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The Bishop is a very noble person, who is always ready to help anyone in distress.

The doors of his house are always open. But his sister Persona is materialistic. She feels that the simplicity and nobility of the bishop is misused by the people. He is often cheated and taken undue advantage of. Mere Gringoire, the old women who lives on the top of the hill and does no work made such a fool of the bishop by making him sell his silver salt cellars to pay her rent. One day, past midnight a convict enters the bishops house and asks for food at the point of a knife. The convict is rude, hard hearted, rough and suspicious and full of fear. The bishop treats him with kindness and provides him food and shelter. The convict is tempted to steal the bishops silver candlesticks. But he gets caught and is arrested and brought before the bishop. This candlestick was very dear to the bishop as it was the parting gift presented to him by his mother. But the bishop called the convict his friend. Later he gives the candlesticks to the convict, blesses him and tells him a secret way to Paris. The convict is deeply touched and filled with remorse. The bishop succeeds in reforming the hardened convict and tells him that the human heart is the abode of God. Sample Q's And A's Question (1): Who are Marie and Persome? Answer: Marie is a young girl who comes to help in the housework. Persome is the Bishop's sister. Question (2): Where had the Bishop gone? Why was he late for supper? Answer: The Bishop had gone to Marie's house to look up her mother as she was unwell. Question (3): What had happened to the salt cellars? Answer: Mere Gringoire was an old lady who was unable to pay the house rent. The Bishop asked Marie to sell the salt cellar for him. He used the money to pay off the poor woman's house rent. Question (4): What did the convict first ask for? Answer: He asked for some food. Question (5): What does the convict tell him about his life before imprisonment? Answer: He had a cottage with vines growing. He had a wife but she was ill. They had a bad year and there was no food to eat. He had to steal some food for her. Question (6): What treatment did the convict receive in prison? Answer: The convict received inhuman treatment. They whipped him, fed him with unhealthy food, made him sleep on cold hard boards. Question (7): What effect did such inhuman treatment have on the convict? Answer: The convict felt hurt and afraid. Soon they broke down his spirit. He became just a number and forgot his earlier life. He even lost the ability to pray, for he says, he lost his soul. Question (8): What happened to him after his escape from jail? Answer: The wardens were looking for him. He had nowhere to go, no food to eat. He even had to steal the clothes that he was wearing. Question (9): How does the Bishop and Persome react when they learn that the candlesticks are stolen? Answer: Persome reacts violently. She shouts and is very upset. The Bishop is also upset but he blames

himself for exposing the convict to the temptation. Question (10): What does the Bishop tell the sergeant? Answer: The sergeant sees the convict moving stealthily and arrests him. He brings the convict along with the stolen candlesticks to the Bishop's house. But the Bishop tells him that the convict is his friend and the silver candlesticks were a gift from him. Question (11): What significant role did the Bishop's Candlesticks play? Answer: The candle sticks were a dying gift from the Bishop's mother. They reminded him of her. But when the convict received them as a gift, they become symbols of hope and life. The convict would now believe in the goodness of life and lead a steady life

The Bishop's Candlesticks is a play based on Victor Hugo's Les Miserables. In this dramatic piece, Norman McKinnel focusses much on the change that the convict, Jean Val Jean, undergoes. "Did Monseigneur the Bishop leave any message for me?" "No, Madam." "Did he tell you where he was going?" "Yes, Madam." "Yes, Madam! Then why haven't you told me, stupid?" "Madam didn't ask me." "But that is no reason for your not telling me, is it?" 1. Why is Persome angry with Marie? Marie is by nature a little foolish. In spite of all Persome's previous warnings, Marie is still talkative and keeps things from Persome. Persome is angry with Marie today because her brother, the bishop was out in the cold because of Marie's mother who is said to be ill. 2. What do you understand about Persome's and Marie's characters? Persome is the bishop's sister and Marie, her young maid. Persome appears to be the real talkative one in the opening of the play yet she blames Marie for the same. Persome is angry and miserable because her brother, the bishop was a reckless spendtrift in a sense. She plays the role of a caring sister but she is much like a mother figure. 3. Why do you think that Marie was foolish? 4. What was Marie supposed to tell Persome? Why didn't Marie tell this to her? "You told she was feeling poorly, did you? And my brother is to be kept out of his bed and go without his supper because you told him she was feeling poorly. There is gratitude for you." 1. Who is the she in the above lines? Marie's mother is the she in the above lines. 2. Why was the Bishop connected to 'her being poorly?' Persome's agitation for Marie is justified in the above lines? Why do you think so? 3. What for did the Bishop sell the silver salt cellars? "What, the old witch who lives at the top of the hill, and who says she is bedridden because she is too lazy to do any work? And what did Mere Gringoire want with the money, prey?" 1. Whom does Persome call the old witch? 2. Why is Persome angry with the old witch referred here?

3. What money is being mentioned? "Were it for my little dot, we shall starve." Explain. "It is worth going out in the cold for the sake of the comfort of coming in." 1. Name the speaker? 2. Where had he been to? 3. Who had been waiting for the speaker? "What nonsense, brother, she is young, she won't hurt." 1. Name the speaker. 2. What was nonsense? 3. What is the speaker trying to stop? "I believe those people pretend to be ill just to have the Bishop call on them." 1. Who are 'those people? 2. Why do they pretend to be ill? "The dupe of every idle scamp or lying old women in the parish." 1. Why should the bishop deserve this kind of a description? More Questions 1. What does Persome mean when she says that charity begins at home? 2. "I am sorry for thieves." What impact did this answer create in the convict's mind? 3. "So, anything that you do for me, you are doing to the devil, understand?" "One must do a great deal for the devil in order to do a little for God." 4. Do you think that the Bishop was a fool as said by his sister Persome? Why do you think so? No, the Bishop was not a fool. He appears to be foolish, impractical and unfit for this world... 5. Why did people pretend to be ill, in Persome's opinion? Persome believes that people have a cheap and unconcerned attitude that they pretend to be ill and dying in order to get the bishop to pay a visit to them so that they could feel important in their society. 6. Why did the convict laugh when the bishop told him that he was a bishop? 7. Why was the convict not able to believe that he was the bishop's friend? 8. What was the bishop's reaction on seeing the convict admiring his candlesticks? 9. What were the convict's stand with religion and the church? Why did he keep such an attitude? 10. How did the convict become a number? 11. What were the convict's arguments to steal the candlestick? 12. How did the bishop argue with persome about the validity of the candlesticks belong to the convict? (He has a set of three arguments for this) 13. Do you justify the bishop letting the convict take the candlesticks after it was returned by the police officers? Why? Biblical and Healing : The words that moved the convict. Briefly explain what the bishop said to the convict and the effect they had on the convict. 1. No one will come; but if they do, are you not my friend? 2. That is a pity, my son, as the Church does not hate you. 3. One must do a great deal for the devil in order to do a little for God.

4. I am sorry for thieves. 5. I think you are one who has suffered much. LONG QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 1. The candlesticks were once the bishop's but now it is the convict's. Justify the title, "The Convict's Candlesticks." 2. Imagine you are Jean Val Jean, the convict in the play. Having reached Paris and having sold the candlesticks for five hundred francs, you started a humble tea-shop and consequently became very rich. Years later, today, you decided to write your diary remembering the night you met the Godman, the bishop.

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