Chapter 3 — Mother’s Day

"Mother's Day" by J.B. Priestley is a humorous one-act play about Mrs Annie Pearson, a housewife in a London suburb who is treated like a servant by her husband George and her adult children Doris and Cyril. Her neighbour Mrs Fitzgerald uses an Eastern personality-swap spell so her own bold personality inhabits Mrs Pearson's body and firmly teaches the family to respect the homemaker. After the family is sufficiently shaken, the personalities are swapped back and the play ends with the family agreeing to do things on Mrs Pearson's terms.

The five characters are: Mrs Annie Pearson — a pleasant, worried housewife in her forties; Mrs Fitzgerald — her older, stronger-willed neighbour who knows an Eastern spell; George Pearson — Mrs Pearson's husband, about fifty, described as solemn and pompous; Doris Pearson — their daughter in her early twenties, spoilt and demanding; and Cyril Pearson — their son, described as the masculine counterpart of Doris. The action takes place in the living-room of the Pearson family's home in a London suburb.

Mrs Fitzgerald, who learnt an Eastern trick during twelve years abroad with her husband, proposes that the two women swap personalities (not appearances — they swap bodies so each looks like the other). They hold hands across the small table, stare at each other, and Mrs Fitzgerald mutters a spell: "Arshtatta dum — arshtatta lam — arshtatta lamdumbona." Both go limp, then come to life with the other's personality. Mrs Pearson's body now holds Mrs Fitzgerald's bold, dominating personality, while Mrs Fitzgerald's body holds Mrs Pearson's nervous, fluttering one. Mrs Fitzgerald notes it "won't last long" but will be long enough to teach the family a lesson.

When Doris rushes in demanding that her yellow silk dress be ironed and tea be ready, the new Mrs Pearson calmly refuses both. She tells Doris that tea is not ready, that she will not iron the dress, and points out that she works twice the hours Doris does with no wages or thanks. She also sharply criticises Doris's date, Charlie Spence, calling him "buck-teeth and half-witted," which reduces Doris to tears. Later she tells Doris to stop blubbering and behave like an adult.

Cyril comes home expecting tea ready and his things put out for mending. The new Mrs Pearson coolly refuses both, saying she has decided she does not like mending. When Cyril argues that he works an eight-hour day, she counters that she has done her eight hours too and declares she will henceforth work a forty-hour week, taking the weekend off. She also criticises him for wasting time and money at greyhound races, dirt tracks, and ice shows.

Mrs Pearson tells George that the members at his club laugh at him behind his back and call him "Pompy-ompy Pearson" because they think he is slow and pompous. She says she has never understood why he spends so much time at a place where people mock him, while leaving his wife at home night after night. When George turns to Cyril to deny it, Cyril confirms, embarrassed, that it is true. George exits, visibly shaken.

Mrs Fitzgerald — now wearing Mrs Pearson's body and personality — becomes increasingly distressed watching the family's misery: Doris has been crying, George is humiliated, and the household is in disarray. She tells the bold Mrs Pearson (who carries Mrs Fitzgerald's personality) that it has "gone far enough" and that she cannot bear seeing them all miserable. Despite the bold Mrs Pearson arguing that more of the same treatment would do them good, Mrs Fitzgerald insists urgently, and the spell is reversed.

Mrs Fitzgerald firmly warns Mrs Pearson not to apologise or explain what happened, because any softening will undo all the progress. She advises her to maintain a firm look and tone of voice now and again to remind the family she can be tough — that is enough to keep their respect. She also asks what Mrs Pearson would like the family to do: Mrs Pearson says she would love a game of rummy and some help with supper, so Mrs Fitzgerald calls the family back in and leaves Mrs Pearson to make it happen on her own terms.

The play is a humorous and satirical statement about the status of the mother in the family. Written in the 1950s, it highlights how a housewife's constant labour — cooking, ironing, mending, waiting hand and foot on the family — is taken for granted and goes unappreciated. The play argues that husbands, sons, and daughters should show respect and gratitude rather than treating the homemaker like a servant. It also suggests that a mother who never asserts herself inadvertently enables this treatment, and that firm self-respect is what earns a family's regard.

After Mrs Fitzgerald leaves, the family — George, Doris, and Cyril — file back in looking apprehensively at Mrs Pearson. When she smiles, they are relieved and smile back. Mrs Pearson proposes a family game of rummy, after which the children will get supper ready while she has a talk with George. George agrees firmly and challenges the children to agree; Cyril says yes hastily and Doris, after a moment's hesitation under her mother's sharp look, says it would be lovely. The curtain falls with the family gathered around Mrs Pearson — a quiet but clear victory for the homemaker.

The NCERT textbook describes it as a humorous portrayal of the status of the mother in a family. It is a comic one-act play with a satirical edge, using exaggeration — the magical personality swap — to highlight a serious social point about how homemakers are undervalued. The tone is light and entertaining but the underlying issues of domestic respect and unpaid labour are genuine.

Yes. The NCERT Class 11 Snapshots PDF, including Chapter 3 "Mother's Day", is available for free on CBSE PrepMaster. No sign-up or payment is required — you can read or download it instantly.