A Story of an English author who humorously describes his life events and how he takes his revenge.

1. THE
LUNCHEON
English Group Presentation By
Divleen Kaur
Mukul Rastogi
Abhishek Pathak
Rohit Saini
Arpit

2. Introduction
"THE LUNCHEON", is a short story written by a prominent,
English novelist, short-story writer, playwright and essayist
Somerset Maugham.
First of all I'd like to say some words about the title of the text
"The Luncheon". The title of the text is rather ironical. If we
consult a dictionary, we can find out that the word "luncheon"
means a "light snack", but as we can see hereinafter a light
snack turns to be an abundant and expensive meal.
The writer of 'The Luncheon' William Somerset Maugham, in
this short story, relates about a lady who is an admirer of his
stories. She wins the author's favor and expresses her wish to
meet him at a high class restaurant. William exposes the false
motives of modest eating habits, of the middle classes with a
touch of humour.

3. About the Author
William Somerset Maugham(1874 -1965), an
English writer of short stories, novels and plays,
was born in Paris, where his father was
counselor at the British Embassy.
Both his parents died before he was 10, and he
went back to England to live with his father’s
brother, a clerk. He was educated at King’s
School, Canterbury, and later in Germany at
Heidelberg University.

4. About the Author
He studied medicine, but after receiving his degree at St.
Thomas’s Hospital in London, devoted the rest of his life to
literature. He has achieved success as a novelist with
novels such as Of Human Bondage (1915), The Moon and
Sixpence (1919), Cakes and Ale (1930), and The Razor’s
Edge (1944); and as a dramatist with such plays as The
Circle (1921), and Our Betters (1923); but his greatest
success has been gained, perhaps, by his short stories.
The Luncheon was one of his stories that shared his life
events in a satirical way that one reads with joy and relates
to any such events that might have happened in their life.

5. Summary
Summary of 'The Luncheon' the writer of 'The Luncheon' William
Somerset Maugham, in this short story, relates about a lady who is
an admirer of his stories. She wins the author's favor and expresses
her wish to meet him at a high class restaurant. William exposes the
false motives of modest eating habits, of the middle classes with a
touch of humor.
Twenty years ago the author was living in Paris, when he had met a
lady, who is an admirer of his stories. She had met him at a play
and relates to him the incident during the interval which had
occurred at that time. She had read a book written by him, and had
written a letter to him about her views.
Another letter was posted, stating about her visit to Paris and her
desire to have a little luncheon at the Foyots, a restaurant where
French senators eat. William was not a rich man and had never
even thought of visiting that restaurant, nor did he possess the art of
refusing her request.

6. Estimating the cost of a luncheon, which should not cost more than
fifteen Francs, he decided to cut down coffee from his menu, so that
he could have enough for himself for the next two weeks.
His meeting was fixed on Thursday, at half past twelve, through
correspondence. The lady was in her Forties, talkative, and not
attractive. She had ordered for Salmon, and Caviar, while the
Salmon was being prepared. William had ordered for the cheapest
dish mutton- chops.
After the meal, she had ordered for white champagne. She kept
enjoying the meal, and chatting about art, literature, and music,
while William kept wondering about the bill. The bill of fare was
soaring above that which he had anticipated. When the waiter had
come with the bill she waived him aside with an air of gesture and
ordered for Asparagus, the horribly expensive dish.

7. William’s heart sank, his mouth watered, and yet he had to
quell his emotions. Adding to worsen the situation,
she ordered for ice-cream and then coffee, all the same
announcing that 'she never ate anything for luncheon - just a
bite' Thoughts kept reeling through William's mind about how
he was going to pay the exorbitant bill or how could he
feign an act of his pocket having been picked.
To his utter dismay, the head waiter walked up to the table
with a large basket full of huge Peaches. She picked up one
protesting that her meal was just a snack, and that she
could certainly enjoy the Peach.
The bill was finally paid, and William found himself with just a
few Francs for the tips, and not a penny left in his pocket for
the whole month. William believes, that he had had
his revenge for then, when the Twenty years had passed by,
he met her weighing One Hundred and Thirty -Six Kilograms.

