNE: We could do something very original with it.
GASTON: Yes, make it an annex to the garden.
JEANNE: No, but a kind of study.
GASTON: A study? Good Lord! You’re not thinking of going in for studying are

18
you?
JEANNE: Don’t be silly! You know perfectly well what a modern study is.
GASTON: No, I don’t.
JEANNE: Well … er … it’s a place where … where one gathers…
GASTON: Where one gathers what?
JEANNE: Don’t be aggravating, please! If you don’t want the house, tell me so at
once and we’ll say no more about it.
GASTON: I told you before we crossed the road that I didn’t want it. As soon as you
see a sign ‘Villa for sale’, you have to go inside and be shown over it. It’s a perfect
mania with you.
JEANNE: What do you mean by a mania?
GASTON: You women are so curious… you can’t resist the pleasure of ticking your
noses into another woman’s bathroom… Especially, if you don’t know her… The
truth you are eternally hoping to ferret out some cold cream which is better than
the one you use yourself.
JEANNE: Oh dear! Oh dear! Are we looking for a villa or are we not?
GASTON: We are not.
JEANNE: What do you mean: ‘We are not’? Then we’re not looking for a villa?
GASTON: Certainly not. It’s just an idea you’ve had stuck in your head for the past
month.
JEANNE: But we’ve talked about nothing else…
GASTON: You mean you’ve talked about nothing else. I’ve never talked about it.
You see, you’ve talked about it so much that you thought that we are talking…
You haven’t even noticed that I’ve never joined in the conversation. If you say
that you are looking for a villa, then that’s different!
JEANNE: Well… at any rate… whether I’m looking for it or we re looking for it, the
one thing that matters anyway is that I m looking for it for us!
GASTON: It’s not for 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 what you want, do you realize 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. 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.
JEANNE: Then why have you been looking over villas for the past week?

19
GASTON: I have not been looking over them, you have, and it bores me.
JEANNE: Well…
GASTON: Well what?
JEANNE: Then stop being bored and buy one. That will finish it. We won’t talk about
it any more.
GASTON: Exactly!
JEANNE: As far as that goes, what of it? Suppose I do want to buy a villa for papa
and mamma? What of it?
GASTON: My darling. I quite admit that you want to buy a villa for your father and
mother. But please admit on your side that I don’t want to pay for it.
JEANNE: There’s my dowry.
GASTON: Your dowry! My poor child, we have spent that long ago.
JEANNE: But since then you have made a fortune.
GASTON: 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.
JEANNE: Then it wasn’t worth while coming in.
GASTON: That’s exactly what I told you at the door.
JEANNE: In that case, let’s go.
GASTON: By all means.
JEANNE: What on earth will the lady think of us?
GASTON: I have never cared such a damned little about anybody’s opinion. Come
along.
(He takes his hat and goes towards the door. At this moment JULIETTE enters.)
JULIETTE: Good afternoon, Madame… Monsieur…
JEANNE: How do you do, Madame?
GASTON: Good day.
JULIETTE: Won’t you sit down? (They all three sit.) Is your first impression a good
one?
JEANNE: Excellent.
JULIETTE: I am not in the least surprised. It is a most delightful little place. Its
appearance is modest, but it has a charm of its own. I can tell by just looking at
you that it would suit you admirably, as you suit it, if you will permit me to say
so. Coming from me, it may surprise you to hear that you already appear to be at

20
home. The choice of a frame is not so easy when you have such a delightful pastel
to place in it. (She naturally indicates JEANNE who is flattered.) The house possesses
a great many advantages. Electricity, gas, water, telephone, and drainage. The
bathroom is beautifully fitted and the roof was entirely repaired last year.
JEANNE: Oh, that’s important, isn’t it, darling?
GASTON: For whom?
JULIETTE: The garden is not very large… it’s not long and it’s not wide, but…
GASTON: But my word, it is high!
JULIETTE: That’s not exactly what I meant. Your husband is very witty, Madame.
As I was saying, the garden is not very large, but you see, it is surrounded by
other gardens…
GASTON: On the principle of people who like children and haven’t any can always
go and live near a school.
JEANNE: 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?
JULIETTE: Well, you see, I must admit, quite frankly, that I don’t want to sell it any
more.
GASTON: (rising) Then there’s nothing further to be said about it.
JULIETTE: Please, I…
JEANNE: Let Madame finish, darling.
JULIETTE: Thank you. I was going to say that for exceptional people like you, I don’t
mind giving it up. One arranges a house in accordance with one’s own tastes —
if you understand what I mean — to suit oneself, as it were — so one would not
like to think that ordinary people had come to live in it. But to you, I can see with
perfect assurance, I agree. Yes, I will sell it to you.
JEANNE: It’s extremely kind of you.
GASTON: Extremely. Yes… but… er, what’s the price, Madame?
JULIETTE: You will never believe it…
GASTON: I believe in God and so you see…
JULIETTE: Entirely furnished with all the fixtures, just as it is, with the exception of
that one little picture signed by Corot. I don’t know if you have ever heard of that
painter, have you.
GASTON: No, never?
JULIETTE: Neither have I. But I like the colour and I want to keep it, if you don’t

21
mind. For the villa itself, just as it stands, two hundred and fifty thousand francs.
I repeat, that I would much rather dispose of it at less than its value to people like
yourselves, than to give it up, even for more money, to some one whom 1 didn’t
like. The price must seem…
GASTON: Decidedly excessive…
JULIETTE: Oh, no!
GASTON: Oh, yes, Madame.
JULIETTE: Well, really, I must say I’m…
GASTON: Quite so, life is full of surprises, isn’t it?
JULIETTE: You think it dear at two hundred and fifty thousand? Very well, I can’t
be fairer than this: make me an offer.
GASTON: If I did, it would be much less than that.
JULIETTE: Make it anyway.
GASTON: It’s very awkward … I…
JEANNE: Name some figures, darling… just to please me?
GASTON: Well I hardly know… sixty thousand…
JEANNE and JULIETTE: Oh!
GASTON: What do you mean by ‘Oh!’? It isn’t worth more than that to me.
JULIETTE: I give you my word of honour, Monsieur. I cannot let it go for less than
two hundred thousand.
GASTON: You have perfect right to do as you please, Madame.
JULIETTE: I tell you what I will do. I will be philanthropic and let you have it for
two hundred thousand.
GASTON: And I will be equally good-natured and let you keep it for the same price.
JULIETTE: In that case, there is nothing more to be said, Monsieur.
GASTON: Good day, Madame.
JEANNE: One minute, darling. Before you definitely decide, I would love you to go
over the upper floor with me.
JULIETTE: I will show it to you with the greatest pleasure. This way, Madame. This
way, Monsieur…
GASTON: No, thank you… really… I have made up my mind and I’m not very
fond of climbing stairs.

