1.5 The New Dress

 1.5 The New Dress

Title- ‘The New Dress’

The title is ‘The New Dress’ is the central thing of the story. Though the dress is new, the main character Mabel considers it as dull and inappropriate. Mabel wears this new dress in one party. It is old-fashioned. She has taken great care to make it perfect. But in the end, Mabel Waring feels deeply self-conscious and insecure due to the dress.

The Writer- Virginia Woolf

Virginia Woolf  was  an  English  novelist and essayist. She is considered a modernist writer of the 20th century. She was the pioneer of the ‘stream of consciousness’ as a narrative device. ‘A Haunted House’ is her famous short story collection from which the present story ‘The New Dress’ is adapted.

Story-

The present story is about a Mabel  Waring,  who  is  constantly thinking about her new yellow dress in negative terms. She herself has chosen the design, colour and pattern of the dress. She has decided to wear the dress for a party at Mrs. Dalloway. However,  at that party she keeps thinking that the dress  is old fashioned and everyone in the party is mocking at her dress. She thinks that she is a fly at the edge of the saucer, drowning deep and deep, as she comes seriously under the spell of her own negative mind and in a depression leaves the party.

To show Mabel’s suppressed desires, unfulfilled ambitions and meagre financial conditions of her childhood, Virginia Woolf has employed the stream of consciousness technique very effectively.

Ice Breaker activities-

1) Write in Column 'B' the description of the clothes you would choose to wear for the occasions given in Column 'A'.

A	B
A birthday party
A prize distribution ceremony at school
A picnic
An entertainment show

Answer-

A	B
A birthday party	Party wear, attractive, bright, and shining dress
A prize distribution ceremony at school	Formal dress or uniform
A picnic	Casual jeans and T- shirt
An entertainment show	Semi formal and colourful dress

 2) Discuss the criterion of the choice of your clothes with the help of the following points:

(a) Occasion-

Answer-

Celebration, festival, formal ceremony, fun etc.

(b) Society (people you may meet at the venue)-

Answer-

Friends, relatives, college gathering, educational programme, ceremony etc.

(c) Availability-

Answer-

Bought from Shops or market, get from tailor or borrowing etc.

(d) Fashion-

Answer-

Designer clothes, Indian traditional clothes, western dress

(e) Your wish/whim-

Answer-

Get dresses as per my favourite colour, design, uniqueness and fitting.

(f) A suggestion or advice by someone (mother, sister, friend etc.)-

Answer-

Takes advice from mother, father and friends.

(g) Any other than the above mentioned reasons-

Answer-

I like to choose my dress that suits me and enhances my personality.

3) State whether you agree or disagree with the following statements and discuss the reasons.

(a) A simple dress makes one's personality look dull.

Answer-

I disagree with this statement. If a simple dress is suit to me, it will enhance my personality.  

(b) We should not judge ourselves from the comments we receive from others.

Answer-

I agree with this statement. We have to keep faith on our selection and thinking. We should neglect the negative comments of others.

(c) A fashionable and costly dress makes you look rich, intelligent and beautiful.

Answer-

I disagree with this statement. It is the self – confidence, mannered behaviour and good suitable outfit make us look rich, intelligent and beautiful.

(d) We should choose a dress according to the fashion rather than our choice.

Answer-

I agree with this statement. Our choice and likes are more important that the fashion. Sometimes the fashionable clothes may make us uncomfortable.

 See More resources-

1) An Astrologer's Day

2) On Saying ' Please' 

3) The Cop and the Anthem 

4) Big Data Big Insights

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Marathi Summary-

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मराठी सारांश: 

        मेबल वारिंग ही सातत्याने तिने परिधान केलेल्या पिवळ्या ड्रेस बद्दल विचार करत राहते. मिसेस डॅलवेकडून निमंत्रण आल्यावर ती हा ड्रेस घालून गेली होती. श्रीमती बार्नेटने तिच्या हातात आरसा दिला आणि केस व्यवस्थित करण्यासाठी आणि सोंदर्य सुधारण्यासाठीच्या सर्व उपकरणांकडे मेबेलचे लक्ष वेधले असता, तेव्हा तिला आपल्या ड्रेस बद्दल संशय आला. ती वरच्या मजल्यावर गेली. तिने क्लेरिसा डॅलोवेला अभिवादन केले. आरशात पाहिल्यावर तिला तिचा ड्रेस चांगला नाही असे वाटले. तिला लहानपणापासूनच आपण इतर लोकांपेक्षा कमी दर्जाची असल्याचा न्यनगंड होता.

