1. Vera - Character Sketch Vera is a fifteen year old girl. She is very smart and fun-loving.

She can fool people with her smooth talk. When she comes to know that Nuttel was new to the place and he knew nothing about her aunt, she quickly invents a story. It shows she has quick imagination. She is calm and cool as she tells the story of the imagined disappearance of Mr Sappleton and her two younger brothers. She is quite imaginative. She also invents another story to explain why Nuttel dashes out of the house when he sees the hunters coming back. Romance at short notice is her speciality. 2. Framton Nuttel - Character Sketch Nuttel is an elderly gentleman. He wears a hat and he has a walking stick. He is on a visit to a village as part of his nerve-cure programme. He is a very nervous person. He believes whatever he hears. He does not doubt the truth of the story invented by Vera. 3. What was Mrs Sappletons tragedy? Her husband and her two young brothers had gone out for shooting three years ago. The summer was excessively wet and so some places which were safe had become marshy and dangerous. They had gone with their dog. They never came back. Their bodies were never found and so Mrs. Sappleton thinks they will come back. That is why she keeps the French window open very late into the nights as they used to return through that window. 4. Why did Mr Nuttel run away from the house? He ran away from the house because he thought Sappleton, the two young brothers of Mrs Sappleton and the dog were a bunch of ghosts. Vera told him that they left the house for shooting 3 years ago and they died in the bog and their bodies were not found. And here they are coming after three years! To Nuttel, they were simply ghosts. 5. Vera played pranks on an elderly man like Mr Nuttel. Do you approve of her behaviour? To play such a horrid trick on an elderly gentleman is not funny. Framton Nuttel is an elderly gentleman who is undergoing a nerve cure. He is advised to spend a few weeks in a rural area. That is why he comes to the village with a few letters of introduction from his sister. What Vera did was wrong. If his heart was weaker, the man could have died of shock at the sight of ghosts! It may have been a joke for Vera. But for Nuttel it was a shocking affair. No one can approve of her behaviour. What she should have done is to welcome him warmly and make him feel at home. 6. Significance of the window in the story. The window in this story is a different type. It is a window through which one can walk in and go out. Here the window is kept open. The window is significant in the story because it is through the open window the people who went out for hunting are expected to come back. They used to go through it and return through it. In fact it is the open window that gives the suggestion to Vera to make her imagined story. 7. Mrs Sappleton Character Sketch Mrs Sappleton is Veras aunt. She goes on talking without giving any chance to Nuttel. She is a bit rude as she does not listen to her guest properly. She is very concerned about the cleanliness in the house. 8. The Patriot Review The Patriot is a beautiful poem by Robert Browning. It talks about the altered fate of a patriot. A year ago the people receive him like a hero. They spread roses and myrtle on his path. They cheer him from the terraces. The church spires are decorated with flags. They shout so much that the noise was shaking the old walls. They were ready to bring him the sun if he wanted it. But in years time the story was different. Now they are taking him to the scaffold, his hands tied at his back. They even throw stones at him which cut his forehead. They would be glad to see him hanging. He was cruelly humiliated by people. He was not rightly rewarded. But, he hopes that he will be properly rewarded by God. In current history too we find things happening in a similar fashion. Gandhi was welcomed with great enthusiasm and then he was shot dead. Browning uses beautiful pictures. The path strewn with roses and myrtle; the house tops heaving with crowds; the church spires glittering with flags; the old walls shaking with the noise all these make vivid pictures like a painter painting with his brush. Browning has used rhyme in this poem. The rhyme scheme is ababa (way, mad, sway, had, day). The message of the poem is very simple. People are fickle minded and they can change their colours like chameleons.

