The Luncheon - William Somerset Maugham

A Story of an English author who humorously describes his life events and how he takes his revenge.

1. The Luncheon English Group Presentation By Divleen Kaur Mukul Rastogi Abhishek Pathak Rohit Saini Arpit

2. Introduction "THE LUNCHEON", is a short story written by a prominent, English novelist, short-story writer, playwright and essayist Somerset Maugham. First of all I'd like to say some words about the title of the text "The Luncheon". The title of the text is rather ironical. If we consult a dictionary, we can find out that the word "luncheon" means a "light snack", but as we can see hereinafter a light snack turns to be an abundant and expensive meal. The writer of 'The Luncheon' William Somerset Maugham, in this short story , relates about a lady who is an admirer of his stories. She wins the author's favor and expresses her wish to meet him at a high class restaurant . William exposes the false motives of modest eating habits, of the middle classes with a touch of humour .

3. About the Author William Somerset Maugham(1874 -1965 ), an English writer of short stories, novels and plays, was born in Paris, where his father was counselor at the British Embassy. Both his parents died before he was 10, and he went back to England to live with his father’s brother, a clerk. He was educated at King’s School , Canterbury, and later in Germany at Heidelberg University.

4. About the Author He studied medicine, but after receiving his degree at St. Thomas’s Hospital in London, devoted the rest of his life to literature. He has achieved success as a novelist with novels such as Of Human Bondage (1915), The Moon and Sixpence (1919), Cakes and Ale (1930), and The Razor’s Edge (1944); and as a dramatist with such plays as The Circle (1921), and Our Betters (1923); but his greatest success has been gained, perhaps, by his short stories . The Luncheon was one of his stories that shared his life events in a satirical way that one reads with joy and relates to any such events that might have happened in their life .

5. Summary Summary of 'The Luncheon'  the writer of 'The Luncheon' William Somerset Maugham, in this short story, relates about a lady who is an admirer of his stories. She wins the author's favor and expresses her wish to meet him at a high class restaurant. William exposes the false motives of modest eating habits, of the middle classes with a touch of humor. Twenty years ago the author was living in Paris, when he had met a lady, who is an admirer of his stories. She had met him at a play and relates to him the incident during the interval which had occurred at that time. She had read a book written by him, and had written a letter to him about her views. Another letter was posted, stating about her visit to Paris and her desire to have a little luncheon at the Foyots , a restaurant where French senators eat. William was not a rich man and had never even thought of visiting that restaurant, nor did he possess the art of refusing her request.

6. Estimating the cost of a luncheon, which should not cost more than fifteen Francs, he decided to cut down coffee from his menu, so that he could have enough for himself for the next two weeks. His meeting was fixed on Thursday, at half past twelve, through correspondence. The lady was in her Forties, talkative, and not attractive. She had ordered for Salmon, and Caviar, while the Salmon was being prepared. William had ordered for the cheapest dish mutton- chops. After the meal, she had ordered for white champagne. She kept enjoying the meal, and chatting about art, literature, and music, while William kept wondering about the bill. The bill of fare was soaring above that which he had anticipated. When the waiter had come with the bill she waived him aside with an air of gesture and ordered for Asparagus, the horribly expensive dish.

7. William’s heart sank, his mouth watered, and yet he had to quell his emotions. Adding to worsen the situation, she ordered for ice-cream and then coffee, all the same announcing that 'she never ate anything for luncheon - just a bite' Thoughts kept reeling through William's mind about how he was going to pay the exorbitant bill or how could he feign an act of his pocket having been picked . To his utter dismay, the head waiter walked up to the table with a large basket full of huge Peaches. She picked up one protesting that her meal was just a snack, and that she could certainly enjoy the Peach . The bill was finally paid, and William found himself with just a few Francs for the tips, and not a penny left in his pocket for the whole month . William believes, that he had had his revenge for then, when the Twenty years had passed by, he met her weighing One Hundred and Thirty -Six Kilograms.

