ISC English | The Singing Lesson | Hindi Explanation | Katherine Mansfield | Vocabulary | Summary

Summary of The Singing Lesson by Catherine Mansfield

The Singing Lesson is a short story by Katherine Mansfield which depicts a situation in the personal life of its protagonist Miss Meadows and explores the nuances of her emotional response to the same. Like most of Mansfield’s stories, The Singing Lesson thoroughly explores the multiplicity of emotions of its character and the complex interiority of an individual’s life. Devoid of a prominent plot or a definite ending, this story is a fine example of what Mansfield is famous for : of shedding a light on the complexity of everyday events in the lives of ordinary individuals. Her stories attempt to explore the lives of ‘ordinary’ characters, and in doing so lends them a sense of dignity by saying that every ordinary individual has an extraordinarily complex story to tell and that this complexity is worth full exploration – to the extent of making it the primary subject of her stories . Such a treatment to the characters in her story becomes a powerful statement in a form where elements of plot and setting have traditionally been the dominant features. Most of her stories are devoid of a clear beginning and a neat end. This is precisely what she does with the characters : she makes it clear that the individuals inhabiting her stories cannot be identified with certain set of markers or be plotted in definite terms and that there are layers and layers of complexity that influence the actions and go into the making of their identities. It is this complexity which Mansfield suggests, deserve a sound exploration.

The Singing Lesson begins with Miss Meadows having a hard time dealing with her emotions, the people around her and life in general. Miss Meadows is a music teacher in an all-girls school and isn’t particularly at ease in the noisy , cold setting.
She is greeted by the Science Mistress in what she feels is hypocritical act. Neither does she like the Science Mistress nor her greeting. Miss Meadows then proceeds to the music hall where she has to deal with a group of girls waiting for the singing lesson. She clearly isn’t in a good mood today and she knows that the girls know it as well. public opinion, she begins her work in a no-nonsense manner, rudely ignoring the customary bunch of yellow Chrysanthemum handed out to her by her favorite, Mary Beasley. She chooses a lament:

Fast! Ah, too Fast Fade the Ro-o-ses of Pleasure ;
Soon Autumn yields to Wi-inter Drear.
Fleety! Ah, Fleety Mu-u-sic’s Gay Measure
Passes away from the Listening Ear”

The tragic note of the lament perfectly complements her mood and Miss Meadows’ thoughts fleet towards the cause of her distress: a not-so polite letter by her fiance which threatened to call off their engagement:

“…I feel more and more strongly that our marriage would be a mistake…I am not a marrying man…and the idea of settling down fills me with nothing but disgust-“

She thinks of her fiancé Basil, of how they first met, of how handsome he looked, of how he had expressed his fondness for her, of what the Science Mistress would think of her, of how the 25 year old Basil had expressed his fondness for her 30 year old self. She cannot get over the fact that he didn’t even think to scratch off the word ‘disgust‘ from the letter before replacing it with ‘regret‘. She doesn’t know how will she be able to face the Science Mistress and even contemplates leaving the school altogether. She must disappear somewhere.

Suddenly, the door is opened and a little girl call Monica announces that Miss Meadows has been summoned by Miss Wyatt, the headmistress. A telegram has arrived for her from Basil . The headmistress is hesitant at first to hand out the telegram, fearing it to be a bad news. Turns out, it is far from being one :

“I do hope it’s nothing very serious,” said Miss Wyatt, leaning forward.
“Oh, no ,thank you, Miss Wyatt,” blushed Miss Meadows. “It’s nothing bad at all. It’s “- and she gave an apologetic little laugh-“it’s from my fiance saying that…saying that -” There was a pause. “I see”, said Miss Wyatt.

The headmistress’ then remarks that she doesn’t quite approve of telegrams being sent on school hours but this hardly dilutes the effect the telegram has on Mrs Meadows:

On wings of hope, of love, of joy, Miss Meadows sped back to the music hall, up the aisle, up the steps, over to the piano.
She enters the music hall, picks up the yellow chrysanthemum which she had ignored earlier and hiding her smile, she beams at the girls:

“Page thirty-two, girls. Page thirty-two.”
We come here To-day with Flowers o’erladen,
With Baskets of Fruits and Ribbons to boot,
To-oo Congratulate..
The entire world around Miss Meadows has changed owing to the telegram. She instructs the girls to stop sounding so dreadful and to be more vivacious . She tells them to think of what they’re singing and use their imaginations. The story ends with Miss Meadows at the top of her voice – full, deep, glowing with expression.

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