22
JULIETTE: Just as you wish, Monsieur. (To JEANNE) Shall I lead the way?
JEANNE: If you please, Madame.
(Exit JULIETTE.)
JEANNE: (to her husband) You’re not over polite, are you?
GASTON: Oh, my darling! For Heaven’s sake, stop worrying me about this shanty.
Go and examine the bathroom and come back quickly.
(Exit JEANNE following JULIETTE.)
GASTON: (to himself) Two hundred thousand for a few yards of land… She must
think I’m crazy…
(The door bell rings and, a moment later, the Maid re-enters showing in MRS AL SMITH.)
MAID: If Madame would be kind enough to come in.
MRS. AL SMITH: See here now, I tell you I’m in a hurry. How much do they want
for this house?
MAID: I don’t know anything about it, Madame.
MRS. AL SMITH: To start off with, why isn’t the price marked on the signboard?
You’ French people have a cute way of doing business! You go and tell your boss
that if he doesn’t come right away, I’m going. I haven’t any time to waste. Any
hold up makes me sick when I want something, (maid goes out.) Oh, you’re the
husband, I suppose. Good afternoon. Do you speak American?
GASTON: Sure… You betcha…
MRS. AL. SMITH: That goes by me. How much for this house?
GASTON: How much? … Well… Won’t you sit down?
MRS. AL SMITH: I do things standing up.
GASTON: Oh! Do you?
MRS. AL SMITH: Yep! Where’s your wife?
GASTON: My wife? Oh, she’s upstairs.
MRS. AL SMITH: Well, she can stay there. Unless you have to consult her before you
make a sale?
GASTON: Me? Not on your life!
MRS. AL SMITH: 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?
GASTON: I? … Oh, I’d love to!

23
MRS. AL SMITH: Then what about it? I haven’t more than five minutes to spare.
GASTON: Sit down for three of them anyway. To begin with this villa was built by
my grandfather…
MRS. AL SMITH: I don’t care a darn about your grandfather.
GASTON: Neither do I… But I must tell you that
MRS. AL SMITH: Listen, just tell me the price.
GASTON: Let me explain that. . .
MRS. AL SMITH: No!
GASTON: We have electricity, gas, telephone…
MRS. AL SMITH: I don’t care! What’s the price?
GASTON: But you must go over the house…
MRS. AL SMITH: No! … I want to knock it down and build a bungalow here.
GASTON: Oh, I see!
MRS. AL SMITH: Yep! It’s the land I want. I have to be near Paramount where I’m
going to shoot some films.
GASTON: Oh!
MRS. AL SMITH: Yep! You see I’m a big star.
GASTON: Not really?
MRS. AL SMITH: (amiably). Yep! How do you do? Well now, how much?
GASTON: Now let’s see. … In that case, entirely furnished, with the exception of that
little picture by an unknown artist… it belonged to my grandfather and I want to
keep it. . . .
MRS AL SMITH: Say! You do love your grandparents in Europe!
GASTON: We have had them for such a long time!
MRS. AL SMITH: You folk are queer. You think about the past all the time. We
always think about the future.
GASTON: Everybody thinks about what he’s got.
MRS. AL SMITH: What a pity you don’t try and copy us more.
GASTON: Copies are not always good. We could only imitate you and imitations are
no better than parodies. We are so different. Think of it… Europeans go to
America to earn money and Americans come to Europe to spend it.
MRS. AL SMITH: Just the same, you ought to learn how to do business.

24
GASTON: We are learning now. We are practising. . . .
MRS. AL SMITH: Well then, how much?
GASTON: The house! Let me see … I should say three hundred thousand francs. . . .
The same for everybody, you know. Even though you are an American, I
wouldn’t dream of raising the price.
MRS. AL SMITH: Treat me the same as anybody. Then you say it is three hundred
thousand?
GASTON: (to himself) ‘Since you are dear bought — I will love you dear.’
MRS. AL SMITH: Say you, what do you take me for?
GASTON: Sorry. That’s Shakespeare. … I mean cash. . .
MRS. AL SMITH: Now I get you . . . cash down! Say! You’re coming on.
(She takes her cheque book from her bag.)
Gaston (fumbling in a drawer) Wait, I never know where they put my pen and ink…
MRS. AL SMITH: Let me tell you something, you’d benefit yourself a fountain pen
with the money you get for the villa. What date is it today?
GASTON: The twenty-fourth.
MRS. AL SMITH: You can fill in your name on the cheque yourself. I live at the Ritz
Hotel, Place Vendome. My lawyer is…
GASTON: Who…?
MRS. AL SMITH: Exactly.
GASTON: What?
MRS. AL SMITH: My lawyer is Mr. Who, 5, Rue Cambon. He will get in touch with
yours about the rest of the transaction. Good-bye.
GASTON: Good-bye.
MRS. AL SMITH: When are you leaving?
GASTON: Well… er … I don’t quite know … whenever you like.
MRS. AL SMITH: Make it tomorrow and my architect can come on Thursday. Good-
bye. I’m delighted.
GASTON: Delighted to hear it, Madame. (She goes and looks at the cheque.) It’s a very
good thing in business when everyone is delighted.
(At that moment, JEANNE and JULIETTE return)
GASTON: Well?

25
JEANNE: Well… of course … it’s very charming.
JULIETTE: Of course, as I told you, it’s not a large place. I warned you. There are two
large bedrooms and one small one.
GASTON: Well now! That’s something.
JEANNE: (to her husband) You are quite right, darling. I’m afraid it would not be
suitable. Thank you, Madame, we need not keep you any longer.
JULIETTE: Oh, that’s quite all right.
GASTON: Just a moment, just a moment, my dear. You say there are two large
bedrooms and a small one. . . .
JULIETTE: Yes, and two servants’ rooms.
GASTON: Oh! There are two servants’ rooms in addition, are there?
JULIETTE: Yes.
GASTON: But that’s excellent!
JEANNE: Gaston, stop joking!
GASTON: And the bathroom? What’s that like?
JULIETTE: Perfect! There’s a bath in it. . . .
GASTON: On, there’s a bath in the bathroom, is there?
JULIETTE: Of course there is!
GASTON: It’s all very important. A bathroom with a bath in it. Bedrooms, two large
and one small, two servants’ rooms and a garden. It’s really possible. While you
were upstairs, 1 have been thinking a lot about your papa and mamma. You see,
1 am really unselfish, and then the rooms for your sister’s children. . . . Also, my
dear, I’ve been thinking . . . and this is serious . . . about our old age. . . . It’s bound
to come sooner or later and the natural desire of old age is a quiet country life . . .
(To JULIETTE.) You said two hundred thousand, didn’t you?
JEANNE: What on earth are you driving at?
GASTON: Just trying to please you, darling.
JULIETTE: Yes, two hundred thousand is my lowest. Cash, of course.
GASTON: Well, that’s fixed. I won’t argue about it. (He takes out his cheque book.)
JEANNE: But there are so many things to be discussed before …
GASTON: Not at all. Only one thing. As I am not arguing about the price, as I’m not
bargaining with you … you must be nice to me, you must allow me to keep this
little picture which has kept me company while you and my wife went upstairs.

26
JULIETTE: It’s not a question of value…
GASTON: Certainly not … just as a souvenir…
JULIETTE: Very well, you may keep it.
GASTON: Thank you, Madame. Will you give me a receipt please? Our lawyers will
draw up the details of the sale. Please fill in your name . . . Let us see, it’s the
twenty-third, isn’t it?
JULIETTE: No. the twenty-fourth…
GASTON: What does it matter? One day more or less. (She signs the receipt and
exchanges it for his cheque.) Splendid!
JULIETTE: Thank you, Monsieur.
GASTON: Here is my card. Good-bye, Madame. Oh, by the way. You will be kind
enough to leave tomorrow won’t you.
JULIETTE: Tomorrow! So soon?
GASTON: Well, say tomorrow evening at the latest.
JULIETTE: Yes, 1 can manage that. Good-bye Madame.
JEANNE: Good day, Madame.
GASTON: I’ll take my little picture with me, if you don’t mind? (He unhooks it.) Just
a beautiful souvenir, you know. . .
JULIETTE: Very well. I’ll show you the garden, on the way out.
(Exit JULIETTE.)
JEANNE: What on earth have you done?
GASTON: I made a hundred thousand francs and a Corot.
JEANNE: But how?
GASTON: I’ll tell you later.
CURTAIN

