The Hundred Dresses – I Summary Class 10 Chapter Five by Eleanor Estes
CHAPTER 5
A HUNDRED DRESSES – I
SUMMARY
Eleanor Estes has a great moral value attached to the story, “A Hundred Dresses.” The story revolves around three girls mostly, Wanda Petronski, Peggy, and Maddie. Wanda is a Polish girl who has migrated to America recently with her parents. She is a quiet girl from Boggins Heights, a poor locality, and often sits in the classroom corner, seldom noticed by anyone. She dresses properly but with the loosely hung frock. Peggy is the most popular and the richest girl in the classroom with all the nice clothes and shoes. And Maddie is Peggy’s best friend. She is also poor and wears used clothes. Wanda is often judged by the students, especially by Peggy, for her weird name. She keeps on asking Wanda about the number of dresses she has, and she would always reply, “a hundred dresses, all lined up, made of silk in different colors.” Peggy thought that she was lying and would make fun of her in front of other girls by asking her the same question every day to taunt her. Maddie does not really like Peggy making fun of Wanda and thinks of asking her to stop making fun of her. But she is also scared as she feels she would be the next target.
A drawing competition results would be announced in the class where the boys here to design motors and girls had to design clothes. Maddie was sure Peggy would win, for she was the best one in the class, but to everyone’s shock, it is Wanda and her exquisite drawings that have won the competition. She was absent that day. Peggy and Maddie are left shocked as they gaze at her drawings and realize what good an artist Wanda is.