Department of English
Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University
(1959)
Roald Dahl
(13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990)
Notes
This short story by Roald Dahl was first published in The New Yorker, November 28, 1959.
142 Swindon: In other versions the city is Reading.
142 trilby hat: a soft felt hat, traditionally made from rabbit hair, with an indented crown and a narrow flexible brim. See Hat Dictionary and Glossary of Hat Terms. See pictures at Men's Trilby Hats. Find discussion of hats (the trilby among them) in cultural or symbolic terms at History of Hats and Hat History.
143 pussy-willows: The pussy willow flower is considered to symbolize motherhood; "To dream of a pussy willow means there is a child in your near future." In some versions of the short story, "yellow chrysanthemums, tall and beautiful," are the flowers in the vase. Yellow chrysanthemums, according to the Society of American Florists, mean "secret admirer." Note that pussy willows are associated with spring and chrysanthemums are associated with autumn.
143 rapacious (Merriam-Webster)
[Latin rapac-,
rapax, from rapere
“to seize”]
1: excessively grasping or covetous
2: living on prey
3: ravenous <a rapacious appetite>
143 dithering (Merriam-Webster)
1: shiver, tremble
2: to act nervously or indecisively: vacillate
148 Dempsey and Tunney: Jack Dempsey and Gene Tunney are heavyweight boxers famous for their 1927 fight. See The Dempsey-Tunney fight.
151 bitter almonds: toxic type of almond (unlike the sweet almond). See Almond. Note, however, that the toxic content of bitter almonds are supposedly destroyed by heat.
Study Questions for Roald Dahl's “The Landlady”
Some things to think about as you read and reread.
Humor: Felicity, Dahl’s widow, explains the perception that her husband is a funny man: “It is in his writing, in his descriptions of things. It was a hidden, subversive humour, not a comedian telling jokes” (Day). Do you find evidence of this humor in “The Landlady”?
Good and Bad Signs: Billy Weaver observes at the beginning of the story that “Animals were usually a good sign in a place like this” (143). What other signs, good and bad, do you notice? How are they presented? How accurately do they signal the place (the Bed and Breakfast) and the events to come?
Descriptions of the Landlady: When the landlady first appears, she is compared to “a jack-in-the-box” (144). Later she is described as having “a round pink face and very gentle blue eyes.” Some other similes and descriptions are “she looked exactly like the mother of one’s best school-friend...” (145), “the old girl is slightly dotty,” and “smiling down at him with pale lips.” What do you make of these impressions that sometimes hint at oddities and other times evoke comfort? Is her reference to the Bed and Breakfast as “my little nest” an implied simile that she is like a mother bird? What is suggested by Billy’s speculation that his landlady has “probably lost a son in the war, or something like that, and...never got over it” (146)? Does the “peculiar smell” emanating from her that reminds Billy of “pickled walnuts? New leather? Or was it the corridors of a hospital?” at all odd or unexpected (149)?
Speed: Examine the “briskness” of Billy. It is a businessman quality he would like to have. When does Billy act “briskly” when does he not? What about the movement of the landlady? What is the significance of time and of how quickly or slowly things happen in the story? Why are words like “at once” or “suddenly” used so often in the story?
Emphasis: Notice how italics are used in this story. There seems to be quite a few. What do they emphasize? What information or characteristic do they convey about the speaker or the plot?
Irony:
What is ironic about the names Christopher Mulholland and Gregory W. Temple (147)? The narrative presents them as entries in the landlady’s guestbook (147), Billy Weaver thinks they were headlines in the newspapers (149), and the landlady says “they’re on the third floor, both of them together.” Why are they in the story, or are they?
Appearance vs. Reality: “That parrot,” Billy Weaver admits to the landlady near the end of the story, “had me completely fooled when I first saw it through the window from the street. I could have sworn it was alive” (150). What does it mean to be fooled into thinking that appearance equals reality? What effect does irony have on apparently innocent words, phrases, and statements like “terribly” (145, 150), “a nice cup of tea and a ginger biscuit before you go to bed” (148), “I’m a lucky fellow” (147), and “She was not only harmless—there was no question about that—but she was also quite obviously a kind and generous soul” (146)?
Suspense: Dahl has admitted that “The main thing that ties all my work together is a terrible fear of boring the reader. I always feel compelled to hold the reader, get him by the throat and never let go until the last page” (West 65). How does he grip the reader in “The Landlady”?
Review Sheet
Characters
Billy Weaver
the landlady
Mr. Greenslade
Christopher Mulholland
Gregory W. Temple
Setting
Bath
Bed and Breakfast
Plot
Discussion
Sample Student Reading Responses to Roald Dahl's “The Landlady”
Response 1:
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Key Terms to Date
plot vocabulary
plot, main plot, minor plot
story
conflict, internal conflict, external conflict, clash of actions, clash of ideas, clash of desires, clash of wills,
major, minor, emotional, physical
man v. self
man v. man
man v. society
man v. nature
man v. the supernatural
man v. machine/technology
cf. conflict in fairy tales:
good v. evil
rich v. poor
young v. old
beauty v. ugliness
weak v. strong
innocent v. wise
protagonist
antagonist (antagonistic)
suspense (suspenseful)
mystery (mysterious, mysteriously, mysteriousness)
dilemma
surprise (surprising, surprised)
plot
twist
ending
happy ending
unhappy ending
indeterminate ending (ambiguous)
surprise ending (unexpected)
artistic unity (unified)
time sequence
exposition
in
medias res
complication (complicate)
inciting
force
rising action
falling action
crisis
climax
anti-climax (anti-climactic)
conclusion (conclude, conclusive)
resolution (resolve, resolving)
denouement
flashback, retrospect
back-story
foreshadowing
causality
plot structure
initiating incident
epiphany
reversal
catastrophe
beginning, middle, end
scene
chance, coincidence
double plot
parallel
plot
subplot, underplot
deus ex machina
disclosure, discovery
movement, shape of movement
trajectory
change
focus
elementary
complex
Reference
Day, Elizabeth. "My years with Roald, by the 'love of his life.'" Interview. The Observer 9 November 2008. 14 November 2008 <http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/nov/09/felicity-dahl-roald>.
West, Mark I. "Interview with Roald Dahl." Children's Literature for Education 21.2 (1990): 61–66. (pdf file, 366.2 KB)
Other books by Dahl
Dahl, Roald. Someone Like You. 1953. (collection of short stories)
Dahl, Roald. Fantastic Mr. Fox.
Dahl, Roald. The Enormous Crocodile.
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Last updated November 29, 2008