Telangana Board Class 10 English Another Woman Question and Answers
Board | Telangana |
Class | 10th |
Subject | English |
Unit | 3 (3B) |
Topic | Solution |
B
Reading
Another Woman
Comprehension
I) Answer the following questions.
1.) The woman thought of buying a white radish but later on decided against it thinking it an extravagance. Do you think it is an extravagance? Support your answer.
Answer: Buying radish is not an extravagance but here the woman in the poem belongs to a middle-class family and buying even something more than the expected would mean extra spending so the woman kept it back and bough only meethi. She didn’t have enough money and felt that buying radish would mean added anger at her home for she being extravagant.
2.) What does the phrase ‘mother-in-law’s dark looks’ suggest?
Answer: Her looks suggest that she is cruel one. She didn’t treat her daughter-in-law well. She would blame her daughter-in-law for everything. She had anger on her face which made her look dark.
3.) “The usual words came and beat…” (line 19). Where did the words come from? Why?
Answer: The woman’s mother-in-law not seem to care about her daugheter-in-law. She always treated her daughter-in-law indifferently. The mother-in-law would always blame the woman for her existence. She would complaint about how her daughter-in-law spends money though she spends it for the sake of the family and not for herself. She would blame the daughter-in-law’s parents for marrying her into their family and running their lives. Though the daughter-in-law obediently does her work and obey everyone at her in-law’s house, she is being blamed by her mother-in-law.
4.) Why did the woman crouch on the floor? (line 24)
Answer: When the woman’s husband comes in the house, the woman rather than being happy is seemed to be scared of him. He too does not treat her well. She becomes more scared and crouches herself on the floor-the state which shows how pathetic the condition of the woman is.
5.) Why do you think the woman bent her back a little more when her husband came home? Was her husband helpful? Support your answer quoting from the poem.
Answer: Already the woman’s mother-in-law insulted her and was angry with her without any reason. It is then when her husband enters the woman bent her back a little more because does not even have daring to look at him or even talk to him. She didn’t have any right to speak in the house let alone complaint about her mother-in-law. Her bending back a little more shows that she is helpless and gets back to work without having any hopes.
6.) What does the phrase ‘as usual’ suggest?
Answer: ’As usual’ suggest that the woman was used to ill-treatment of her husband and mother-in-law. It was part of her everyday life that both of them blamed. They both had hatred for the woman which was so common for her that it became part of her daily routine.
7.) The last line of the first stanza talks about the woman shielding her face from heat whereas the last line of the poem talks about people shielding their face from the heat. How are they different?
Answer: Both the lines have the significance. In the first line, the woman has to face her mother-in-law and her hatred which makes the woman to shield herself from the whole taunts. Though her mother-in-law continues to taunt her, the woman feels that shielding her face would make her out of the sight. But in the last line it symbolizes something else. It is the plight of such women in our society that sometimes is being ignored by us. The heat represents the such women who go through horrible pain, but we the people sometimes, tend to ignore it.
8.) “So when the kerosene was thrown…” Who threw the kerosene? Why? Support your answer quoting from the poem.
Answer: The woman herself threw the kerosene. It is because she is fed up of the usual taunts of her mother-in-law. Even the woman’s husband is indifferent towards her and is least bothered about his wife. She does not have any hope to live longer so sets herself on fire. For her death is the only solution.
So when the kerosene was thrown
(just a moment of surprise,
A brilliant spark)
It was the only choice
that she had ever known.
The above lines from the poem clearly tell us how horrible the condition was.
9.) What does the title suggest?
Answer: The title suggests that it is not just one woman who goes through such terrible condition, but there are many women out there who have to face such situations. The woman in the poem is just ‘another’ woman who faces such taunts and indifference from her in-laws or husband.
10) Words do not have wings, but the author used them as if they had wings (…the usual words came and beat their wings against…). This is a literary device called personification. Find out the other instances of personification in the poem.
Answer: Curses heaped upon her parents, She watched the flame hiss up, a wing of brightness against its blackened cheek.
11.) In the story ‘The Journey’, the author used the journey as a symbol of life. You will find such symbols in this poem too. Pick them out and talk about them.
Answer: Heat- Here in the poem, heat is symbolizes pathetic condition. The women tries to protect herself from the heat and we the people also try to save ourselves from such conditions.
Bending a little back- Here is symbolizes frightened situation. When the woman’s husband enters, she gets more scared and does not even look at him. She obeys everything that is said by her mother-in-law and her husband. Flame- Here is symbolizes her pain and agony within. Her emotions of pain got up with such intensity that she felt giving up her life. a wing of brightness against its blackened cheek- It symbolizes that the same fire which lightens up the pot and when it is kept for long it makes the pot black. The same is applicable to the woman and her married life. Her married life to others may be a symbol of pride and happiness but it the same marriage that ruined her life.
12.) Write a critical appreciation of the poem, ‘Another woman’ highlighting the social issue it deals with.
Answer:‘Another woman’ is a thought-provoking poem by Ms.Imtiaz Dharker. It shows how some women are still the subject of domestic violence. The poem starts with a woman doing her daily chores. She is a woman who thinks about her family and their well-being. She buys meethi and thinks of buying radish. But she does not have enough money she skips buying it. She knows that buying a simple thing like radish would add more taunting of her mother-in-law. She goes back to home and there her mother-in-law starts taunting her in her usual way. For the woman, it has become part of her daily life to hear such taunts from her mother-in-law. The mother-in-law blames her for everything even she blames her parents for marrying the woman into their family and running their lives.
The woman is not happy. She is even scared of her husband and when he comes she bends her back more. The couple do not seem to have a happy married life even the woman tries to give her hundred percent. She feels suffocated in the house and throws kerosene on herself and set herself on the fire. For her, death is the only option.
The poet is an apt presentation of those women who go through emotional pain after marriage. It also shows how some women are subjected to hatred if they don’t get dowry to their in-laws. Though women are well-educated and are independent now but there are some people who don’t consider their existence important. It shows the cruel side of our society. The poet has used many symbols to give the idea of how a woman suffers. It is not just one woman who goes though such horrible condition but there are many women out there who tolerates the pain and when they can’t take it anymore, they end their lives.