AV - The landlady by Roald Dahl

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• havo
• Leerjaar 3

The Landlady

In this lesson you will:

-read the short story 'The Landlady'

-analyse and answer questions on this short story

Time to read 'The Landlady'

Ask/Look up words that you don't know (you are allowed to use a dictionary in the Literature test).

What was Billy doing in Bath?

Why didn't Billy go to the Bell and Dragon Pub?

What was strange about the landlady's reaction when Billy rang the bell?

What did Billy find disturbing about the guestbook?

What had happened to the guests whose names were in the guestbook?

Key Elements that go into every great short story.

Key Elements that go into every great short story.

character

Key Elements that go into every great short story.

setting

character

Key Elements that go into every great short story.

setting

conflict

character

Key Elements that go into every great short story.

setting

conflict

plot

character

Key Elements that go into every great short story.

setting

conflict

theme

plot

character

setting

conflict

theme

plot

character

The characters 

• Billy Weaver
• The Landlady
• Christopher Mulholland?
• Gregory Temple?

What do we learn about the characters and how are they presented in the short story?

	Protagonist	Anta gonist	Major	Minor	Static	Dynamic
Billy
Landlady

The antagonist is Patrick, he creates the problem by cheating and wanting to leave his pregnant wife. Mary is the protagonist, she solves this problem by killing him and getting away with it. 

Characters

The landlady

-The landlady (Antagonist/Major/Dynamic).

Antagonist/Major: She is the anti-hero who is needed in the story because she killed people in the past and now wants to kill Billy.

Dynamic: She changes from a strange lovely old lady to a dangerous, killing witch.

Billy

-Billy (Protagonist/Major/Dynamic) 

Protagonist/Major: He is the main character in the story, he is the 'good guy' and we read a lot about him.

Dynamic- There is an evolution from unknowing/naive to knowing/dead. 

NOTE: she may have killed her husband in a fit of insanity/madness because he would leave her and her unborn child

Right after the murder, she becomes quiet/calm and collected and appears to be calculated

	Protagonist	Anta gonist	Major	Minor	Static	Dynamic
Billy	X		X			X
Landlady		X	X			X

Characters

setting

conflict

theme

plot

character

The setting of a short story is the time and place in which it happens. 

• Where and when does the story take place

Setting of The Landlady

Setting:

Where?

In a train from London to Bath,  Bath, bed & breakfast 

When?

Nine o'clock in the evening, Autumn/Winter (weather conditions)

setting

conflict

theme

plot

character

inciting incident(s)
conflict(s)?

Inciting Incident/Conflict

* Billy signs and reads the guestbook and recognises the names. 

He asks questions and thinks about these people.

or

* Billy realises that all the animals are stuffed.

setting

conflict

theme

plot

character

Exposition

Character: Billy Weaver is introduced. He is looking for accomodation. 

Setting: It is explaned why he is in Bath in the evening in Autumn/Winter.

Rising Action

Billy is (mysteriously) attracted to a bed & breakfast. The landlady is introduced and she has some peculiarities (scary/strange). 

Billy reads the guestbook and notices something strange. The names look familiar. 

Climax

Billy reads the guestbook and notices something strange. The names look familiar. 

Billy has tea with the landlady and he realises that all the animals are stuffed.

Falling Action

Billy has tea with the landlady and he realises that all the animals are stuffed.

Billy realises that his tea tastes strange.

Resolution

Billy realises that no one has visited the bed & breakfast in the last two years, that he has been poisoned and will also be stuffed like the animals and the two other guests.

Point of View

 Point of view is the perspective from which the story is told..

Short stories can be written from four different points of view. 

    

      -first person

      -second person

       -third person limited

        -third person omniscient

x 

Because she makes the detectives eat the evidence, so it cannot be recovered 

The detectives look for and talk about the evidence while eating it, so they make sure it cannot be found anymore 

Section 10: she was quietly singing to herself; no acting was necessary 

Because then she realised she got away with a crime 

The landlady:

Point of view?

Point of view

The story follows Billy's point of view, not from an 'I' perspective but a 'He' perspective. So, 'third person'.

It is 'limited' because just as Billy only realises that the animals are stuffed at the end we, the readers, do not get this information earlier.

Point of View

setting

conflict

theme

plot

character

What are the themes in 'The landlady'?

The central idea about life / Universal truth 

(e.g. love / oppression / sacrifice / marriage / betrayal)

Themes in The landlady?

1. revenge
2. betrayal
3. innocence
4. supernatural

Themes

Death: the death of the animals, the two previous guests and Billy.

Betrayal: in stead of hospitality, the landlady kills her guests.

Innocence: Billy is young and naive and doesn't see the dangers facing him.

Supernatural: Billy was attracted to the bed & brekfast as if he was lured by witchcraft (the landlady being the witch).

's Style of Writing 

In all of Dahl's stories there is an underlying streak of cruelty and gruesome unpleasantness.

Dahl's writings style involves a great deal of black humour and sarcasm.  

Dahl uses a third person view in most of his adult short stories. (he/ she/they etc.) 

Dahl makes use of many adjectives to give details about the character and the situation. 

- The names that Dahl gives to his characters complement the personality and features of that character. 

Dahl's short stories involve unexpected twists and turns at the end. 

Choose one emoticon that represents (part of) the story.

Write down (30 words) why the emoticon you have chosen fits (part of) the story.