NCERT Solutions For Class 11 English Elective Chapter 36 The Luncheon

The narrator tries to keep himself calm while the lady orders for numerous expensive dishes and doesn’t let the truth revealed about his apprehension regarding the bill. Like a gentleman he successfully maintains his dignity and good humour by complying with the lady’s views regarding food habits. He never forbade her from ordering expensive dishes even though he was conscious of the amount he had in his wallet.

We all have some sort of foibles, but we hardly realise them. The reason for the same is our ego and self-esteem that prevents us from introspecting. Another reason is that we don’t allow people to point out to our foibles. We consider those who try to correct us, our enemies. So, normally people with foibles remains unconscious of them.

Maugham’s ‘The Luncheon’ is written in the first-person narrative where we get chance to peep inside the narrator’s mind. We come to know about his feelings of apprehension, anticipation, fear and embarrassment. Due to the first-person narrative we get to witness his mental struggle behind his apparent friendly gesture. The first-person narration allows us to see through his mind that fosters sarcasm in the story. The gap between his mental trauma and the external rib of friendliness helps us understand his predicament.

Words and phrases that indicate that the author was not financially well off are:

‘Tiny apartment’

“I was earning barely enough to keep body and soul together.”

“I could not afford caviar.”

‘heart sank’

“Not a penny in my pocket.”

The narrator was not a rich man and he never thought of having a luncheon in such an expensive restaurant. But he could not refuse the request and agrees to meet the lady who was his admirer. He estimated the budget of the luncheon to be less than 15 francs, but the lady ordered many dishes one after the other. Narrator’s heart sank when she ordered some of the most expensive dishes like Asparagus. The narrator was worried as the luncheon was going far beyond his budget. He knew that after paying the bill he would be left with absolutely nothing for the rest of the month. The expressions such as ‘my heart sank’, ‘panic seized’, etc. reflects the mental agony of the writer as he was certain of his inability to pay bill for the luncheon. He knew exactly how much money he had in his pocket. As the lady kept on ordering one dish after the other the author was worried, he wouldn’t have enough money to pay the bill.

Devastating: causing severe shock

Passion: a state or outburst of strong emotion

Caviare: the pickled roe of sturgeon or other large fish, eaten as a delicacy.

Complacency: a feeling of uncritical satisfaction with one's achievements

Vindictive: having a strong or unreasoning desire for revenge

Mortifying: causing great embarrassment

Ingratiating: intended to gain approval or favour

The device of humour is used to evoke laughter. The author of the story is a humourist. In the opening of the story, the narrator evokes laughter by describing how he was tactfully called by the lady to have luncheon at Foyot. He admits that he was driven by flattery as the exotic venue for the luncheon was out of his budget. We find the humour in the story when the narrator constantly tries to calculate the available cash in his pocket and while trying to be friendly with the lady. The lady’s remark that she lives on a small amount of food turns out to be humorous when she orders a variety of expensive delicacies. We witness humour when the lady suggests to the narrator to follow her example and the narrator replies that he would rather prefer to not to have anything for dinner that night. Thus, we find that Maugham’s “The Luncheon” contains ample humorous moments combined with soft sarcasm.

b. The story The Luncheon narrates how the greedy lady friend of the narrator cunningly manages to have lunch in an exotic restaurant with the author’s meagre savings for the month. The narrator carefully plans to order some items in the highly expensive restaurant which would not affect his monthly budget. But his lady friend places orders one after another without being bothered about his budget. At the end, when the narrator's lady friend advices him to eat less like her, the narrator humorously replies that he would do better than that by not taking dinner that night. On this the lady remarks that he is quite a humourist.

c. The story ‘The Luncheon’ is full of instances when the narrator laughs at himself. In the beginning of the story, the narrator admits that he was flattered by his lady admirer. He admits that as he was young, he could not refuse to the invitation by a lady. In the restaurant when the lady starts ordering for expensive dishes one after another, he laughs at himself as to why he agreed to the proposal of having lunch in Foyot.

Irony is the use of words, the intended meaning of which is different from the actual meaning of the words. It can also be a difference between what might be expected to happen and what actually occurs. Irony is used typically for humorous or emphatic effect. In the given story there are many instances of irony.

The first ironical situation in the story appears when the narrator decides to meet the lady at Foyot which was completely out of his budget and he never even thought of going there. But he decides to go there to the see the lady who declared to be his admirer. To this utter dismay the lady was in her forties. She was very imposing and not attractive.

The author visits Foyot thinking that he would manage to keep bill below fifteen francs but at the end after paying the bill he was left with nothing for the rest of the month. It was an ironic situation

The lady tells the narrator that she never eats anything for luncheon. She says she eats just one thing for the luncheon. But soon she orders salmon, a highly priced item in the menu. She does not stop there and orders many more expensive items.

The story includes verbal irony also. The lady remarks that she never eats anything for luncheon. Worrying about the bill, the narrator tells the lady that his doctors have forbidden him to drink champagne. Picking up a peach from the basket the lady tells that the luncheon was just a snack.

Twenty years ago, when the author was living in Paris, he had met a lady, who was an admirer of his stories. She posted a letter 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 imagined of visiting that restaurant, but he could not refuse her request.

He estimated the cost of a luncheon not more than fifteen Francs and decided to cut down coffee from his menu, so that he could have enough for the next two weeks. The meeting was fixed on Thursday, at half past twelve, through the letter. The lady was in her forties, talkative, imposing and unattractive. She had ordered salmon, and caviare, 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 chatting about art, literature, and music with the meal, while William kept worrying about the bill. The bill was soaring above his anticipation. When the waiter had come with the bill, she waived him aside and ordered for Asparagus, a very expensive dish. William’s heart sank, yet he had to supress his emotions. After Asparagus she ordered for ice-cream and then coffee. She ordered every dish announcing that 'she never ate anything for luncheon - just a bite'.

To the narrator’s dismay, the head waiter appeared with a big basket full of huge Peaches. She picked up one saying that her meal was just a snack. Somehow the bill was paid, and after that William found just a three Francs in his pocket for the tip. Now he did not have a penny left in his pocket for the whole month. When William sees the twenty-one stone lady who had impoverished him twenty years ago, he feels happy and says he had finally had his revenge.