            संध्याकाळी जेव्हा श्रीमती डॅलवेला यांचे आमंत्रण आले तेव्हा तिला जाणवले की ती फॅशनेबल होऊ शकत नाही. तिने निवडलेला ड्रेस तिला जुन्या पद्धतीचा वाटत होता. रोझ शॉ ने पार्टीत तिला सांगितले की तिचा ड्रेस छानआहे. पण मेबेलला ते खरे वाटत नव्हते.

मेबेल पार्टीतील सर्वांवर नजर टाकते. तिला वाटते की सर्व जण बशीवरच्या काठावर रांगण्याचा प्रयत्न करणाऱ्या माश्यांप्रमाणे आहोत. ती स्वत: ला ही एक गबाळी,क्षीण आणि निस्तेज अशी माशी मानत होती.

           पार्टीत असलेल्या  रॉबर्ट हेडनने हे तिला सहानुभूती दाखवावी असे तिला वाटत होते पण तो अलिप्त राहिला. मिस मिलानने तिच्या हातात आरसा दिला. तिने तयार झालेला ड्रेस घालून स्वत:ला आरशात पहिले. तेव्हा एक विलक्षण आनंदाची लहर तिच्या मनात झळकून गेली. पण तो आनंद फार काळ टिकला नाही. तिने स्वत: ला पुन्हा आरश्याच्या समोर नेले. स्वत:ला आरश्यात पाहून ती निराश होऊन खोलीतून बाहेर पडली. तेव्हा तिला वाटले की जणू भाले तिच्या पिवळ्या ड्रेसवर सर्व बाजूंनी फेकले गेले.

          पार्टीत जर चार्ल्स ने फक्त म्हटले असते, " मेबल, आपण आज रात्री मोहक दिसत आहात!" तर त्यामुळे तिचे आयुष्य बदलले असते. पण चार्ल्सने तसे  काहीही म्हटले नाही. तो स्वतःच द्वेषबुद्धी असलेला  आहे असे तिला वाटले.

          अखेर ती निळ्या सोफ्यातून उठली आणि मिसेस डॅलवेलांचा निरोप घेऊन निघते. ती पार्टीत खूप मजा आली असे खोटे सांगून घरी जायला निघते.

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The New Dress- Virginia Woolf

1.5 The New Dress – Std. XII

Characters

1) Mrs. Barnet

Mrs. Barnet is a maidservant in the Dalloway household. Her behavior in greeting Mabel Waring and taking her coat seem unremarkable to the reader but sets off great waves of insecurity in the party guest about her appearance and social role.

श्रीमती बार्नेट या दालोवे घरातील मोलकरीण आहेत. मेबेल वारिंगला अभिवादन करताना आणि तिचा कोट घेऊन जाण्याची तिची वागणूक वाचकांना वेगळो वाटते, परंतु तिच्या दिसण्याबद्दल आणि सामाजिक भूमिकेबद्दल पार्टीतील पाहुण्यांमध्ये असुरक्षिततेच्या निर्माण होते.

2) Mrs. Dalloway or Clarissa Dalloway

Clarissa Dalloway is the hostess of the party that Mabel attends. Clarissa is affable and courteous to her guests, and her presence lingers, though the reader only hears her speak once in the story—to encourage Mabel not to leave the party early.

क्लॅरिसा डॅलोवे ही मेबेल ज्या पार्टीला हजेरी लावते त्या पार्टीची होस्टेस आहे. क्लॅरिसा तिच्या पाहुण्यांशी प्रेमळ आणि विनम्रपणे  वागते. तिची उपस्थिती वाचकांच्या जाणवते. वाचक तिचे बोलणे कथेत फक्त एकदाच ऐकतात. ती मेबेलला लवकर पार्टी सोडू नये म्हणून प्रोत्साहित करण्यासाठी प्रयत्न करतात.

3) Mabel Waring

Mabel Waring is a middle-aged woman. She had two children. She reflects constantly and, some might say, obsessively, about her alienation (separation) from the members of the elevated level of society she wants to join.

