The Boarding House - Summary | The Heritage of Words

English | Summary
Unit Eight : Playing with Text
The Boarding House
Wilhelm Grimn
The Heritage of Words

After a difficult marriage with a drunken husband that ends in separation, Mrs. Mooney opens a boarding house to make a living. Jack, her son and Polly, her daughter live with her in the house, which is occupied by clerks from the city, as well as occasional tourists and musicians. Mrs. Mooney runs a strict and tight business and is known by the lodgers as “The Madam.” Polly, who used to work in an office, now stays at home at her mother’s request, to amuse the lodgers and help with the cleaning. Surrounded by so many young men, Polly ultimately develops a relationship with a rich thirty five years old Mr. Doran.

This Summary is Moved to our New site => http://www.merospark.com/hseb-notes/the-boarding-house/

Important Questions :

1. Sketch the character of Mrs. Mooney.

Ans : Mrs. Mooney, the main character in the James Joyce story “The Boarding House” is described as "a woman who deals with moral problems as a cleaver deals with meat". She was a butcher’s daughter who married her father’s foreman. Later she divorced him because she could not withstand his drinking and bullying nature. Taking charge of her daughter Polly and son Jack, she opened a boarding house in Hardwicke Street. She was strong, strict, determined and practical. She knew how to handle matters- when to act and when to remain silent.

When reading further in the story, we find that the boarding house is a trap, where Mrs. Mooney is a hunter who's looking for a decent husband for her daughter Polly within her guests. She is using Polly as bait to catch Mr. Doran, the victim in the story. Mrs. Mooney manipulates Mr. Doran into her trap by using her daughter's innocence as the bait and Mr. Doran's innocence as a victim. Mrs. Mooney is a woman of business and Mr. Doran is the perfect victim for her and for Polly. Mr. Doran has also a decent job and he fits perfectly to the economical needs of Mrs. Mooney. Mrs. Mooney also uses their society and religion as a tool to cause Mr. Doran marrying her daughter. She knows that her victim is a religious man, who lives in the religious culture of Dublin that obeys to the rules of the church. He is afraid of the church and he is afraid to lose his job in the Catholic wine merchant office. Thus Mr. Doran had no other option than marrying Polly. Mrs. Mooney is like a watchdog that watches that the prey will not run out of the trap, but will run into it. 

Questions for Practice :

1. How do you think Mrs Mooney settled with Mr. Doran about Polly? Did Mr. Moran marry Polly or pay out compensation? 
2. Sketch the character of Mrs. Mooney.
3. Write an interpretation of 'The Boarding House'.
4. Briefly narrate the story of "The Boarding House".

Read this Also :

• The Tell-Tale Heart - Summary | The Heritage of Words
• Purgatory - Summary | The Heritage of Words
• Hansel and Gretel - Summary | The Heritage of Words
• Gretel - Summary | The Heritage of Words

Don't forget to LIKE, SHARE and COMMENT. Please Join with us on Facebook and Google+ for daily Notes and Updates.