Progress - Questions

Q.1) What is the significance of the title of the play ‘Progress?

The title holds significance with respect to the central idea of the play. The writer delivers a thought-provoking message through his play that progress does not mean the development and brutal use of the weapons of mass destruction. The title is ironic in nature as it is not about progress rather focuses on the worrisome aspect of destruction of the human race by the use of latest armament.

Q.2) What is the central idea of the play ‘Progress?

The central idea of the play ‘Progress’ is that we should not favour war as it causes destruction of mankind on a large scale. We should not give rise to the feelings of hatred, and enmity through wars. Basically, this play is written after the First World War. The writer wants to spread the message of humanism through this play as he believes that anything that is against humanity should be abolished for the peaceful living of all human beings.

Q.3) Describe the climax of the play ‘Progress’ in a few lines.

Answer:

The climax of the play ‘Progress’ happens at the moment when Mrs. Meldon comes to the room of her brother Professor Corrie and is shocked to see the invention of her brother. As she is against wars and destructive weapons, she asks her brother to destroy the invention by his own hands otherwise it would cause much damage to humanity and peace of the world by killing millions of people.

Q.4) What is one-act play? Illustrate it with examples from the play ‘Progress.’

Answer:

One-act play means a play that has only one act. It may consist of one or more scenes. One-act plays are made up of the basic and significant elements of theme, plot, character, and dialogue.

The play ‘Progress’ is a one-act play as it has only one act that happens at the house of Prof. Corrie. It has a central theme that war should be avoided for a peaceful living. It has two major characters i.e. Prof. Corrie and his sister Mrs. Meldon. The whole play has the series of dialogues that are helpful in delivering the message quite effectively to the readers. Furthermore, one -act play has one action, time, and place. Here, the whole play has limited time for one action and the place is the same i.e. Prof. Corrie’s room.

Q.5) Write down the plot of the play ‘Progress.’

Answer:

With respect to the plot of the play, the events happen in a concrete sequence. It is a one-act play written after the 1st World War. The whole play takes place in the room of Prof. Corrie. He is a scientist who has developed the formula for the devastating bomb. He is quite excited for his invention as he is going to be a wealthy man due to it. In the meantime, his sister, Mrs. Meldon arrives at his home and on entering his room and listening to his invention, she becomes depressed as she loves humanity and wants to see peace in the whole world. Whereas, Prof. Corrie wants to see more destruction in less time.

Mrs. Meldon is in a state of grief and mourning as she has lost her only son Eddie at the war and then her husband as well. She is suffering from the pain war has inflicted upon her that’s why she wants her brother not to invent the disastrous bomb that will take the life of innocent civilians. But, Prof. Corrie shows resistance in listening to her advice. When Mrs. Meldon knows the evil intentions of her brother and his resistance against destroying the bomb formula, she takes his life by killing him with a knife. Though she does not want to do that, she finds it essential to save humanity and world’s peace. Hence, she gives preference to a matter related to human beings over her brother’s life.

Q.6) Write the character sketch of Mrs. Meldon.

Answer:

Mrs. Meldon is one of the major characters of the play. She is the sister of Prof. Corrie who is a scientist and working on developing a dangerous bomb that will cause huge damage to the world. She is a sensitive, emotional, and peace-loving lady. She is 43 years of age. She is a dignified woman who shows sensible behaviour throughout the play. She is in a state of mourning as she has lost her only son Eddie at the war and her husband too. She is left all alone in the world to bear the pain of loneliness. She is against war as it takes the life of innocent human beings. She considers war nothing just an organized butchery of youth.

When Mrs. Meldon comes to know about the evil intentions of her brother, she wants him to destroy the formula of that bomb. She does not want anyone else, especially the mothers, to bear the same pain of losing their sons at wars. She tries her level best to stop her brother from inventing the bomb and calls him the most stupid man on this earth. When she comes to know that her brother is not going to destroy his invention, being an extremely emotional lady, she takes the knife and kills her own brother just for the sake of humanity and world peace.