When she is invited to a party given by the wealthy and socially prominent Clarissa Dalloway, she is overwhelmed with worry about her inability to dress fashionably because of the cost.

She has an old-fashioned dress made from a book of dress patterns that had belonged to her mother, then spends much of her time at the party fearing over its inappropriateness and drawing the attention of other partygoers to it.

She also engages in perfunctory conversations that provide further evidence of her dissociation from these strata of society.

मेबेल वारिंग ही एक मध्यमवयीन महिला आहे जी सतत विचार करत राहते. असे जाणवते की कदाचित तिला ज्या समाजाच्या उच्च स्तरावरील सदस्यांपासून दूर राहायचे आहे त्या समुहातच तिला सामील ही  व्हायचे आहे.

जेव्हा तिला श्रीमंत आणि सामाजिकदृष्ट्या प्रख्यात क्लेरिसा डॅलोवे यांनी दिलेल्या पार्टीसाठी आमंत्रित केले जाते, तेव्हा ती जादा किंमतीमुळे फॅशनेबल कपडे घालण्यास असमर्थ असल्याबद्दल चिंताग्रस्त होऊन जाते.

तिच्याकडे तिच्या आईच्या ड्रेस पॅटर्नच्या पुस्तकातून बनवलेला एक जुना-शैलीचा पोशाख घालून पार्टीत जाते. त्यानंतर ती पार्टीमध्ये तिचा बराचसा वेळ ड्रेसच्या योग्य - अयोग्यतेबद्दल चिंता करत घालवते आणि इतर मंडळींचे लक्ष त्याकडे लक्ष वेधून घेते.

ती असंबंध संभाषणांमध्ये देखील गुंतलेली असते. त्यातून समाजाच्या या स्तरांपासून तिच्या विभक्ततेचा आणखी पुरावा देते. येथे ती कथा नायिका म्हणून समोर येते. तिच्या मनातील विविध भावनांचे प्रकटीकरण दिसते.

4) Rose Shaw

Rose Shaw is a guest at Clarissa Dalloway’s party. Mabel Waring characterizes her as being dressed “in the height of fashion, precisely like everybody else, always.” Rose compliments Mabel on her new dress, but Mabel is convinced that she is being subtly mocked.

रोझ शॉ क्लेरिसा डेलोवेच्या पार्टीत पाहुणे असते. मेबेल वारिंगला वाटते की तिने फॅशनच्या नावाने इतर सर्वांप्रमाणेच कपडे घातले आहे. रोझ तिच्या नवीन ड्रेसबद्दल मेबेलचे कौतुक करते, परंतु मेबेलला खात्री आहे की तिची थट्टा केली जात आहे.

5) Robert Haydon

He is one of the party guests. He met Mabel at the party where she was staying in the corner. He tries to cheer up Mabel by saying polite words.

Mabel thinks that because of her strange behavior Robert have to say words to cheer her up. She thinks that everything he said was a lie.

तो पार्टीत आलेल्या पाहुण्यांपैकी एक आहे. तो पार्टीत कोपऱ्यात बसलेल्या मेबेलला भेटतो. विनम्र शब्द बोलून तो माबेलला खुश करण्याचा प्रयत्न करतो.

मेबेलला वाटते की तिच्या विचित्र वागण्यामुळे रॉबर्टने तिला आनंद देण्यासाठी असे शब्द बोलला आहे. तो जे काही बोलला ते खोटे आहे असे तिला वाटते.

6) Miss Milan

She is the dressmaker of Mabel’s yellow dress. She is a very warm and caring lady. She makes all the effort to make Mabel’s dress the best.

Though she is a poor lady, she takes pride in her tailoring work. She earns enough to keep a pet bird.

मिस मिलान मेबेलच्या पिवळ्या ड्रेसची ड्रेसमेकर आहे. ती एक अतिशय प्रेमळ आणि काळजी घेणारी महिला आहे. मेबेलचा ड्रेस सर्वोत्तम बनवण्यासाठी ती सर्व प्रयत्न करते.

ती गरीब महिला असली तरी तिला तिच्या टेलरिंग कामाचा अभिमान आहे. पाळीव पक्षी पाळण्याइतपत ती कमाई करते.

