I. Answer in one or two words.
1. Who is the suitor in the story?
Answer: Pyotr Petrovich Milkin.
2. Who asked for a stag party?
Answer: One of Milkin's friends.
3. How many daughters did Kondrashkin have?
Answer: Seven.
4. What ‘hereditary vice’ did Pyotr refer to as an excuse to avoid getting married?
Answer: Drinking bouts.
5. For which crime did Pyotr say that he was on trial?
Answer: Embezzlement.
6. What ‘horrible secret’ did Pyotr contrive to get rid of the Kondrashkin family?
Answer: Being a runaway convict.
7. Why did Pyotr meet his friend Dr Fituyev?
Answer: To get a certificate of madness.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
II. Answer these questions in a few words each.
1. Why did Pyotr’s friends ask for a stag party?
Answer: They heard rumours that he was going to marry Nastya Kondrashkina.
2. How did Kondrashkin counter Pyotr’s argument that his convictions and views were different from those of Nastya?
Answer: He said that when people live together, their "rough edges" are rubbed off over time.
3. Why did Pyotr say that he was unworthy of Nastya? How did Kondrashkin react to it?
Answer: Pyotr said he was poor. Kondrashkin called him a "wonderful laddie" and noted he earns a salary.
4. How did Kondrashkin dismiss Pyotr’s claim that he was guilty of taking bribes?
Answer: He laughed and said, "Who doesn't?"
5. Why did Kondrashkin fear that Pyotr might be sent to Siberia?
Answer: Milkin claimed he was on trial for embezzling 144,000 rubles.
6. Why did Kondrashkin call Pyotr dishonest?
Answer: Milkin spent the whole summer with his daughter but then tried to leave without proposing.
7. Why did Dr Fituyev refuse to give Pyotr the certificate he wanted?
Answer: He believed that any man who wants to avoid marriage is actually very wise and sane.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
III. Answer these questions briefly in your own words.
1. Why did Pyotr get so disturbed by the rumours about his marriage? What did he try to do to get rid of the disturbing situation?
Answer: Milkin was disturbed because he did not actually want to marry Nastya. He tried to visit her father to say goodbye and end the relationship before he was forced to propose.
2. Which crimes of Pyotr, according to Kondrashkin, might land him in Siberia? How did he react to Pyotr’s ‘confession’ of these crimes and why?
Answer: Milkin confessed to embezzlement and forgery. Kondrashkin suggested Nastya should follow him to Siberia because he was desperate to marry off his seven daughters.
3. Why did Pyotr decide to adopt ‘Hamlet’s device’? Why did he fail in this venture?
Answer: He feigned madness because his other lies about being a criminal failed to stop the marriage. He failed because the doctor said avoiding marriage is a sign of a sound mind, not madness.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
IV. Give suitable answers to these questions.
1. Describe the character of Kondrashkin in the light of his responses and reactions when Pyotr visits his place to say goodbye.
Answer: Kondrashkin is a desperate father who sees his daughters as "menaces". He is willing to ignore serious crimes, like forgery or being a runaway convict, just to get his daughter married.
2. Do you think that Pyotr was more self-centred than Kondrashkin, as revealed in the conversation between the two?
Answer: Both are self-centred. Milkin is selfish for lying about being a criminal to escape his responsibilities. Kondrashkin is selfish for being willing to sacrifice his daughter's safety to reduce his own burden.
3. Who, do you think, has won the game? Justify your answer.
Answer: Kondrashkin wins because he outwits everyone of Milkin's excuses. Milkin’s final attempt to use a doctor's certificate fails, leaving him trapped in the marriage.
0 comments:
Post a Comment