Q.7) Draw the character of Prof. Corrie as a despiser / hater of humanity.

Answer:

Prof. Corrie is a clear reflection of a person who is a hater of humanity. He is a selfish, greedy, self-centered, and evil minded person who just thinks of his own. He considers human beings worthless creatures. He has developed a formula for a destructive bomb that can take the life of a huge number of innocent people when used in wars. With this invention, he dreams of becoming a wealthy person. He is such an insensitive person that he feels pleasure in witnessing destruction of mankind.

Q.8) What type of mother is Mrs. Meldon? Illustrate through her character that themes of literature are universal and exist across all cultures and societies.

Answer:

Mrs. Meldon is a sensitive, caring and loving mother. She is a lover of humanity and hates war as it kills millions. She has only one son Eddie who has lost his life during the First World War. After his death, she becomes all alone. Most of the time, she used to talk about Eddie, his childhood, youth and his killing at the war, this is the clear reflection of her selfless, unconditional love for his son.

Her character strengthens the point that themes of literature are universal and exist across all the cultures and societies as almost every country’s poets and writers have given tribute to women as mothers through their unique, thought-provoking and heart-touching writings. For instance, some of the famous poems that are written by poets belonging to different countries on the theme of mother, her love, care, and affection are: “To My Mother” by Edgar Allan Poe, “Mother O’ Mine,” by Rudyard Kipling, “Maa Teri Azmat ko Salaam” by Sajid Ali, etc. In every culture, the role of a woman as mother remains the same that she has to bring up her children with utmost care and affection whether she is a housewife or a working lady and she asks for nothing in return from her children.

Q.9) Was Mrs. Meldon justified in killing her brother? Give your considered view.

Answer:

Though it is a crime to take anyone’s life, but here the killing of Prof. Corrie by his sister Mrs. Meldon was justified. The reason was quite obvious that Mrs. Meldon was a lover of humanity and hated war. When she came to know about the evil intentions of her own brother and the life-threatening weapon he had invented, at first she tried to convince Prof. Corrie to destroy his invention. When he refused to do so, she decided to take the life of her brother just in order to save humanity. Hence, it was a justified act as sometimes it becomes necessary to eliminate the evil elements of the society with iron hands.

Q.10) What was the cause of the quarrel between Mrs. Meldon and Prof. Corrie?

Answer:

The major cause of quarrel between Mrs. Meldon and Prof. Corrie was the dangerous invention of Prof. Corrie that if used in wars would kill millions in just a few seconds. Mrs. Meldon was not in favour of that so she tried to convince Prof. Corrie to destroy his formula but he kept on refusing as he was a selfish, cruel, and greedy sort of a person.

Q.11) Contrast the characters of Mrs. Meldon and Prof. Corrie, highlighting the dominant traits of their personalities.

Answer:

Mrs. Meldon is a peace loving lady, she loves humanity and hates war. She is a dignified woman, though she is depressed, and dejected but she never lost her senses. She is a sensitive and emotional lady. On the other hand, Prof. Corrie is a lover of war and wants to shatter world’s peace by inventing his destructive bomb. He is a selfish, greedy, self-willed, and insensitive man who just cares for his own evil intentions and wealth that he will earn through his invention.

Q. 12) What is the conflict in the play ‘Progress?’ How is it resolved?

Answer:

The main conflict in the play ‘Progress’ is ideological in nature. Mrs. Meldon loves peace and hates war whereas Prof. Corrie, her brother, wants to see the destruction of the world with the invention of his bomb. Mrs. Meldon tries her best to stop Corrie from inventing the bomb but to no avail. He keeps on refusing to destroy the bomb formula and shows inclination towards inventing it. When Mrs. Meldon knows that Prof. Corrie will not move back from his plan, in rage she kills him with a knife just to save humanity and peace of the world. In this way, the conflict is resolved.