8. Character Sketch
The lady
The lady was 40yrs old, talkative and not attractive. She
loved the writing of narrator. She had read of his books
and wrote a letter to congratulate him on his work. She
wants a chat with him and a little lunch at foyot’s from
him. She was in fact a women of forty -a charming age,
but not one that excites a sudden and devastating
passion at first sight. She gave me the impression of
having more teeth white and large. Not only her
appearance but her dialogues express that she is
extremely fat , food loving and ravenous woman who
doesn’t even think a bit about the costs , that narrator
have to pay for the lunch. Her dialogue ,”I never eat
more than one thing “ and orders the most expensive
dishes shows that this woman is smart, experienced,
selfish and hardly bothered about the expense.

9. The narrator
The narrator was young, fame-thirsty inexperienced young
writer and living in Paris. The narrator was very poor and could
hardly keep body and soul together. When the narrator got the
letter from the lady who was admired by his work and want to
meet him. He was flattered and couldn’t say ‘NO’ to woman
because of narrator’s traditional concept. He is also a educated
man, polite from a good family tradition. When the narrator met
the lady at foyot’s , he had only eight franes to pay the bill. At
last narrator was left with no money at all. The narrator feels
that finally made his revenge when he see that lady with lot of
weight. At the end of the meal, he is “past caring”, in for a penny
in for a pound, his submission to the “white flashy teeth” of the
predator has been total, his defeat complete. Ironically, the
narrator now being completely ruined, all he can do is watch her
eat “voluptuously” (84) and apply to himself her so-called
principle of frugality: “I will eat nothing for dinner tonight”. The
only thing to do is to wait for a hypothetical “revenge”…

10. Major Events
The first event occurs when the narrator meeting
one of his acquaintances in the theater. They had
met after a long time (20 years), and the narrator
found it hard to recognize her.
The acquaintance i.e. a lady, recognized him
immediately and asked him if he remembered the
last and first time they had met. She reminded him
that he had asked her out for luncheon.
The narrator quickly remembers what had happened
and narrates the story.

11. The second events occurs at the a formal lunch in a French
Restaurant named Foyot’s. As told by the narrator Foyot’s
is a restaurant at which the French senators eat and it was so
far beyond narrator means that he had never even thought of
going there.
The narrator takes her to an expensive restaurant where he’d
never dared to go himself, as he could not afford it.
As Rohit has covered about what happened at lunch so at last
when the bill for the "light lunch" comes, narrator has only three
francs left to leave a meager tip for the waiter. Now, narrator has
the rest of the month ahead of him. The supporter offers him
nothing; instead she jumps into a cab and calls happily to him.
He did not have a single penny in his pocket, and he had the
whole month left.

12. In the theatre... 20 Years later
This brings us back to the present time, where the narrator
and the lady are meeting after twenty long years.
The narrator tells us that he had had his revenge for the
luncheon ordeal.
How did he have his revenge?
The lady weighed 130 Kg now (in some versions of the
story, her weighed is said to be 21 stones, or 294 pounds,
which is the same as around 130 Kg). The narrator
observed this result with a pardonable sense of
achievement.

13. Conclusion
The story is full of irony. Firstly the irony lies in the title
itself, the title says “THE LUNCHEON”, which literally
means a light snack but as we can see in the story a
light snack turns to be an abundant and expensive meal.
The main focus of the story is in the appearance vs
reality. The speaker, in “luncheon”, wishes from the
beginning that his date would be a beautiful woman. He
imagines a portrayal of a graceful lady in his mind. But,
when he goes to have a lunch with her, she appears as
a surprising blast, a total opposite to his imagination.

14. Conclusion
Not only her appearance but there is a conflict between
her words too that “she does not eat too much” but when
it comes to eating she orders ostensibly being of higher
social standing and wealth for which the narrator had to
pay heavy cost.
Also the narrator knew that he can’t afford eating
expensive restaurant but when he was praised for his
first published work. He could not refuse when the lady
asked him for a Luncheon at an expensive restaurant.
He was flattered by the attention being showered on him
and could not deny for the Luncheon.