THE DEAR DEPARTED PART 1 AND 2 (SUMMERY)
THE DEAR DEPARTED
About
the Characters
Abel Merryweather -
Mr. Merryweather is over seventy, he is bright and vigorous with a twinkle in
his eye. He believes in eating, drinking and being merry he is frank and
straightforward. He takes the wise decision of disowning his children and start
making his life more comfortable by remarrying at the age of past seventy.
Amelia Slater -
She is the elder daughter of Mr. Abel Merryweather. She is a greedy, stingy and
materialistic woman. Mrs. Slater can stoop down to any level to satisfy her
greed. She is a dominating wife and a vulgar woman, prepared to do any amount
of straight talking to get her own way.
Elizabeth Jordan -
She is the sister of Amelia Slater and the second daughter of Mr. Abel
Merryweather. Like her sister, she too has no feelings for her father nor for
her sister. She is stout, complacent, impassive and has an irritating air of
being always right.
Henry Slater -
Henry Slater is Amelia’s husband and is far more scrupulous than any other person
in this play. He is more sensible than the other characters of the play.Hence,
he gives the logical suggestions while talking about the obituary notice to be
given in the paper. He is a henpecked husband.
Ben Jordan -
Ben Jordan is the husband of Elizabeth and he is a jolly little man with a
chirpy voice. Accustomed to be humorous but at present he is trying to adapt
himself to the regrettable occasion.
Victoria Slater -
A girl of ten, Victoria is an obedient child. Very fond of her grandfather and she
has genuine feelings of love towards him. She is a precocious child. The
presence of this young girl in the play comes as a whiff of cool breeze in the
stuffiness generated by the adults’ scheming, quarrelling and scrupulosity.
Summary
In the play The Dear Departed, Stanley Houghton satirizes the
degradation of moral values in the family. In trying to grab the things
belonging to their father, the children completely disregard modesty, decency
and obligation towards their family.
In the beginning of the play, Mrs. Slater goes to offer
something to her father Abel Merry weather and finds him quite cold, not
responding at all. He is motionless. So, she declares that her father is no
more. Accordingly, her sister and her husband, the Jordans are informed about
the sudden demise of their father. Mrs. Slater and her husband are busy making
arrangements for the mourning. They are expecting the Jordans to join them.
They start using the various belongings of their father. Victoria, daughter of
Mrs. Slater does not like all this but reluctantly she is helping her parents
in these matters.
Victoria is asked to keep a watch on the main door to inform her
mother about the arrival of the Jordans. Mrs. Slater is not willing to share
her father's belongings with Mrs. Jordan. When the articles are being shifted,
the Jordans arrive. The family members start a detailed conversation on the
deeds of their deceased father, planning the details of the obituary
announcement in the papers and the insurance premium payment. They start a
discussion over the distribution of their father's belongings among them.
Surprisingly, at this point of time, the play witnesses a turn
of events. Victoria who has been sent to the grandfather's room, returns very
scared. She tells everyone that grandfather is alive. To everybody's surprise,
grandfather is seen coming downstairs. He is surprised to find the Jordans over
there too. No one dares to tell him that he had been declared 'dead'. While
taking tea, the truth comes out and he gets to know how his daughters have been
in a hurry to divide his possessions among them.
On knowing the harsh reality, the grandfather decides not to
live with any of his daughters. He even expresses his final intention to change
his will. He declares that he is going to give everything to Mrs. Shorrocks
whom he will marry. He feels that by marrying Mrs. Shorrocks he will have
someone to look after him whole-heartedly without considering him to be a
burden.
