Class XI:English [Ch-1 The Portrait of a Lady]

A Poem by Harry James

Summary

The writer recalls his Grandmother as short, healthy and slightly bent. She used to walk around the whole house in white clothes. 

The writer thinks of her as not very pretty but constantly beautiful all the time. During their lengthy stay in the village, Grandmother woke him up from the bed in the early morning, plastered his wooden slate, organised his breakfast, and sent him to the school. She sat inside and studied the sacred texts while the children learned the alphabet.

A turning point in their beautiful relationship arrived when they went to live in a city. Now, the writer used to go to the city school on a school bus and studied subjects like English, Physics, mathematics and many more subjects that his grandmother could not understand at all.

She thought music was dreadful. When the writer went to a university, he got a separate room in his house. Grandmother rarely talked to anyone in the house now. She was constantly occupied with her spinning wheel and reciting prayers and she hardly ever spoke to anyone. Her daily routine consisted of breaking bread into pieces and giving it to the birds. 

When the writer was leaving on a trip abroad for his further studies, his grandmother did not get disturbed at all. Her lips were moving in prayer, her thoughts were consumed by prayer and her fingers were busy reciting the story of the beads on her rosary. But when he came back home after a duration of 5 years, his grandmother was there to welcome him back and he saw her celebrate his return.

Although the doctor told them that it was a slight fever and would go away very soon, still she could foresee that her time to leave this world was near. Her fingers were busy reciting the story of the beads on her rosary.

Her body was discovered on the floor, wrapped in a red shawl after she died. All the sparrows flew away without making any noise when the dead body of the old lady was carried away for the last rites.

About the author

Henry James OM (15 April 1843 – 28 February 1916) was an American-born British author. He was the son of Henry James Sr. and the brother of philosopher and psychologist William James and diarist Alice James.

Understand The Text

The three phases of the author's relationship with his grandmother before he left the country to study abroad.

• The three phases-

1. First Phase

The period of his early childhood when he used to live with her in the village. His grandmother used to wake him up and get him ready for school. They both would walk to school together and come back home together they had a good friendship with each other.

2. Second Phase

In this phase, the author and his grandmother shifted to the city as the author’s parents settled within the city. Although they share the same room this was the turning point of their friendship. Now, they saw less of each other.

3. Third Phase

When the author went to university, he was given a room of his own. This made their friendship bend weaker as the same room stopped. She became quieter and private and kept the spinning wheel all day long.

Three reasons why the author's grandmother was disturbed when he started going to the city school.

• Three reasons why the author's grandmother was disturbed when he started going to the city school are-

1. Her routine to go to school with the author broke.

2. She can't teach the author about the scriptures.

3. They didn't like the idea of city schools teaching music to students.

Three ways in which the author's grandmother spent her day after he grew up.

• Three ways-

1. Most of the time she lived alone in her house.

2. She sat at her spinning wheel preaching prayers.

3. In the afternoon, she would feed the sparrows hay for an hour.

Mention the odd ways in which the author's grandmother behaved just before she died.

• The odd ways-

1. The author's grandmother refused to talk to any family member.

2. Very first time in her eyes she forgot to pray the day before her death.

3. She kept on eyeing in bed while telling her beaks.

The way in which the sparrows expressed their sorrow when the author's grandmother died.

• All the sparrows seemed very sad and they didn't make any sound of chirping. When the author's mother gave them some bread crumbs, none of them ate. As soon as the grandmother's corpse was carried off, they flew away quietly. Thus, the sparrows expressed their sorrow.

Talk About The Text

The author's grandmother was a religious person. What are two different ways in which we come to know this?

• The author's grandmother was a religious person this can be observed from the following instances- 

1. Her lips kept constantly moving in one inaudible prayer and one hand was busy tearing the bread of the rosary.

2. She said that she used to get up early in the morning to pray in a monotonous sing song.

Describe the changing relationship between the author and her grandmother. Did their feelings for each other change?

• The author and his grandmother lived as intimate friends in the village. A turning point came in their relationship when they came to the city to live with the author's parents. The author joined an English school in the city. She remained home as she could not accompany him to the school.

Would you agree that the author's grandmother was a person strong in character? If yes, give an instance that shows this.

• Yes, the author's grandmother was a person strong in character. This becomes clear from the fact that she never complains about the fact that the amount of time that authors spend with her has reduced after coming to the city. Although she felt lonely, she never expressed it.

Have you known someone like the author's grandmother? Do you feel the same sense of loss with regard to someone whom you have loved and lost?

• Yes, I know someone like the author's grandmother. It was my own grandmother who passed away recently. The intense sense of loss is very heart wrenching as I spent almost fifteen years of my life with her.