Mother's Day NCERT Solutions Class 11 PDF Download 2026

Ans: The play raises several important social issues regarding the status of women, particularly housewives:
1. Unpaid and Unappreciated Labor: The mother works 24/7 without weekends or holidays, unlike the rest of the family who work 8-hour shifts with weekends off. Her labor is unpaid and completely taken for granted.
2. Lack of Respect: The husband and children treat the mother like an unpaid servant. They order her around, demand their tea and ironed clothes, and leave the house for their own entertainment without spending time with her.
3. Loss of Identity: The mother sacrifices her own desires, hobbies, and personality to serve the family, eventually becoming submissive and losing her voice. The play highlights the need for family members to treat the mother with dignity and acknowledge her rights as an equal human being.

Ans: While the characters (especially the pompous George and spoiled children) are slightly caricatured for comedic effect, the underlying problems are 100% genuine and still relevant today. Housewives are frequently undervalued in many households globally.
Resolution: The play resolves the issue through a supernatural gimmick—a personality swap. The aggressive Mrs. Fitzgerald (in Mrs. Pearson's body) refuses to do their chores, mocks them, drinks stout, and smokes. This shock treatment forces the family to realize how much they depend on her and how poorly they have treated her.
Agreement: Yes, the resolution is satisfying in the context of a comedy. While magic isn't real, the metaphorical lesson is: sometimes one must put their foot down, stop being overly accommodating, and demand the respect they deserve to bring about a change in others' behavior.

Ans: If writing today, the core issue of unappreciated domestic work remains, but the context would include modern elements:
1. The "Double Burden": Many modern mothers are working women. However, they are still expected to manage 100% of the household chores and child-rearing after returning from the office, leading to severe burnout.
2. Digital Disconnect: Children and husbands ignoring the mother at the dinner table while being glued to smartphones or social media.
3. Mental Load: The invisible labor of planning meals, remembering doctors' appointments, and managing household logistics that falls disproportionately on mothers.

Ans: Yes, drama is an excellent medium for conveying social messages.
Unlike an essay or an article, drama brings characters and conflicts to life. The audience can visually and emotionally connect with Mrs. Pearson's exhaustion and the family's arrogance. The use of humor and satire makes the bitter truth easier to digest without sounding preachy. When people watch a play like "Mother's Day," they often see reflections of their own behavior in the characters, prompting self-reflection and social change in a highly engaging way.

Ans: Mrs. Pearson is a pleasant, worried-looking, timid, and submissive woman who speaks in a light, flurried tone. Mrs. Fitzgerald, on the other hand, is older, heavier, has a strong and aggressive personality, smokes, and speaks with a deep voice.

Ans: Mrs. Fitzgerald learned her magic spells from the "East" (presumably India or a similar region) where she had spent twelve years with her husband, who was stationed there.

Ans: Doris was absolutely shocked and astounded. She had never seen her mother smoke or play solitaire during the day. When her mother refused to iron her yellow silk dress and answered her back rudely, Doris was close to tears.

Ans: Charlie Spence is the boy Doris intends to go out with. Mrs. Pearson deeply insults him, calling him "buck-toothed" and "half-witted," and says that at her age, she would have found someone better or given up on boys altogether.

Ans: Cyril briskly enters demanding if his tea is ready. When his mother says "No," he is annoyed. His annoyance turns to shock when he sees his mother drinking stout (beer) and refusing to get his clothes ready.

Ans: She brutally reveals that the people at the club secretly laugh at him behind his back. They call him "Pompy-ompy Pearson" because they think he is slow and pompous. This revelation deeply hurts and humiliates George.

Ans: Once Mrs. Fitzgerald's aggressive spirit entered Mrs. Pearson's body, the Pearson household was turned upside down.
First, Doris was shocked to find her mother smoking and refusing to iron her dress, eventually bursting into tears after Charlie Spence was insulted.
Next, Cyril was denied his tea and told that his mother would now work a strict 40-hour week with weekends off.
Finally, the pompous George was ridiculed for his behavior and devastated to learn that he was a laughingstock ("Pompy-ompy Pearson") at his beloved club. By the end of the evening, the arrogant, demanding family was reduced to a frightened, obedient group, ready to listen to their mother's demands.

Ans: The humor in the play arises from situational comedy, role reversal, and sharp, witty dialogues. The sheer shock on the faces of Doris, Cyril, and George when the usually timid Mrs. Pearson suddenly smokes, drinks stout, and acts like a boss is hilarious.
Doris crying over her "buck-toothed" boyfriend, Cyril's confusion over his missing tea, and George's inflated ego being burst with the nickname "Pompy-ompy Pearson" provide great comic relief. The climax is especially funny when the real Mrs. Pearson (in Mrs. Fitzgerald's body) visits and frantically tries to stop the "fake" Mrs. Pearson from insulting her family further.

Ans: Mrs. Fitzgerald is a strong, liberated, and domineering woman. She enjoys a smoke, a drink, and fortune-telling. Having lived in the East, she possesses mysterious magical knowledge. Unlike Mrs. Pearson, she does not let anyone walk over her.
Her intervention was absolutely necessary because Mrs. Pearson loved her family too much to discipline them. Mrs. Pearson was ruining them by fulfilling their every whim, turning them into selfish individuals. It required the ruthless, thick-skinned approach of Mrs. Fitzgerald to break the family's toxic habits, show them a mirror, and restore Mrs. Pearson's rightful dignity in the house.

Ans: This statement is the central thesis of the play. The Pearson family embodies the exact opposite of this ideal. George, Doris, and Cyril treat Annie Pearson like an unpaid domestic servant. They enter the house, throw orders at her, and leave for their own entertainment. They fail to realize that running a house is a full-time job that deserves respect and gratitude. The play strongly argues that mothers are the foundation of the family, and true family harmony can only exist when the mother is treated as an equal, rather than dirt to be walked upon.

Ans: *Dear Diary,*
I am still shaking. Today was the worst day of my life. I came home expecting my yellow silk dress to be ironed, as always. But Mother was sitting there... smoking! She didn't even make tea. When I asked about my dress, she rudely refused and told me to iron it myself. Worse, she called Charlie Spence "buck-toothed and half-witted"! I cried so much. She has never spoken to me like this. But looking back... maybe I have been taking her for granted. We all have. We treat her like a maid. Maybe she just snapped. Tomorrow, I think I will help her make the supper. It's time we treated her better.

Ans: Mrs. Pearson (with Mrs. Fitzgerald's spirit) says this to her son, Cyril. Cyril was complaining about working an 8-hour shift and demanding his tea. The mother points out the harsh reality that she works much longer hours than him, 7 days a week, but gets absolutely no salary or appreciation, highlighting the thankless nature of a housewife's job.

Ans: Mrs. Pearson declared that from now on, she too would work a 40-hour week just like the rest of the family. She would take the weekends (Saturday and Sunday) off for herself, leaving the family to manage their own meals and chores during that time.

Ans: George was angry because he found his wife drinking stout during the day. Furthermore, he was annoyed that his tea wasn't ready, even though he claimed he didn't want any tea. Her disrespectful tone further infuriated his pompous ego.

Ans: The play ends on a happy note. After the personalities are swapped back, the terrified family is extremely obedient to the real Mrs. Pearson. They agree to her simple demands: they will all stay in for the evening, play a game of rummy, and the children (Cyril and Doris) will prepare the supper while she relaxes and talks with her husband.