27
A Detailed Synopsis of
VILLA FOR SALE
The one-act playVilla for Sale by Sacha Guitri presents an early twentieth-century French social
setting. The entire action takes place in the salon of a small villa near Nogent-sur-
Marne “a stone’s throw from the French Hollywood Joinville.” Of the characters,
Juliette, Jeanne, and the maid are French; Gaston is English; and Mrs AL Smith is
American. The interaction among these characters which represents a variety of
behaviours and mentalities results in a powerful picture of a change taking place in
the socio-cultural, economic, and demographic landscape of the early twentieth-
century France; how the clever and cunning outdo the others in exploiting the
opportunities it provides for material gain and financial success; and how the naïve
and innocent become victims in the competition and continue their lives in
dissatisfaction and dullness even without knowing they have been exploited and
fooled.
The play has five episodes: the owner of the villa Juliette talks with her maid about her
desperationtosellthehouse;theconflictingconversationGastonand hiswifeJeannehaveover
buying a house in France; the meeting between Gaston and Juliette which gives to Gaston an
idea about Juliette’s unprofessionalism in property sale and the nature of the transaction she
wantsover thesaleofthevilla; themeetingbetweenGastonand thecinemastarMrs.AL Smith
which allows Gaston to sell the villa to her and make profit out of it as a total outsider; and the
meeting between Gaston and Juliette which finalises the sale of the villa as the first owner and
confirms his profit out of the transaction. The play in its entirety is a demonstration of how the
weakareexploited bytheclever inacapitalistsocietywithasheer materialistic valuesystem.
EPISODE I
The first episode ofthe play opens with Juliette and her maid talking about the saleof the villa.
Themaidopenstheconversationwiththequestion:“Won’t Madame be sorry?” This elicits
the whole of Juliette’s idea about the sale of her house. It seems that the ‘FOR SALE’
sign has been hanging there for a month now and all these days Juliette seems to
have spent her time in irritation and fear that she would not be able to sell the house
at all. She has no clear rational purpose of selling the house but each day with the
‘FOR SALE’ sign seems to have contributed to a feeling of disappointment and
lethargy in her. Guitri projects the psychology behind marketing, especially when it
is carried out by a non-professional like Juliette. When a sales item gets sold
immediately the seller may regret that s/he could have bidden a higher price for it,
but when it stagnates for a long time without being sold s/he loses interest in it and
may wish to finish with it for a low price. Juliette seems to have expected a bit of a
competition the day the people notice the ‘FOR SALE’ sign but the response was
very poor and unexciting. Each day her frustration gets aggravated and finally she

28
finds it difficult to face her neighbourhood where the people seem to look at her with
suspicion and surprise. Juliette reveals her mind in the expression, “I would sacrifice
it at any price.” Here Guitri shows the depreciation of the value of some sales object
as a purely psychological phenomenon. Juliette gets affected by this normal
condition developing in one’s mind when a property becomes a burden without
being sold.
Guitri dramatises this situation through the conversation between the two women.
The maid recalls how Juliette stopped the people who brought the ‘FOR SALE’ sign
from hanging it in the day time and how she did it herself in the night. In fact
Juliette’s response to this reveals her desire to keep the house as long as possible. She
says, “… I thought that as they could not read it in the dark, the house would belong
to me for one night more.” Her apathy about the house resulted in by the waiting
juts through her present feeling, “… now I have only one thought that is to get the
wretched place off my hands.” She is sensible about what she is doing. She seems to
have spent about fifty thousand francs on the whole and just wants to have it
increased, although she perceives that the price would be about two hundred
thousand francs. The negotiations she has had with people who came there with the
intention of purchasing it take away all her sense of belonging for it but cause
frustration in her about the stagnation of the sale. But the scene opens with her
waiting for a customer who has had made an appointment through an agency.
“What time did those agency people say the lady would call?” she checks with the
maid and prepares herself to receive her.
The maid is happy with the place and tries to persuade Juliette to keep the house,
claiming that it is “… a nice little place for you to spend the weekends, Madame.”
But Juliette who seems to be worried about the future contradicts her suggestion: “…
but times are hard and business is as bad as it can be.” This gives the implication that
Juliette feels that it is practical to have the money in hand right now as it is a time of
depression. She is conscious that what she is doing is funny and stupid and that the
house is more worth than what she is asking for it:
But still … even so … it would be funny if I couldn’t manage to sell a place here, a
stone’s throw from Joinville, the French Hollywood, when all I’m asking is a paltry
hundred thousand!
The commercial value of the house is all of a sudden brought to light by the maid’s
request for permission to be absent the following morning “… from nine till noon…
…to play in a film at the Joinville Studio.” Juliette becomes curious about it and asks
for more details. The girl’s description of her contract with the film makers suggests
that acting is not as demanding as lucrative. The fee she is supposed to receive for
three hours is a hundred francs which is just twenty-five percent of her monthly
salary. Juliette covetously exclaims, “It’s unbelievable!” But she does not change her
mind about the property sale although she gets to know from the maid that even for
her it is possible to play a role in the same film on a very lucrative contract “…for

29
eight days …eight hundred francs.” The maid tries to persuade her to go ahead with
it but her response is “Thank God I’m not quite so hard up as that yet!” Then the
maid apologises for proposing to join the film industry and Juliette understands it
for a sign of loyalty.
Guitri alludes to the dramatic change in the socio-cultural and economic fabric of
this French locality was undergoing at the time of the production of the play in the
maid’s account of her experiences with the film company. Everybody who finds an
opportunity to join the film industry does it.
Yesterday the butcher didn’t open his shop; he was being shot all the morning.
Today, nobody could find the four policemen; they were taking part in Monsieur
Milton’s fight scene in his new film. Nobody thinks about anything else round
here now. You see, they pay so well. The manager is offering a thousand francs
for a real beggar who has nothing to eat for two days. Some people have all the
luck. Think it over, Madame.
People seem to be attracted to the film industry and as a result they leave aside their
usual occupational obligations to the community and join the film crew to play
different roles on the basis of their experience. The maid tries again to entice her
dame with the financial gains people achieve with the company and to encourage
her to find her way to the film industry. “If you would go and see them with your
hair slicked back the way you do when you are dressing, Madame, I am sure they
would engage you right away. Because really, Madame, you look too comical!”
Guitri tries here to show how adamant Juliette is about selling the villa despite the
financial advantage of keeping it. The emphasis on the comical appearance of Juliette
suggests that she finds no partner and does not see any reason to keep the house. In
response to the doorbell Juliette mistaken that it is the lady who had contacted her
through an agent, disappears into upstairs. The implication is that, if the lady finds
her waiting that will affect the villa deal. The maid runs off to open the door in her
daydreaming, “Oh, if I could become a Greta Garbo! Why can’t I? Oh!” The maid
plays a significant role in revealing to the audience that the villa is going to be
attractive for people in the showbiz.
EPISODE II
Voices heard off stage. A second later, the maid returns, showing in a married
couple, the husband Gaston of an English origin and the wife Jeanne of a French
origin. The guests sit down and the maid goes upstairs to tell Juliette. While the lady
of the house is away the couple talk about it. Guitri leaves some space for the couple
to reveal their clashing opinions about the house and property. Gaston seems to be
condemning the house and property throughout the conversation, but Jeanne
remains enchanted by it and defends her position about it all the time. First he makes
a cynical comment on the garden reducing it to “a yard with a patch of grass in the
middle.” Jeanne tries to instil hope in him, commenting positively on the interior
look of the house “the inside of the house seems very nice.” In reaction, Gaston