7) Charles Butt

He is a guest in the party. He is unkind and impolite towards Mable and her dress. He teases her by sarcastically saying, “Mabel’s got a new dress!” Mabel feels more negative and awkward because of his words.

चार्ल्स बट पार्टीत आलेला एक पाहुणा आहे. तो मेबल आणि तिच्या ड्रेसबद्दल उद्धटपणा दाखवतो. तो तिला उपहासाने म्हणतो, “मेबेलला नवीन ड्रेस मिळाला आहे!” मेबेलला त्याच्या शब्दांमुळे अधिक न्युनगंड जाणवतो.

8) Mrs.Holman

She is a guest in the party. She is filled with her own family problems. She meets to Mabel in the party and shares her problems. She desires to get sympathy from her.

As Mabel is buried in her own thoughts of negativity, the words of Mrs. Holman make her more anxious. She still tries to pretend that she is a part of Mrs. Holman’s conversation.

श्रीमती होल्मन पार्टीत आलेली अतिथी आहे. ती तिच्या स्वतःच्या कौटुंबिक समस्यांनी ग्रासलेली आहे. ती मेबेलला पार्टीत भेटते आणि तिच्या समस्या सांगते. तिच्याकडून सहानुभूती मिळवण्याची तिला इच्छा असते.

मेबेल स्वतःच्या नकारात्मक विचारांमध्ये दबलेली असताना, मिसेस होल्मनचे शब्द तिला अधिकच अस्वस्थ करतात. ती मात्र मिसेस होल्मनच्या संभाषणाचा मनापासून ऐकत असल्याचे भासवण्याचा प्रयत्न करते.

Glossary

suspicion -doubt	markedly -clearly
springing -jumping	conviction -belief
looking-glass-mirror	misery -depression/unhappiness
profound -deep/intense	relentlessly -continuously
remorselessly -ruthlessly/mercilessly	intensity-power/strength
beat off -overcome	Borrow or Scott- British writers
fright -terror	hideous -ugly
flickering -playing	appalling -terrible
inadequacy -lacking/ shortfall	cowardice -weakness
mean -unkind	water-sprinkled blood -weak thoughts
depressed- disappointed	sordid -dishonest/wrong
repulsive- disgust	shabby -untidy
puffed up- arrogant	vanity -excessive pride
show off -boast/brag	unutterably -cannot even describe
paltry -worthless	provincial -local
exploded -shattered	absurd -silly/stupid
guineas -shilling/money	Dignified
pluming herself -feeling proud	modest -humble
an orgy -celebration	chastised -corrected
rigged -dressed up	satirical – mocking/sarcastic
pucker -fold	precisely -exactly
spell -magic incantation	to annul -end
agony-suffering	endurable -manageable
over often -repeatedly	strained and strained -over stressed/nervous
hoist -lift/raise	meager -small
insignificant -unimportant	toiling -laboring
dragged -pulled	dowdy -dull/unfashionable
decrepit - worn out/weak	horribly-extremely
dingy -dirty	to reassure -comfort/encourage
furbishing up-giving a fresh look/renovate	a poor weak-kneed- weak/less encouraging
detached -disconnected	witty -funny
insincere -dishonest	in a flash -quickly
terribly -badly	stuffy -airless
sordid -very poor	bliss -happiness
Suffused -filled	sprang -jumped
existence -reality	Rid -free
scrolloping -with heavy floral ornaments	mahogany -dark reddish wood
mysteriously - strange	the core-center
vanity-pride	puckering  -creasing
wits -reasons	fonder -loving
bulging -swollen	endurance -strength
content-happy	miserable-dejected
scanty-less	sordid- poor
vanished -disappeared	convictions -belief
weevils -insects	pecked - bite
fierce -angry	simpered -smiled
slouched - roam/move	mongrel -cross breed dog
malice-mean	mean-selfish
paltry-unimportant	feeble-minded-weak
shoved -pushed	drown -sink
veneer -coating/surface	pertly - bold
temper-angry	ruffled -messy
odious-hateful	vacillating -wavering
conchology -study of shells	etymology-study of origin of words
botany-study of plants	archeology-study of ancient human
fructify -grow	bore down -came quickly towards
beneath - unimportant	tumbling downstairs - falling down
the scarlet fever -disease causing fever and rashes	Elm Thorpe -name of a town
unutterably -unspeakably	furious -angry
grasp -hold	tadpoles -baby frogs
self-loathing -hating self	odder -strange
leaning -inclined	strained -injured by overexertion
detached -disconnected	gesticulating -gesturing
solitary -lonely	self-centered -selfish
suspiciously -doubtfully	grudgingly -complainingly
creaking -squeaking	clamor -roar/noise
cormorants -large birds	wring out -squeeze/twist
dreadfully -terribly	blue pool -action producing result
condemned -judged	despised -disliked
a backwater -isolated	feeble -weak
vacillating -wavering	penance-self-punishment
clinging -tight fitting	skimping -saving
paring -cutting	linoleum -liquid material for floor covering
worn - trash	sordid -sleazy/cheap
catastrophic -great damage	utterly -completely
petered out -diminish slowly	respectably -decently
squint at -look/examine	tolerably - bear
hash -dish with potatoes	twig -stick
absurdly -idiotically	magpies -birds
tuft -bunch	paddling -walking
wretched -inferior	fretful -worried
wobbly -unsteady	lolling -sprawling/lying
twilight -dusky/dark	midst -middle
creeping -sneaking	crest of a wave -feeling confident and happy
seldom -rarely	degrees -this stage/point
deplorable -unacceptable	endured -suffered patiently
clergyman -priest	Strand -shore of the sea

