A Matter of Husbands

Ferenc Molnar 

Translated by Benjamin Glazer

About the Playwright                        

Widely regarded as Hungary’s most celebrated and controversial playwright, Ferenc Molnár’s (1878–1952) primary aim was to entertain people by transforming his personal experiences into literary works of art. Out of his many plays, The Devil (1907), Lilion (1909), The Guardsman (1910), The Swan (1920), and The Play’s the Thing (1926) endure as classics. He immigrated to the United States to escape persecution of Hungarian Jews during World War II and later adopted American citizenship. Molnár’s plays continue to be relevant and are performed all over the world. Published in 1923, A Matter of Husband sheds light on the basic function of actors: to make the audience believe in illusion.

Summary

A Matter of Husbands is a one-act play written by a widely celebrated and controversial playwright, Ferenc Molnar. There are three main characters in the play. They are Earnest Young Woman (Alfred's wife), Sara (Famous Actress) and Alfred (Lawyer, husband of Earnest Young Woman). It is a very twisted one-act play that depicts the story of Earnest Young Woman who is married to a lawyer, Alfred. This play focuses on the roles of actors on the stage and in real life and how much they are capable of keeping us in an illusion.

When the play begins, Earnest Young Woman is shown on the stage impatiently waiting for the famous actress. The Famous Actress called 'Sara' enters the stage through the curtain, Earnest Young Woman rushes to her and angrily asks her to return her husband. The Famous Actress boldly denies that she has stolen her husband. She says she knows him because once the contract for a case has been given to him. She asks Earnest Young Woman what makes her believe that Alfred is in love with her.

Earnest Young Woman tells her that her husband sends her flowers and writes a love letter. After hearing this, the actress blushes and continues to deny receiving any flowers or notes from him. Then she inquires what leads her to assume Alfred is in love with her. She makes a tale to fool Earnest Young Woman. The famous Actress makes Earnest Young Woman believe that she and her spouse had a misunderstanding. She now claims that something strange happened between them. Famous Woman convinces Earnest Young Woman that her husband is playing with her in an attempt to make her jealous and gain her attention and love back. After that the innocent young lady realizes her mistake and apologizes.

After Earnest Young Woman exits the stage, Famous Actress calls Alfred from her personal bedroom. In this way, the play is over.


Understanding the Text

Answer the following questions:

a. What favour does Earnest Young Woman ask from The Famous Actress?

And :- Earnest Young Woman asks a favour of returning her husband from The Famous Actress because she comes to know that The famous Actress has stolen her husband whom she loves very much.

b. What, according to The Earnest Young Woman, are the indications that her husband has fallen in love with a Famous Actress?

Ans:- According to The Earnest Young Woman, the indications that her husband has fallen in love with a Famous Actress are that her husband sends flowers and love letters to The Famous Actress. She comes to know about it and her address from a florist. One day, on the table, her husband forgets the love letter which says her husband is unable to call the Famous Actress and beg an apology offering her thousands of kisses.

c. Is Earnest Young Woman convinced by the argument of Famous Actress? How?

Ans:- Yes, Earnest Young Woman is convinced by the argument of Famous Actress. The Earnest Young Woman kisses the Famous Actress as a sign that she has accepted the Famous Actress' argument as absolute truth. She believes she has reclaimed her husband.

d. Where is the Earnest Young Woman's husband hiding as they are talking to him?

Ans:- The Earnest Young Woman's husband is hiding in the bedroom of the famous Actress. He is called out from the bedroom by the actress at the end of play.

e. When do you feel that a Famous Actress is really good at acting?

And:- We can say Famous Actress is incredibly skilled at acting. She tells Earnest Young Woman that her husband plays a game on her to pique (annoy/temper ) her interest so she'll transform herself and do whatever it takes to please him. I was much stunned when she calls Alfred out from her own bedroom.

f. How do we come to know that a Famous Actress and the husband of Earnest Young Woman are in love?

Ans :- We come to know that a Famous Actress and the husband of Earnest Young Woman are in love by seeing the last scene when The Famous Actress calls Earnest Young Woman's husband to come out of her bedroom.

g. Write down the plot of the play in a paragraph.