30
disparagingly remarks, “Twenty-five yards of cretonne and a dash of paint… you
can get that anywhere.” Without getting carried away by his male dominance, she
attacks the pessimistic element apparent in his words, “That’s not fair.”
Gaston scornfully replies to Jeanne’s suggestion to see the entire house and then to
decide whether to purchase it or not, “I don’t want to see the kitchen to know that
the garden is a myth and that the salon is impossible.” It implies that he has not come
to buy any house at all. Yet, Jeanne seems to stick to her guns. She provides counter
arguments to repulse Gaston’s scepticism.
JEANNE: What’s the matter with it?
GASTON: Matter? Why, you can’t even call it a salon.
JEANNE: Perhaps there is another.
GASTON: Never mind the other. I’m talking about this one.
JEANNE: We could do something very original with it.
Jeanne’s genuine wish to buy the house and turn it into a place where she could live
to her taste emerges from this stretch of discourse. But Gaston sounds contemptuous
in his serious attempt to distort her interest.
Jean’s idea to make a study out of the salon leads to another interesting stretch of
conversation. Gaston starts sneering at her, “A study? Good Lord! You’re not
thinking of going in for studying are you?” This of course is not a remark made out
of any linguistic ignorance but sarcasm. Jeanne reproachfully handles his vain
attempt to play the fool with her in her comment “Don’t be silly. You know perfectly
well what a modern study is.” In reaction, Gaston tries not to understand her
explanation, “…where one gathers…” and asks her in return “…where one gathers
what?” Jeanne puts an abrupt end to his fooling by insisting him on being frank,
“Don’t be aggravating, please! If you don’t want the house, tell me so at once and
we’ll say no more about it.” Gaston’s hypocrisy in condemning the villa at the first
sight juts out in his response to her declaration of anger. This sheds light on another
dimension of the conflict between the two.
He seems to have been in a constant effort to discourage her from buying a house in
France and that is why he had refused to enter the villa at first. In the eyes of Gaston
Jeanne’s persistent enquiry about a suitable house to buy for them to live in is “a
perfect mania.” But her angry query about the remark he has so devastatingly made,
receives an irrelevant response which appears to be a cock-‘n-bull story. He goes on
attacking women’s curiosity about the others’ toiletry implied in “the pleasure of
ticking your noses into another woman’s bathroom” and their dissatisfaction with
the cosmetics they use implied in their desire “to ferret out some cold cream which
is better than the one you use yourself.” This is really an insult on the whole of the
women community vertically made from an angle of male chauvinism. The genuine
enquiry Jeanne has been making for some time turns in this utterly cynical remark
he makes into a joke or a lame excuse to try out another woman’s cosmetic choices.
This drives Jeanne crazy, and she expresses her irritation, “Are we looking for a villa

31
or are we not?”
The information emerging from their conversation signifies that, for some time, they
have been discussing the idea about purchasing a villa for themselves, and have been
practically visiting places to select a suitable house for it, but, at this moment, Gaston
slings the whole idea back on Jeanne, retorting that she has been looking for a house
not for the two of them but for her parents. They seem to be living outside France
and are spending there only two months a year. The rest of the time the parents
would be living in the house they would own if they bought one in France. Gaston
expresses these ideas in a noncommittal mood.
The exchange Gaston makes in relation to this argument shows how ego-centric he
is. He has no thought for his wife’s delights although he has founded his own
business and made a fortune of it on a sum of money he had received as a dowry for
her. He does not want at all to be hospitable towards her parents or generous
towards her sisters and their children. A man, so scrupulously concerned about
himself and in the habit of running down his wife and his in-laws, Gaston ruthlessly
and indolently disappoints Jeanne at the moment they are here to inspect Juliette’s
villa. He gives an intolerable pain to her in his caustic reply, “I quite admit that you
want to buy a villa for your father and mother. But please admit on your side that I
don’t want to pay for it.”
Then she mentions about her dowry, which can allow her buy anything she wants,
but so ungrateful about the financial assistance he received from her during his
inception as an independent man, he talks about his success as his own achievement.
The house hunting that they had embarked on for the past week turns out to be a
farce in Jeanne’s opinion, and she stresses the impertinency of being there. Relieved
of the realization of the nature of their marital relationship that Jeanne achieves with
so much pain after all, he laconically paints out a picture of his true nature, “I have
never cared such a damned little about anybody’s opinion.” Then he virtually pulls
her out of the house, coaxingly, “Come along.” He takes his hat and goes towards
the door, but is stopped by the house owner Juliette.
EPISODE III
From here onwards it is understood that Jeanne is just play-acting in her
conversation with Juliette, as she knows fully that there is no room for her to carry
out any property purchase in the whole of France because of her husband’s objection
to such venture. However, the two women – Joanne and Juliette seem to be getting
on quite well. Juliette receives them cordially and learns from Jeanne that her “first
impression” of the house is a good one. Juliette is confused whether Jeanne speaks
for both her and her husband or only for herself, and goes on trying to convince the
couple to buy the property. She gives a pretty smart description of the house
covering all its facilities and conveniences:
I am not in the least surprised. It is a most delightful little place. Its appearance is modest,

32
but it has a charm of its own. I can tell by just looking at you that it would suit you
admirably, as you suit it, if you will permit me to say so. Coming from me, it may surprise
you to hear that you already appear to be at home. The choice of a frame is not so easy
when you have such a delightful pastel to place in it. … … The house possesses a great
many advantages. Electricity, gas, water, telephone, and drainage. The bathroom is
beautifully fitted and the roof was entirely repaired last year.
In this introduction where Juliette stresses all the renovations done to the house she
does not forget to flatter Jeanne as a lovely piece of art fitting rightly into the
atmosphere of the house. Nevertheless, each word she utters contributes to a
dramatic irony in the eyes of the audience, as it is obvious that Gaston is at any rate
not going to give his wife the money to purchase it. Guitri achieves so much humour
through the conversation which translates into pure social comedy, and his genius
as a playwright becomes vivid here.
Gaston remains indifferent to the conversation between Jeanne and Juliette and does
not miss any opportunity to throw innuendoes at the two women. When Jeanne
remarks about the renovations and new additions to the house as important, he
curtly reacts implying it may be important for somebody else but not for him. When
Juliette describes the garden as neither wide nor long, he sarcastically says that “it is
high.” Juliette notices the objection he made here but politely says to Jeanne, “Your
husband is very witty, Madame.” But the analogy he draws to match Juliette’s
statement about the benefit the owner of this particular garden would enjoy from the
surrounding gardens brings the two women to the tether of their patience.
JULIETTE: … As I was saying, the garden is not very large, but you see, it is surrounded
by other gardens…
GASTON: On the principle of people who like children and haven’t any can always go
and live near a school.
Both women find this exchange from Gaston difficult to stomach, and retort with
disgust. In reaction to his constant cynicism, Jeanne warns him, “Please don’t joke,
Gaston.” Then Juliette wants to stops the deal with them, “I don’t want to sell it any
more.” Gaston heaves a sigh of satisfaction and gets ready to leave, “Then there’s
nothing further to be said about it.”
Adding more and more humour to the scene, the conflict between the husband and
wife continues with Jeanne’s persistence to appease Juliette with friendly moral
support and her desire to further the inspection of the house. Juliette finds Jeanne a
charming person and agrees to sell it to her without knowing who will foot the bill.
Her quality of being unprofessional surfaces again in her failure to perceive the
man’s indifference is a vital drawback in the transaction and in her enchantment with
Jeanne. So in desperation to sell the house she continues to negotiate with the couple,
despite the continuous cynicism of Gaston. She fixes an amount of two hundred and
fifty thousand francs for the entire property except the drawing by Corot.
JULIETTE: Entirely furnished with all the fixtures, just as it is, with the exception of

