THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY SUMMARY
THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY SUMMARY
Here we shall read The Portrait of a lady summary and related topics.
-
Three phases of the author’s relationship with his grandmother in The Portrait of a Lady Summary
The author and his grandmother spent long years with each other. Heir lived close by his grandmother since his childhood. However, the relationship changed widely with the growing up of the author.
The first phase in the relationship between the author and his grandmother in The Portrait of a Lady:
PARAGRAPH 1 OF THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY SUMMARY
The author’s parents went to live in the city. They left him along with his grandmother when he was a mere boy. It was at this time that the author and his grandmother shared close bondage. Every morning the grandmother would wake up the narrator and dress him up for school. She recited her morning prayer in a sing-song way. During the whole time, the grandmother bathed and dressed the narrator up with the hope that her grandson would learn it.
PARAGRAPH 2 OF THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY SUMMARY
But her grandson heard her only because he loved her voice. After dressing him up she would bring his wooden slate and his red pen. She would even bring his small inkpot made of earth. Every day before going to school she used to wash the wooden slate. She would then plaster it with yellow chalk. Then the grandmother would tie all these in a bundle. After this, she gave the bundle to her grandson. The narrator used to have breakfast on stale chapatti. It was spread with a little butter and sugar on it. After breakfast, the boy left for school with her grandmother.
PARAGRAPH 3
The old lady always carried several stale chapatis with her for the village dogs. She always accompanied her grandson to school. The school was attached to the temple. The priest gave lessons to the narrator and other children on alphabets and morning prayer. The boy used to sit on the verandah along with other students and sing the alphabet or recite the prayer in chorus. During this time the grandmother sat inside the temple and read scriptures. The narrator and his grandmother always walked back home together.
The second phase in the relationship between the grandson and his grandmother IN THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY SUMMARY:
PARAGRAPH 1 OF THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY
But this friendship between the grandmother and her grandson did not last long. When the author’s parents were well settled in the city, they sent for him and his grandmother. It is here in the city where the second phase of the relationship between the grandson and his grandmother begins. This phase shows a gradual distance developing between the grandmother and her grandson. However, they still shared the room.
PARAGRAPH 2 OF THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY SUMMARY
Now the grandmother did not follow him to school anymore. The author is admitted to an English school. The author of The Portrait of a Lady went to school on a motor bus. As there were no street dogs to be fed the grandmother of the author of The Portrait of a Lady took to feeding sparrows in the courtyard.
PARAGRAPH 3 OF THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY SUMMARY
As the years rolled by the grandmother and the grandson saw less of each other. For some time the grandmother continued to wake up her grandson and get him ready for school. On the author’s return from school, she would ask about the day’s lesson. The narrator told her English words, Western science, Archimedes’ Principal, the world being round, and so on.
PARAGRAPH 4 OF THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY SUMMARY
The grandmother felt unhappy as she no longer could help him with his lessons. One day the grandson told his grandmother that he had joined music classes. This displeased the grandmother. This is because she believed, decent people have no business with music. Although the grandmother made no verbal protest, she talked rarely with her grandson since then.
The third phase in the relationship between the author and his grandmother:
PARAGRAPH 1
The third phase of the relationship between the author and his grandmother begins with his joining the University. The relationship between the grandson and his grandmother lost its intimacy. The author was given a room of his own which shattered the common link between the two. The grandmother accepted this seclusion without any protest.
PARAGRAPH 2 OF THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY SUMMARY
At this time the grandmother used to feed the sparrows. She rarely talked to anyone. The sparrows sat on all over the body of the grandmother. They were on the shoulder, on the legs, and even sat on her head. For the grandmother, this half an hour seemed to be the happiest moment. Then came the time when the grandson took the decision of going abroad for higher studies.
PARAGRAPH 3 OF THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY SUMMARY
At this time the author was without a doubt that his grandmother would become upset at his decision. This was because he would have to stay away from her for five long years. But the author was surprised to see his grandmother was not at all sentimental. Rather she came to see off her grandson at the railway station. But the grandmother neither did talk nor show any emotion. The lips of the old lady were busy telling the prayers. Her thoughts were lost in prayers and her fingers were busy counting her rosary, while she kissed his forehead.
PARAGRAPH 4 OF THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY SUMMARY
In these three phases, we see how the intimate bondage between the two loosens with the passage of time. Although the love never fades but time and situation has drifted the author away from his grandmother. And the old lady instead of complaining has very stoically accepted her life of seclusion.