Q.13) Suggest another ending for the play ‘Progress.’

Answer:

The play ended bearing a criminal and brutal touch. The play ‘Progress’ can be ended in another way. If I were the writer of the play, I would have given another ending to the play. It might be like that Mrs. Meldon would call the police and Prof. Corrie would be arrested and sent to jail. He would get severe punishment or life imprisonment due to his evil intentions and invention of a disastrous war weapon. In this way, Mrs. Meldon would not involve herself in any criminal act and Prof. Corrie would get the desired punishment.

Q.14) True progress means “The destroying of the means of destruction.” Elaborate this statement in light of the play ‘Progress.’

Answer:

Yes, it is a bare fact of reality that true progress means “The destroying of the means of destruction.” It is clearly evident from the play “Progress” that Prof. Corrie is killed by his sister Mrs. Meldon as he is involved in the brutal act of developing a formula for a bomb that will devastate the world in a matter of just a few seconds. In order to save humanity and world’s peace, his sister takes his life so he will not be able to work further on his devastating invention and will not take the lives of million innocent people in savage wars. So, it can be said that if the means of destruction are destroyed only then we can cherish peace on this earth.

How was Eddie killed?

Eddie was killed in the First World War. He was a part of the battalion that was fighting against the enemy. He was just nineteen and was not much aware of the happenings at the battlefield. He was killed when he was sitting in a less shallow trench with his men for eight days and nights. A piece of shell came right into the middle of a group of them and destroyed all of them at once. In this way, Eddie had lost his life. Nobody knew exactly about the place of his burial but Mrs Meldon came to know that he had been buried behind the line somewhere.

Q.16) Describe the physical and mental conditions of Mrs. Meldon after the death of her son Eddie.

Answer:

Mrs. Meldon, a lady of forty three, was in a state of grief and sorrow due to the sudden death of her only son Eddie in the First World War. She was dressed in black, because of the fact that she was a widow but most importantly to mourn her son’s death. First her son died, and then her husband too due to heart failure. Hence, she was left all alone in the world to suffer the great pain of loss.

Though she was mentally disturbed but she was not a fretful, complaining lady who had suffered bereavement. She suffered the pain with dignity and grace and never lost her senses. She showed sensible behaviour throughout the play. She became quite emotional, dejected, and sensitive after facing all the unexpected, severe circumstances in her life. At the end, when she killed Prof. Corrie, her brother, it can be said that it might be an act of madness.

Q.17) Why does Mrs. Meldon hate war?

Answer:

Mrs. Meldon hates war because she herself suffers a great loss due to such brutal wars. She believes that war is nothing but just an organized butchery of young people. She considers war a way to destroy human peace and aggravate the world’s law and order. Mrs. Meldon loves humanity that’s why she does not want any other mother to go through the same painful situation as she is passing or has passed after losing her only son Eddie in the First World War.

Q.18) What is Mrs. Meldon’s view about war?

Answer:

Mrs. Meldon is totally against war as she believes that war is an organized butchery of youth. She believes that war snatches world’s peace and is a threat to humanity. According to her point of view, war is the most terrible thing in this world.

Q.19) What is Prof. Corrie’s view about war?

Answer:

Prof. Corrie is in favour of war. He is a scientist and develops a formula for a devastating bomb that will kill a huge number of people at once. He is a lover of war and wants to make war more swift and terrible. He believes that his invention is the most humanitarian intervention and is of the opinion that wars will never end only if they are so horrible that no nation will engage in one unless absolutely driven to it.

Q.20) Bring out the ideological conflict between Mrs. Meldon and Prof. Corrie.

Answer:

The ideological conflict between Mrs. Meldon and Prof. Corrie is that Mrs. Meldon loves humanity and represents peace loving people. Whereas on the other hand, Prof. Corrie is in favour of war and wants to destroy human peace and cause world’s destruction at a massive scale.