33
that one little picture signed by Corot. I don’t know if you have ever heard of
that painter, have you. … … … … For the villa itself, just as it stands, two
hundred and fifty thousand francs. I repeat, that I would much rather dispose of
it at less than its value to people like yourselves, than to give it up, even for more
money, to some one whom 1 didn’t like. The price must seem…
Even here she mentions in an utterly unprofessional manner that the price has been
decided on the good nature of the couple. Further, she contradicts her disgust with
the man. Jeanne who insists on having the deal remains speechless but Gaston
continues to attack Juliette and finally makes an offer on the pretext of pleasing his
wife, for an extremely reduced price of sixty thousand francs. His idea is to spoil the
deal. Outraged by this ruthless insult, Jeanne and Juliette both, disbelieving their
ears, exclaim “Oh!” However, Juliette reduces fifty thousand francs and tries to give
the villa for “two hundred thousand.” Gaston refuses to have any more discussion
of it but waits for his wife to finish looking around the house, “Oh, my darling! For
Heaven’s sake, stop worrying me about this shanty. Go and examine the bathroom
and come back quickly.” Here he alludes to what he said when they were alone in
the salon before Juliette joined them. He does not find any serious reason for looking
around a house when it is decided not to buy it. Jeanne exits following Juliette.
EPISODE IV
When Juliette and Jeanne have gone upstairs, Gaston remains on the stage all alone.
He talks to himself, “Two hundred thousand for a few yards of land… She must
think I’m crazy…” Here he does not consider the commercial value of a house
located in a prominent area that tends to go up relative to various industrial,
mercantile, cultural, and administrative developments that take place in the
surroundings. His old-fashioned notion of property value seems to be centred upon
the extent of the land concerned. However, there is no wonder about an utterly
egoistic, ungrateful, and cheeky man like Gaston condemning another person’s
property on petty grounds. When he remains toying with the idea that a fool or a
lunatic would buy that property for such a price, the door bell rings and, a moment
later, the maid re-enters showing in Mrs AL Smith, who had arranged through an
agency to come over there as a potential buyer of the villa. In fact she is the real
person that Juliette had been waiting before Gaston and Jeanne arrived.
Mrs Smith seems to be in a great hurry. She does not want to spend a minute without
getting anything done. It seems that time is money for her in her American
upbringing. She tries to check about the price with the maid, the very first person
she meets in the premises of the villa, but fails as the latter has not got any order from
the landlady to talk business with the bidders. Almost demonstrating that she is a
typical product of the nineteenth-century American pioneer spirit, she criticises the
French style of doing business with the question, “…why isn’t the price marked on
the signboard?” The maid leaves the scene to report to her dame, and out of
impatience Mrs Smith speaks to Gaston, mistaking him for the house owner’s

34
husband. Through the confusion Mrs Smith creates, Guitri reveals the hectic mental
behaviour the people have developed, caught in the capitalist rat race resulted in by
the so-called American pioneer spirit.
Confused and excited, Gaston tries to cope with the situation with Mrs Smith.
Arrogant and self-important with the power of money, she straight away talks
business with him.
GASTON: How much? … Well… Won’t you sit down?
MRS. AL SMITH: I do things standing up.
From this stretch of conversation it is clear that she wants her own way wherever she
is, and Gaston himself finds it embarrassing at once to face her. Mrs Smith enquires
where his wife is and Gaston does not have to tell a lie about it. As she is in a great
hurry, she suggests that, if there is no particular need to consult her, they finalise the
transaction without her involvement. Here too Gaston does not give up his usual
sarcasm. Knowing that Mrs Smith has already mistaken him for a Frenchman, and
that she would excuse him for any linguistic incongruities he commits in the
conversation, he tends to throw innuendoes at her too. When she checks whether he
has to consult his wife before he makes a sale, he says, “Me? Not on your life!” This
throws the weight on the interlocutor but she excuses him for his apparent
Frenchness, responding, “You are an exception…”
Pretending to be the husband of the house owner, he starts talking business with Mrs
Smith in the same way Juliette did with him and his wife. Following Juliette, he starts
with the history of the house, but she retorts,
MRS. AL SMITH: I don’t care a darn about your grandfather.
GASTON: Neither do I … But I must tell you that.
MRS. AL SMITH: Listen, just tell me the price.
In a mighty hurry, she wants only the price. But he, as Juliette did, talks about the
facilities, and still the response is the same, she wants only the price.
MRS. AL SMITH: I don’t care! What’s the price?
Further, he offers to take her around the house and she refuses to do so, saying, “No!
… I want to knock it down and build a bungalow here.” Gaston’s communication
becomes easier with this clue. She is concerned only with the terrain. She reveals her
plans very clearly; “It’s the land I want. I have to be near Paramount where I’m going
to shoot some films.” This gives an idea to Gaston about the financial status of Mrs
Smith as well, yet he does not want to fix a price in a haphazard way though he knew
that Juliette’s offer had come down to two-hundred thousand francs.
Groping for a price and marking time until Juliette comes down with Jeanne, he goes
on talking about the ancestral value of the house and the furniture and other things
that belong to it and the painting by Corrot that needs to be removed from the list of
items as a souvenir from his grandfather. This receives a caustic reply from Mrs

35
Smith; “You folk are queer. You think about the past all the time. We always think
about the future.” She reveals the ethos of American thinking in these words, where,
while business gathers more and more prominence, traditions disappear into
oblivion. Without going into any of those details, she simply wants the price and he
sounds beating about the bush. But the dialogue contributes tremendously to the
humour of the play.
Another dimension of American mentality, i.e., the demand they make that the rest
of the world should copy Americans appears in her speech, but this receives a very
effective response from Gaston.
MRS. AL SMITH: What a pity you don’t try and copy us more.
GASTON: Copies are not always good. We could only imitate you and imitations
are no better than parodies. We are so different. …
In fact, Gaston defends the position that cultures should be respected in their own
forms, and that no culture should be a stereotype of another. The position that
“imitations are no better than parodies” reinforces the appreciation of cultural
diversity. Nevertheless there is only a very little truth in his generalisation –
“Europeans go to America to earn money and Americans come to Europe to spend
it.” This may not address all Americans as well as all Europeans, but fits with
Gaston’s mercenary mentality.
Mrs Smith does not have an iota of sensitivity to feel funny about Gaston’s behaviour
throughout their interaction and condescendingly suggests to him, “you ought to
learn how to do business,” but receives a cunning reply from him, “We are learning
now. We are practising. . . .” Leaving the audience laughing at this, Gaston fixes the
price for the villa as, “three hundred thousand francs.” He adds a few words as
Juliette does to build up confidence in Mrs Smith, “The same for everybody, you
know. Even though you are an American, I wouldn’t dream of raising the price.”
Mrs Smith is happy about this. Jubilant about the marvellous transaction that would
give him one hundred thousand francs for nothing, Gaston utters to himself, ‘Since
you are dear bought — I will love you dear.’ When Mrs Smith reacts to this
irritatedly, he apologetically tells that it is quoted from Shakespeare, and manages
to make her realise that the cash has to be paid right off.
She takes her cheque book from her bag and puts the date, and he pretends to have
misplaced his writing equipment somewhere in a drawer. Having understood that
he does not have a pen to write with, she gives him a cheque to fill in his name. He
benefits from this as he does not have to reveal his name. She has fun out of the
clumsy situation he is in without a pen to write with and casts a remark, “Let me tell
you something, you’d benefit yourself a fountain pen with the money you get for the
villa.” At this moment Gaston intelligently keeps quiet but remains very happy
about his success. Further, she gives him her address at the Ritz Hotel, Place
Vendome, and that of her lawyer at No 5, Rue Cambon, as contact details for