Ans:- A Matter of Husbands is a one-act written by the most celebrated and controversial playwright Ferenc Molnar. This play sheds light on the role of actors on the stage and in real life and how much they are capable of keeping us in an illusion. In the beginning, the Earnest Young Woman rushes to the Famous Actress angrily, asking her to return her husband. The famous Actress boldly denies that she has stolen her husband. She says she knows him because once the contract for a case was given to him. Earnest Young Woman tells her that her husband sends her flowers and writes love letters. She reads her husband's love letter for the actress. Upon the circumstance, the actress smiles and still begin to deny that she has received any flowers or any letters from him. Now she fools Earnest Young Woman by saying that a misunderstanding may have arrived between her and her husband. She makes Earnest Young Woman believe that her husband has been playing with her to make her jealous and gain her love back. Then, the Earnest Young woman innocently realizes her misdeed and begs sorry with her. Earnest Young Woman leaves the stage and the famous Actress calls Alfred to come out of her boudoir.

Reference to the Context

a. Sketch the character of a Famous Actress.

Ans:- The Famous Actress is a young, renowned, and beautiful actress. The ordinary woman envies her in the play. On the outside, she looks innocent and harmless but in reality, she is mean and wicked. She is cunning and deceitful as seen in the way she concocts (creates) a story to sway the woman from believing that her husband was having an affair with her. She also lives an immoral life as seen in the conclusion of the story where it was revealed that Alfred, the ordinary woman's husband was actually in her house.

b. Shed light on the difference between an ordinary woman and an actress.

Ans:- In the one act play, A Matter of Husbands, the Earnest young woman has been shown as a simple-minded woman who was easily deceived by the actress. Like a straightforward woman, she was easily manipulated by the actress's false and fabricated story. She comes impatiently to the actress's home believing that her husband was cheating on her with the actress but returns happily after hearing her false story and justifications.

As the actress told a story to her of how her husband was trying to regain her love he had for her by doing things to get her jealous, the Earnest woman believes her without asking questions. In the end, it was revealed that her husband was actually in the actress's room. This shows that the actress was cunning while the ordinary woman was simple.

c. According to Famous Actress, men associated with theatre use the theatre actresses to make their estranged wives jealous so as to woo them back. Do you agree with her argument? Why? Why not?

Ans:- Yes, I agree with her argument. A man associated with theatre mostly has an ordinary, simple-minded and timid wife who can be easily deceived by the false story. In the one act play, Alfred was hiding in the actress's room so as to regain the love he had for her by doing things to get her jealous. Thus, men take advantage of the cunning actress to make their estranged wives jealous so as to woo them back.

d. How does a Famous Actress make a fool of Earnest Young Woman?

Ans:- The Earnest Young woman gets fooled by the Famous Actress who claims that she doesn’t have any affair with the young woman’s husband. She convinces Earnest Young Woman that her husband has been trying to make her jealous and reclaim her love for him. Being convinced by the false story of the actress, the Earnest Young woman thinks that it is her error and apologizes to her.

e. The conversation between the two women takes place on the stage of the theatre. What role does the theatre house as a part of the setting of the play in A Matter for Husband?

Ans:- The theatre house has provided a suitable environment for the women to express their thoughts freely. If it had been opened, it would have been unfavourable to share such issues. The private room has been suitable place for their open conversation.

f. What do you think about the ending of the play?

Ans:- I think the ending of this play 'A Matter of Husbands' is fully twisting and ironic with heart touching scene. At the end of the play, all the characters are satisfied with one another. The film actress and advocate are very satisfied. They clear the hurdle between them. They assure her that they have no affair, it is only drama for her. At the end of the play, the young woman is very happy about her husband. The film actress and the husband of a young woman live together without any obstacles. The ending of the play is too good but full of irony. The film actress narrates to a young woman that her husband really loves her but in reality, he has no love for his wife. He only cheats on his wife.

Innocent people always suffer from shrewd people because they are often sincere in their hearts but cunning people always take advantage of their innocence as it is shown in the one act play, A matter of Husbands.