8. Character Sketch The lady The lady was 40yrs old, talkative and not attractive . She loved the writing of narrator. She had read of his books and wrote a letter to congratulate him on his work . She wants a chat with him and a little lunch at foyot’s from him. She was in fact a women of forty -a charming age, but not one that excites a sudden and devastating passion at first sight . She gave me the impression of having more teeth white and large. Not only her appearance but her dialogues express that she is extremely fat , food loving and ravenous woman who doesn’t even think a bit about the costs , that narrator have to pay for the lunch. Her dialogue ,”I never eat more than one thing “ and orders the most expensive dishes shows that this woman is smart, experienced, selfish and hardly bothered about the expense .

9. The narrator The narrator was young, fame-thirsty inexperienced young writer and living in Paris. The narrator was very poor and could hardly keep body and soul together. When the narrator got the letter from the lady who was admired by his work and want to meet him. He was flattered and couldn’t say ‘NO’ to woman because of narrator’s traditional concept. He is also a educated man, polite from a good family tradition. When the narrator met the lady at foyot’s , he had only eight franes to pay the bill. At last narrator was left with no money at all. The narrator feels that finally made his revenge when he see that lady with lot of weight . At the end of the meal, he is “past caring”, in for a penny in for a pound, his submission to the “white flashy teeth” of the predator has been total, his defeat complete. Ironically, the narrator now being completely ruined, all he can do is watch her eat “voluptuously” (84) and apply to himself her so-called principle of frugality: “I will eat nothing for dinner tonight”. The only thing to do is to wait for a hypothetical “revenge”…

10. Major Events The first event occurs when the narrator meeting one of his acquaintances in the theater. They had met after a long time (20 years), and the narrator found it hard to recognize her . The acquaintance i.e. a lady, recognized him immediately and asked him if he remembered the last and first time they had met. She reminded him that he had asked her out for luncheon . The narrator quickly remembers what had happened and narrates the story.

11. The second events occurs at the a formal lunch in a French Restaurant named Foyot’s . As told by the narrator F oyot’s is a restaurant at which the French senators eat and  it was so far beyond narrator means  that he had never even thought of going there . The narrator takes her to an expensive restaurant where he’d never dared to go himself, as he could not afford it. As Rohit has covered about what happened at lunch so at last when the bill for the "light lunch" comes, narrator has only three francs left to leave a meager tip for the waiter . Now, narrator has the rest of the month ahead of him. The supporter offers him nothing; instead she jumps into a cab and calls happily to him. He did not have a single penny in his pocket, and he had the whole month left .

12. In the theatre... 20 Years later This brings us back to the present time, where the narrator and the lady are meeting after twenty long years. The narrator tells us that he had had his revenge for the luncheon ordeal. How did he have his revenge? The lady weighed 130 Kg now (in some versions of the story, her weighed is said to be 21 stones, or 294 pounds, which is the same as around 130 Kg). The narrator observed this result with a pardonable sense of achievement .

13. Conclusion The story is full of irony. Firstly the irony lies in the title itself, the title says “THE LUNCHEON”, which literally means a light snack but as we can see in the story a light snack turns to be an abundant and expensive meal.   The main focus of the story is in the appearance vs reality. The speaker, in “luncheon”, wishes from the beginning that his date would be a beautiful woman. He imagines a portrayal of a graceful lady in his mind. But, when he goes to have a lunch with her, she appears as a surprising blast, a total opposite to his imagination .

14. Conclusion Not only her appearance but there is a conflict between her words too that “she does not eat too much” but when it comes to eating she orders ostensibly being of higher social standing and wealth for which the narrator had to pay heavy cost.   Also the narrator knew that he can’t afford eating expensive restaurant but when he was praised for his first published work. He could not refuse when the lady asked him for a Luncheon at an expensive restaurant. He was flattered by the attention being showered on him and could not deny for the Luncheon.