36
communication in regard to the rest of the transaction. She also requests him to clear
the villa the following day so that her architect can start work on the site on the
coming Thursday. When Gaston agrees to this, Mrs Smith takes leave of him with a
breath of satisfaction, “I’m delighted.” Gaston, as cunning as a fox, responds,
“Delighted to hear it, Madame.” He looks at the cheque and utters to himself, “It’s a
very good thing in business when everyone is delighted.” Gaston really capitalises
on Mrs Smith’s poor opinion of the French people as a community.
Episode V
Utterly satisfied with the fantastically productive way in which he spent his time
downstairs, he receives Jeanne and Juliette with an unusual air of civility. Jeanne
speaks to keep her new acquaintance Juliette happy and comments on the house
positively, “… it’s very charming.” Juliette still continues to describe the good
features of the villa, and Gaston pretends to show so much enthusiasm about it.
Jeanne, having made up her mind to decline Juliette’s offer in order to remain in
good terms with Gaston, curtails her enthusiasm disbelievingly, “I’m afraid it would
not be suitable.” However, Juliette accepts her comment politely, “Oh, that’s quite
all right.”
Gaston surprises both women with his apparent interest in the two large bedrooms,
one small bedroom, and two servants’ rooms the villa has. Jeanne reacts to his
response with alarm, “Gaston, stop joking!” But Gaston astonishes the two women
further with a strange type of generosity he has developed all of a sudden as if by
some miracle:
GASTON: It’s all very important. A bathroom with a bath in it. Bedrooms, two large
and one small, two servants’ rooms and a garden. It’s really possible. While you
were upstairs, 1 have been thinking a lot about your papa and mamma. You see, 1
am really unselfish, and then the rooms for your sister’s children. . . . Also, my dear,
I’ve been thinking . . . and this is serious . . . about our old age. . . . It’s bound to come
sooner or later and the natural desire of old age is a quiet country life . . .
Despite Jeanne’s opposition, he gets the price confirmed by Juliette as “two hundred
thousand francs.” His sole explanation to this sudden change of behaviour is that he
is concerned with the pleasure of his wife, “Just trying to please you, darling.” He
even writes a cheque for the amount, in favour of Juliette. As Juliette is very pleased
with the way in which the transaction is ending, he makes a request,
GASTON: … … Only one thing. As I am not arguing about the price, as I’m not
bargaining with you … you must be nice to me, you must allow me to keep this little
picture which has kept me company while you and my wife went upstairs.
Juliette allows him to have the painting as a mark of respect. Then he asks her for a
receipt and wants it dated as “the twenty-third.” He needs an early date from her as
he has already finished a similar transaction with Mrs Smith on “the twenty-fourth.”
Juliette tries to correct him as it is “the twenty-fourth” but later agrees to his

37
suggestion, “What does it matter? One day more or less.” She signs the receipt and
exchanges it for his cheque. Extremely satisfied, he exclaims, “Splendid!” Juliette,
without observing the legalities involved in the change of date, feels grateful to
Gaston for making the transaction so easy. While taking leave of her, he wants her
to leave the villa in the course of the following day. Luckily she agrees to that too, “1
can manage that.”He unhooks the painting with her permission, “I’ll take my little
picture with me, if you don’t mind?” and flatteringly praises it, “Just a beautiful
souvenir, you know. . .” Juliette is so happy that she offers to show them the garden,
on the way out.
Once she leaves them the husband and wife revert to their conflicting mood. To
Jeanne’s apprehensive query about the transaction he has just carried out with
Juliette, he gives a triumphant reply, “I made a hundred thousand francs and a
Corot.” Jeanne is curious and asks, “But how?” Gaston does not want to relate the
whole thing on the spot but promises to tell it later. The curtain falls, revealing how
an opportunist keeps three weak women in the dark and achieves tremendous
financial success in a capitalist world where profit making does not have any moral
boundaries.

38
Structure and Style of
VILLA FOR SALE
This one-act play of about 30 minutes takes place in the drawing room of Juliette’s
villa which is right now on sale. It does not have any significant scene changes in
terms of the application of sets and props. But itcanbeneatlydivided intofiveepisodes
onthebasisofthetopicalvalueofthe individual interactionsthecharacters are involved inand
the confidentiality of these interactions that they are compelled to maintain for the successful
development of the theme. From the inter-relationship of these interactions the climax works
out, and the dramatic irony which is the main feature of the play is achieved through the
intriguestheseinteractionsreveal.
In the first episode, the owner of the villa Juliette talks with her maid about her desperation to
sell out the house. Through their conversation it is revealed that the villa has become a real
headachefor Julietteandshewantstogetridofitatanycost.
“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. I thought I would get two hundred
thousand but I suppose I must cut my loss.”
The above words she utters need to remain confidential throughout the deal as they would
provide a sound base for any profiteer to exploit Juliette. Yet Guitri cannotdispense with them
as they are meant to reveal her actual attitude to the villa and the sale she has started. It is also
impliedthatshehasother plansandthatiswhysheisdesperatetosellthisplace.Sheknowsthe
place is becoming very attractive because of its location at “a stone’s throw from Joinville,
the French Hollywood.” The maid reveals how lucrative it is for the inhabitants in
the township to take part in the film industry. But Juliette’s desperation is the focal
point of this episode.
The second episode opens with Juliette’s disappearance into the upper floor to
prevent the impression that she had been waiting for the buyer who is coming on
appointment. This may be a silly reason to leave the stage empty for Gaston and his
wife Jeanne to have some privacy but in the context of Juliette it is very effective as
she is portrayed as utterly unprofessional as a dealer in real estate. The conflicting
conversation between Gaston and Jeanne over buying a house in France occupies the entire
episode.
Determined nottobuyanypropertyin France infear that it will onlycater for thedelight ofhis
in-laws, Gaston criticises the house and garden in an attempt to dissuade Jeanne from
purchasing the villa. First, he reduces the garden to “a yard with a patch of grass in the
middle” and “the inside of the house” to “twenty-five yards of cretonne and a dash
of paint.” Then he condemns the entire property out of scepticism. “I don’t want to
see the kitchen to know that the garden is a myth and that the salon is impossible.”