The King who limped 9. How does the new king settle the dogs dispute? The new king is very conventional. His dress and his language and style all shows that he is very different. He settles the dog-dispute very much like King Solomon of the Bible. He orders that the dog should be cut into two and the neighbours could take one half each. The first neighbour agrees to it. The second neighbour objects to it, because he cannot bear to see the poor creature being killed. The King finds out that the second one is the real owner. This shows he is considerably clever. The old King would have punished both the neighbours and killed the dog. 10. You are a reporter of the local daily. Prepare A lead news on the arrival of the new King and the way he dealt with the sycophants in the palace. SYCOPHANTS DISMISSED The new King arrived in a new style. He gives a shock to all the sycophants in the palace. He came limping, but that was a trick to test the palace officials. He wanted to know how many in the palace would pretend to have trouble with their legs. He caught all of them red-handed and dismissed them. His way of settling the dog-dispute showed that he has real intelligence which the old King never had. Like Solomon the Great he ordered the dog to be cut into two and give one half each to the quarrelling neighbours. The real owner objected to killing the dog. He was allowed to take the dog and the other neighbour was put in jail. The country is safe because now there is a sensible man at the top. 11. The King Character Sketch The new King is an impressive character in the play. When the play opens the people are waiting to welcome him. He enters wearing a bowler hat and he walks with a noticeable limp. The manner in which he settles the dispute between the neighbours reveals that he is very intelligent. He is not a tyrant. He always seeks the advice of others in settling dispute. He learns that the Prime Minister, the Chancellor and the lady are quite dishonest. He punishes them for their sycophancy. He has respect for the courtier and the First Lady because they are very frank and honest. The people are very happy; they have a sensible man at the top. He hates officials who limp because he limps. He thinks that people should have independent minds. 12. The Prime Minister When the play opens, we see the Prime Minister sitting on the steps leading to the throne. He says that the new king may be a china man or an African Negro. Perhaps, he may be a tyrant. The first lady thinks that it is silly of him to say like that, and calls him Jim Crow. He is a sycophant. He starts limping when he sees the King limping. He says that he has cramps. Regarding the dispute between the neighbours his suggestion is that both of them should be put in jail. This shows that he has no sense of justice. For these reasons he is removed from office. 13. The Chancellor When the curtain goes up we see the Chancellor sitting on the arm of the throne. He tells the King that the old King did not use to wear bowler hat. Instead he used to wear a crown. Later he himself puts on a bowler hat to please the King. He limps imitating the King, and claims that he has rheumatism. Regarding the dispute between the neighbours, he agrees with the Prime Minister when he says that both should be sent to jail. He wears a hat saying that it is a sunny day, but actually it is raining heavily. He says so only to flatter the King. The King openly tells him that he is sycophant who is willing to do anything just to please the King. His only interest is in protecting his position. 14. The Courtier The courtier is a handsome gentleman who is kind and loving. He keenly observes that there is something special about the new King. The King is impressed by him because he does not limp like the others. The King remarks that he is young man with an independent mind. The King asks him his opinion about the quarrel over the dog. The Courtier says that he would listen to both parties before taking a decision. He then asks the King to keep the dog for himself. As he is impressed by the Courtier, he is made the new Prime Minister. We know that he will be a good Prime Minister. He will show interest in the welfare of the people. 15. The First Lady The First Lady is very tall and slim. She loves reading. When the Prime Minister remarks that the new King will be a China man or African Negro, she tells him not to make such a silly

comment. This shows that she is reasonable and decent. She has a good command over the language and she explains the meaning of the words that the Second Lady does not understand. She explains the meaning of the words to the Second Lady. The First Lady does not imitate the Kings limping. The King is impressed by this. He even asks her opinion in the dispute over the dog. She suggests that the dog should be cut into two and give one half each to the neighbours. The King is impressed by her and makes her the Chief Lady in waiting. He hopes that she will be able to reduce gossip in the palace. 16. The Second Lady There is no comparison between the Second Lady and the First lady. She is short, fat and foolish. She is very beauty conscious and goes about with a mirror in hand. Her knowledge of language is very poor. She doesnt know the meaning of some words. She walks with a limp saying that she has a sprained ankle. When the King makes the First Lady the Chief Lady-inwaiting she protests. The King has a very poor opinion about her character. 17. From the play we get a picture of the ways of the old King. What do you think of the ways of the old King? I think the old King was an arrogant man who was always conscious of his power. In my view, he wanted people to respect him and treat him like a King. He always wears his crown whether it was rain or shine. He would not let common people enter the palace. In the case of the dispute over the dog, he would have punished both the neighbours and got the dog killed. In my opinion, he would not waste his time to find out whose dog it was because he had no sense of justice. 18. Prepare a review of the play The King who limped The King who limped is a satirical play. The King, The prime Minister, The Chancellor, a Courtier, two ladies-in-waiting and the two neighbours are the main characters. The Prime Minister, the Chancellor and the Second Lady are flatterers. They try to win the Kings favour by dishonest and servile means. They flatter the King by imitating all the foolish things he did. But the King is intelligent. He reads their mind and exposes their character and they are dismissed. The central theme of the play is sycophancy. Corruption, bureaucracy and misuse of power are other themes. Self seeking people try to please and win the favour of those in positions of power through dishonest and servile means.