Activity Sheet No. 1

Q. Read the extract and complete the activities given below. (12)

Mabel had her first serious suspicion that something was wrong as she took her cloak off and Mrs. Barnet, while handing her the mirror and touching the brushes and thus drawing her attention, perhaps rather markedly, to all the appliances for tidying and improving hair, complexion, clothes, which existed on the dressing table, confirmed the suspicion - that it was not right, not quite right, which growing stronger as she went upstairs and springing at her, with conviction as she greeted Clarissa Dalloway, she went straight to the far end of the room, to a shaded corner where a looking-glass hung and looked. No! It was not RIGHT. And at once the misery which she always tried to hide, the profound dissatisfaction - the sense she had had, ever since she was a child, of being inferior to other people - set upon her, relentlessly, remorselessly, with an intensity which she could not beat off, as she would when she woke at night at home, by reading Borrow or Scott; for oh these men, oh these women, all were thinking- “What’s Mabel wearing? What a fright she looks! What a hideous new dress!”-  their eyelids flickering  as  they came up and then their lids shutting rather tight. It was her own appalling inadequacy; her cowardice; her mean, water-sprinkled blood that depressed her. And at once the whole of the room where, for ever so many hours, she had planned with the little dressmaker how it was to go, seemed sordid, repulsive; and her own drawing-room so shabby, and herself, going out, puffed up with vanity as she touched the letters on the hall table and said: “How dull!” to show off - all this now seemed unutterably silly, paltry, and provincial. All this had been absolutely destroyed, shown up, exploded, the moment she came into Mrs. Dalloway’s drawing-room.

A1. True or false (2)

Rewrite the statements and state whether they are true or false.

1) Mabel was worried about her dress that she had chosen for the party.

2) From childhood Mabel had the sense of being inferior to other people.

3) Mabel was suspicious about her look in the mirror.

4) The drawing room of Mabel was beautiful and rich.

A2. Pick out (2)

Pick out four sentences which show the anxious mood of Mabel.

A3. Explain (2)

Mabel said, “It was not RIGHT.”  Explain the sentence.

A4. Personal Response (2)

Give information about your favourite dress in 50 words.

A5. Language Study (Do as directed) (2)

a) What a hideous new dress!

(Choose the alternative showing correct assertive sentence form.)

i) It is hideous new dress.                       

ii) It is a very hideous new dress.

iii) It is a very new dress hideous.          

iv) It is a very new hideous dress.

b) It was not right.

(Choose the alternative showing the correct transformation of this sentence into an affirmative sentence)

i) It was right.              

ii) It was never right.                      

iii) It was wrong.         

iv) It was always wrong.

A6. Vocabulary (2)

Write antonyms for the following from the extract.

a) Weaker       

b) satisfaction        

c) superior  

d) adequacy

The New Dress- Virginia Woolf - See more activity sheets and answers in the following book.

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