39
Gaston establishes that they are not there to look for a villa despite Jeanne’s
persistent search for one. But as they have entered the place already, Jean insists on
staying there for a while and looking at the house to please the owner. Again it is
required to keep their present position about the villa a secret, as Juliette would not
have entertained them if she had known the reality of what goes on in their minds.
The third episode is just mimicry of what goes on in society most of the time in
relation to buying and selling property. Knowing that they have no possibility of
buying them, people enter houses and get the owners to show them around simply
to satisfy their curiosity about how the inside looks. In the mean time some people
behave shabbily and the house owners are compelled to tolerate as they are in a great
struggle to sell their property. Even without a penny in hand to buy the property
some people enjoy tremendous courtesy on a visit of this sort. What one experiences
on such a visit can be tasted in this episode.
By the time Juliette enters, Jeanne knows that her husband is practically not going to
finance any house purchase in France. In Juliette’s presence too he is very sarcastic
about the introductory comments she makes on the house and insults both women
several times. Agonized by Gaston’s innuendoes, Juliette tells them once that she
does not want to sell her house any more. Yet Jeanne cooperates with Juliette in her
desire to show the place to them. Whatever Jeanne says and does in this context
appears to be pure play-acting. But the impact of this episode is very great on the
rest of the play as it gives an opportunity to Gaston to gather all vital information
about the house including the last figure Juliette expects from the sale.
Based on what is seen already, Gaston bids an extremely low price for the villa,
reducing the figure from two hundred and fifty thousand to sixty thousand francs.
Astonished and agonised, both women cry, “Oh!” But Gaston strongly maintains his
opinion, “What do you mean by ‘Oh!’? It isn’t worth more than that to me.” In fact
this is a strategy Gaston applies to curtail the process of showing around, but Jeanne
joins Juliette to go upstairs. Gaston considers the villa a “shanty” and with reluctance
allows his wife to inspect the house. However, the ideas he forms about Juliette’s
unprofessionalism and the nature of the transaction she wants over the sale of the villa remain
importantintherestoftheplay.
The fourth episode opens with Gaston reconfirming his opinion about Juliette’s last figure for
the house –two-hundred thousand francs. ThecinemaartistMrs. AL Smithwhowants to buy
the house mistakes Gaston for the husband of the landlady and negotiates with him about the
priceoftheproperty. Gastonstickstowhatiscalled carpediem.(Makeheywhenthesunshines)
HeimpersonatesJuliette’s husband and offersapriceofthreehundred thousand forthehouse,
capitalising on his knowledge of Mrs Smith’s desperation to purchase a land, her financial
capacityasafilmproducer, Juliette’s unprofessionalismasarealestatedealer, and whatJuliette
expectsfromthesaleoftheproperty.Hereitisdecided that, fromthistransaction, anamountof
twohundredthousandfrancsgoestoJulietteandthatGastonkeepsanamountofonehundred
thousand francs. Gaston not only fixes the price but also collects a cheque from Mrs Smith for

40
thefullamount.AlthoughtheAmericanwomanpresumesthatsheissmarterthanaEuropean,
Gaston outshines her through his cunning. He manages to sell a house he condemns as a
“shanty” for an amount much higher that what was quoted by the owner and earns a quick
lumpsumofonehundredthousandfrancs.Withthistransactionthefourthepisodecontributes
highlytothedramatic ironyoftheplay. Gaston’sapathyturnsintocunningand opportunism.
The fifth episode is the culmination of Gaston’s archness in the play. Here Gaston first wears a
facadeofcivilitytocheer upbothwomenJulietteand Jeanne. Forsomereason, Jeannedoesnot
want Gaston to proceed inthetransaction over the house, and repeatedlyattempts todelay his
decision. She wants to talk privately with Gaston about some issues before taking any action.
Nevertheless, Gaston camouflages himself with a false generosity towards his in-laws or the
family of Jeanne, and agrees to buy the house for the lowest figure of two hundred thousand
francsofferedbyJuliette.Hestraightawayissuesachequefortheagreedfigure.Tosuithissecret
transactionwithMrsSmithonthatdateoftwenty-fourth, hegetsJuliettetoissueareceiptofhis
chequeforthetwohundredthousandfrancswiththedateoftwenty-third.Heevenmanagesto
obtainfromJulietteapresentofthepaintingbyCorotonthewallwhichshehad inherited from
hergrandfather. Theplayinitsentiretyremainsademonstrationofhowtheweakareexploited
bytheclever inacapitalistsocietyalwaysequippedwithasheermaterialisticvaluesystem.This
structurewhichallowsasteadyprogress inthedevelopmentof thethemeisoneofthegreatest
potentialsoftheplay.ThestyleadoptedbyGuitrihelpstodevelopthisstructureintoasuccessful
pieceoftheatre.
Guitri’s style plays a major role in the development of the theme of the play. The
dialogues created in a naturalistic conversational style helps the play to develop as a
piece of realistic theatre. All the characters speak in a dialect close to the language
people use in real life and thereby they become part of the populace existent in a
modern society. But the naturalistic diction and idiom is efficiently manipulated in
the formation of effective discourse that flows with rich rhetorical devices
articulating what the characters want to express in reaction to the situations that
develop. Each role maintains its spirit through its style peculiar to its character, and
the interaction among the cast turns out into interesting rhetorical situations that
retain the charm of the play as a piece of realistic theatre in the naturalistic school.
The lucid expressions articulate not only the feelings of the roles but also the nature
of the relationships between them.
The Maid’s Speech
The maid seems to be enjoying a great deal of liberty with her dame Juliette but her
respect for the latter is always preserved in the style she makes her expressions in
the conversation. She rightly speaks very much less than Juliette at the beginning.
She is respectful to the latter and that is implied in the apostrophe, “Madame.” The
degree of formality in the short question she asks at the onset of the play is very high.
“Won’t Madame be sorry?” Instead of “you” she uses “Madame” as the subject of
this question posed directly to Juliette, in order to imply her respect. In the next
exchange she recalls how Juliette came to terms with the idea of selling the house.

41
Although it is her own idea, Juliette finds it difficult to end her attachment to the
house. The maid’s observations of her reaction to the sign are related in these short
sentences, “… you wouldn’t let them put it up. You waited until it was night. Then
you went and hung it yourself …” They carry the ideas in a simple straightforward
style. But they emphasise Juliette’s sorrow to leave her beloved villa. At every
possible stop she uses “Madame” simply like an honorific. So the maid’s respect for
Juliette and her tendency to share the feelings of the latter become clear. Her
politeness and respect to Juliette is vivid in the exchanges where she requests for the
latter’s permission to be off for a morning. It is implied here that she remembered
the following day’s appointment with the Joinville Studio by accident. She considers
the release from work for the period in question as a “favour.” She adds “will you
be kind enough” to her request to sound extremely polite.
Moreover, she maintains command when it is necessary. In the stretch of dialogue
regarding the film industry, the maid talks as if she is an expert in that field. Her
voice is representative of the film maker’s position about choosing actors for the
roles. “They say maids are born maids not made maids.” Here she enjoys the dignity
of her position as a maid. She justifies her request in a very logical way. First she
relates that she is paid by the studio “a hundred francs a morning”; then compares
it with the money she earns at Juliette’s “you only pay me four hundred a month”;
and later she presents her position as a question expecting Juliette’s answer, “I can’t
very well refuse, can I, Madame?” The maid speaks in a very convincing manner
without losing her identity as a free individual or dispelling Juliette’s confidence in
her.
Very efficaciously, when the topic is the film industry, the maid talks more than
Juliette, to sound she has already investigated the possibilities with the studio for a
variety of roles matching her acquaintances. Without missing out the respect she has
maintained throughout her interaction with Juliette, she proposes to her a job with
the studio. As before she requests the latter’s permission to present her proposal,
“Will you permit me, Madame, to tell you something I suddenly thought of?” Here
also she sounds that she got the idea by accident, in response to Juliette’s desperation
to sell the house, “You said just now, Madame, that times were hard.” She reinforces
her stance in this matter with words of encouragement, “Every little helps,
Madame,” and “I could show you how to do it, Madame!” Here the maid’s
loyalty transcends every other thing concerned. Her remark that Juliette has “such a
funny face” and her suggestion for Juliette that she can act as a cook, all become
tolerable as her loyalty becomes transparent. Guitri’s style is effective in articulating
the maid’s feelings; in depicting her relationship with Juliette as a very intimate one;
as well as in signifying that the villa will be in great demand in times to come.
Juliette’s Speech
Juliette’s exchanges in all these conversational events stand for her decent
appearance. Despite being a middle-class woman with an estate and with a strong

42
financial status to employ domestic servants, she does not sound arrogant. The
charm of her character lies in her openness with the maid and her patience with
Gaston and Jeanne.
She is polite and incautious towards the maid. She confides to the maid who is on a
much lower rung in the class ladder her true feelings about the property, the
knowledge of which may be of great advantage for a potential buyer of it. The
language she uses is emotive. In all the expressions in exchanges 3-5, she reveals how
her mind has worked about the property since its sale was announced. All the
sentences in these exchanges depict Juliette’s mind, revealing her feelings and
thoughts, “I might have felt … I would have wondered… I am beginning to be… I
know… I thought that … I was so sure that … I was annoyed… I began to think…
now I have only one thought… I thought I would … I suppose I must… I begin to
feel as though.” All the statements she makes with these beginnings unveil her
genuine attitude to the property. But the gist of the long wail is presented in two
sentences as, “I would sacrifice it at any price,” and “Oh! I’m fed up with the place.
Because nobody really wants it!” Juliette’s helplessness, her frustration, and her
emotional dependence on the servant emerge from her style of speech here.
When the maid requests her permission to be on leave the following day, she politely
asks for the reason, “Yes, what is it, my girl?” The apostrophe, “my girl” stands for
many details of the relationship between the two. The age gap, the harmony, the
inter-dependence, the cooperation, and the empathy between the two surface from
this very simple device. In the exchanges 20-31 the maid sounds very confident of
what she is saying. Juliette’s curiosity is clear in her short responses, but the final
statement is very significant of her simplicity as a mature, refined, and well-
mannered person. “But how kind of you… Thank God I’m not quite so hard up as
that yet!” She acknowledges the maid’s generosity first. Then she declines her offer
politely implying that she is not in a grave financial difficulty. There she thanks God
for helping her to dispense with such job opportunities. This accommodates the
maid’s offer to help her in a large way.
Juliette’s politeness as a refined middle-class woman with a sound financial
background does not change even in the presence of the cynical Gaston. To Jeanne
and Gaston, Juliette talks about the villa in a tone totally different from that she does
with the maid. Sounding somewhat unprofessional, she elicits their impression of
the house first. When she hears Jeanne’s view about it as “Excellent,” she goes on
telling how it suits her. She develops the metaphor of a gallery out of the villa and
that of a piece of art out of Jeanne’s persona to keep in it as its key exhibit. This may
work very well with any members of her class, but with a parsimonious husband
like Gaston it appears ineffective.
In no time Gaston starts blocking Juliette’s way. Counteracting her comments on the
property, he makes sarcastic remarks. When Juliette talks about the size of the garden
“…it’s not long and it’s not wide, but…” he completes the expression, “…it is high!”

43
Juliette does not react to this vertically, but makes an indirect and seemingly polite
comment on what she calls his witticism. Then she explains the benefit the owner
would enjoy from the presence of the other gardens in the surroundings. Gaston’s
extremely cynical analogy of parenting to counterbalance this suggestion stands
spade to spade and agonises Juliette as well as his own wife. Juliette still sounds
polite and pretends to finish the deal simply because she cannot stand such innuendo
“Well, you see, I must admit, quite frankly, that I don’t want to sell it any more.”
However, she wants to continue the showing around for Jeanne who expresses
enthusiasm.
Juliette tries to please Jeanne in the process of convincing her to purchase the
property. So she calls her and her husband, “exceptional people.” Her
unprofessionalism surfaces here as she plays the refinement card in vain, while
promoting the place, giving the impression that she sells the property to them for
sentimental reasons. “But to you, I can see with perfect assurance, I agree. Yes, I will
sell it to you.” It may work with Jeanne but not with Gaston who is determined not
to buy it.
Juliette does not change but continues in her own way to defend her position about
the price. The figure of “two hundred and fifty thousand francs” invites Gaston’s
direct controversy and Juliette stays calm but reduces it to her initial figure “two
hundred thousand”. The simultaneous “Oh!” made by both Jeanne and Juliette
remains a very apt stylistic device to highlight the incongruity of the offer Gaston
makes. Juliette’s diction is very much suitable for her dignitary social status.
Jeanne is in a mission impossible, but pretends that she is capable of succeeding with
the property sale, and continues to inspect the house. In here too, Juliet remains very
polite and cooperative. She leaves Gaston with courtesy, and sounds generous to
Jeanne. On her return from upstairs, Juliette meets a different person in Gaston. Here
Juliette speaks with great confidence. She is satisfied that she has not exaggerated
anything.
Paradoxically, this time when Gaston sounds positive, Jeanne does the opposite. But
Juliette still remains polite, “Oh, that’s quite all right.” She still does not give up
appreciating people. She sounds decent to the end of the play. When Gaston wants
the painting, her response is sympathetic, “It’s not a question of value…” She does
not quarrel with Gaston about the date of the receipt for the cheque, but lets him
carry on as he wishes, “Thank you, Monsieur.” And when the couple are about to
leave she offer to show them the garden, “Very well. I’ll show you the garden, on the
way out.” These gestures which are part of Juliette’s style help to highlight that she
has a broad margin for courtesy even in business transactions, and is tactful in her
comments and remarks about the other people. In all these exchanges, Juliette
remains tolerant, cooperative, and polite. She is naïve and vulnerable but she does
not upset the apple cart. She would not have made any success with Gaston, had she
been rude or aggressive. So the style applied for Juliette is very charming for a

44
woman of her social status.
Jean’s Speech
In Juliette’s words, Jean is “a delightful pastel” and the villa would suit her as a
gallery. That means she has a beautiful personality. Although her husband is a tough
character, she finds her way with counter-arguments against his premise about the
villa and the garden they have come to see. In reaction to the man’s biased opinion
about the place, she explicitly declares, “That’s not fair.” Each time Gaston tries to
wear a camouflage of incomprehension or misunderstanding she exposes him,
“Don’t be silly! You know perfectly well what a modern study is.”
She knows her husband well and does not allow him to maintain his dominant ways
all the time, although she does not enjoy his cooperation when it comes to financial
matters. However, she is not a person to get carried away by what he says with his
male dominance. “Don’t be aggravating, please!” Thus she gets the man to spit out
what he feels about having a property in France. He comes out with the idea that a
property in France would be more beneficial to his in-laws than him and his wife as
they are supposed to spend there only two months a year.
JEANNE: Then why have you been looking over villas for the past week?
GASTON: I have not been looking over them, you have, and it bores me.
Jeans wants to stick to her idea of buying a property in France, knowing that she and
her husband will not stay there most of the time, and Gaston does not cooperate with
her in implementing that idea. She wants to use her dowry for the property purchase
and he says that it does not exist any more although he made all his money investing
that in his business. “There’s my dowry. … … But since then you have made a
fortune.”
Jeanne is disillusioned with her husband for his ingratitude. “Then it wasn’t worth
while coming in.” Despite being utterly frustrated with him, she still remains a
cheerful person for social reasons. She is cheerful to Juliette.
JULIETTE: Won’t you sit down? (They all three sit.) Is your first impression a good one?
JEANNE: Excellent. (Exchanges 94-95)
She sides with the fair and just even against her own husband and that is clear in the
following exchange where she quietens him, encourages the lady to survive in the
conversation, and gets her to tell the price.
JEANNE: 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? (Exchange 103)
Her straightforwardness as a genuine person is obvious in her expressions. Guitri
has developed Jean’s character in maintaining the element of conflict which is
essential in projecting the theme in a dramaturgical framework. So he has devised
her language to counteract all his wicked moves in conversation.

A Crtical Analysis Of The English Morality Play EVERYMAN

A Crtical Analysis Of The English Morality Play EVERYMAN

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