The Fancy Dress Show

OBJECTIVE TYPE QUESTIONS

 

1. Who wrote the poem ‘The Fancy Dress Show’?

ANS- Kamala Dass.

2. What does every virtue today need?

ANS - It needs a fancy dress.

3. According to Kamala Dass, what is the world full of?

Ans - The world is full of hypocrites.

4. What is the main virtue of a priest today?

ANS - His cassock.

5. What does the word ‘don’ in the line, ‘Politicians dons a saint’s apparel means?

ANS - It means ‘wears’.

6. What does the word ‘stinking’ in the line, ‘all is right with stinking world’ means?

ANS - It means ‘rotten’.

 

SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS

1. Why does the poetess use the word ‘today’ in the line 1, ‘every virtue required today’? What does it mean?

ANS - In the line 1, the word ‘today’ means ‘present times’. In the poem, the poetess lashes at the hypocrites (priests and politicians) in society who tend to create an impression of themselves which is quite different from what they are in reality. Here the poetess reflects the present selfish world in the poem.

 

2. What are the various ‘virtues’ listed by the poetess which ‘require’, according to her, ‘a fancy dress’?

ANS - Kamala Dass satrizes that now a days every virtue in society demands a fancy dress. The priest is forced to wear a cassock as his virtue is piety. It is priest’s ‘holy- dress’ without which he is not acceptable and respectable in the society. A Politician appears to be simple and honest in their dress which is suitable for a saint as his virtue is to fight for social justice. The patriots undertake fasting as his virtue is to fight for the rights of the poor. Thus, she has utilized the metaphor of the fancy dress more aptly.

 

3. What does the poetess mean when she says: ‘The children of the poor have not been so lucky, we hear’?

ANS – The poetess brings up the subject of patriots, whose long fast survives the death i.e., it is to show others in order to gain instant publicity. They undertake fasting to achieve their political game. But the poor children are not so lucky. They have to go without food for days together. They are not able to survive their hunger. They often die of hunger. The poetess wonders how the leaders survive without food.

 

4. Bring out the irony contained in the last two lines of the poem.

ANS - In the concluding lines the poetess satrizes by saying that God is sting

Comfortably in heaven and everything is right with world. But in reality, she says that God is in heaven and does not notice human sufferings. The world is stinking with evil practices. It is totally rotten. Hypocrites have contaminated this world. Only God thinks that all is right with the world.

 

5. Give, in about 50 words, the central idea contained in the poem, ‘The Fancy Dress Show’.

ANS - ‘The Fancy Dress Show’ is an indictment of the society that is driven by brazenness and hypocrisy of religious, social and political leaders. The present selfish world is reflected in the poem. The poetess lashes at the hypocrites in society who disguise their true selves to appear noble and virtuous. They wear the guise primarily for outward profit, and not for the inner satisfaction. The poem is an excellent stare. As Thomas Gray said “All that gliters is not gold”. People are often deceived by outward shows. Kamala Dass calls it “The Fancy Dress Show”. She laughs at the masked people of society. The priests, politicians and patriots tend to deliberately create an impression of themselves which is quite different from what they are in reality. Thus the poetess has utilized the metaphor of the fancy dress most aptly.

 

 

ABOUT THE POETESS- KAMALA DASS

•Kamala Dass, Malayalam pen name Madhavikuty, Muslim name Kamala Surayya, (born March 31, 1934, Thrissur, Malabar Coast [now in Kerala], British India—died May 31, 2009, Pune, India), Indian author who wrote openly and frankly about the experience of being an Indian woman.

•Kamala Dass was part of a generation of Indian writers whose work centred on personal rather than colonial experiences, and her short stories, poetry, memoirs, and essays brought her respect and notoriety in equal measures. Dass wrote both in English (mostly poetry) and, under the pen name Madhavikut y, in the Malayalam language of southern India.

•Kamala Dass’s poetry collections included summer in Calcuta (1965), The Descendants (1967), and The Old Playhouse, and Other Poems (1973). Subsequent English-language works included the novel Alphabet of Lust (1976) and the short stories “A Doll for the Child Prosttute” (1977) and (1977) and “Padmavat the Harlot” (1992).

•She received many literary awards, including the Asian World Prize for Literature in 1985.

 

ABOUT THE POEM- THE FANCY DRESS SHOW

 

 ‘The Fancy Dress Show’ (May, 1970) concerns itself mainly with the cant and sham of the conventionally virtuous. There appears to be an air of urgency and immediacy about the poem.

 The poetess lashes at the hypocrites in society who disguise their true selves to appear noble and virtuous. They wear the guise primarily for outward profit, and not for inner satisfaction.

 The poem is an excellent stare.

 It tears as under the veneers of those who pass for the honest, the noble and the virtuous by ‘window dressing’ their real, hideous selves.

 The thirst of the poem is in keeping with the overall ethos of Kamala Dass’s work. As Thomas Gray said “All that gliters is not gold”. People are often deceived by outward shows. Kamala Dass calls it “The Fancy Dress Show”. She laughs at the masked people of society.

 

POEM- THE FANCY DRESS SHOW

 

Every virtue requires today

A fancy dress; the cassock is

'The priests' main virtue, the clever

Politician dons a saint's mean

Apparel-The holy ash is

On the legitimate forehead

And the holy water is in

The right container. Confessions

Are mumbled regularly in the dark.

The patriots have survived their

Long fasts; the children of the pool

Have not been so lucky, we hear.

A pity- The city morgucs are

Full of unclaimed cadavers-yes.

God is in his heaven and all

Is right with this stinking world.

 

Glossary and Notes:

 

L.2 a fancy dress_ some unusual costume (often historical or fantastic) cassock long dress worn by certain clergymen (therefore. - a mark. of holiness in word, thought and deed)

L.3 main virtue The most important quality used here_ Does he have no other virtues -? Or, are other virtues of no significance?)

L.4 dons wears

L.5 apparel clothing, dress

L.6 legitimate lawful, in. accordance' with the law or rules, genuine (note the use of irony again)

L.8 confession formal admission of one's sins to a priest in a private enclosed place in a church

L. 13 a morgue (morttinryl a building where dead bodies are kept until burial or cremation.

L.14 cadaver corpse, dead body of a person

L. l6 stinking rotten, very bad, unpleasant. Horrible foul smelling.

 

SUMMARY OF THE POEM

The poem “The Fancy Dress Show” is a beautiful social stare. The poetess lashes at the hypocrisy of present day religious and political leaders of the society.

The poetess says that now a days every virtue in society demands a fancy dress.

The priest is forced to wear a cassock which is known as a holy- dress. It is as if he is not a priest without it. The cassock is beautiful mask for him and he can cover all his vices under it. Here the poetess laughs at the human tendency to judge a man by the external appearance only. Politicians are the most corrupt in the society. They appear to be poor, simple and honest in their apparel which is suitable for a saint. But most of them are highly corrupted, having power and wealth. They take the advantages of the sentiments of the common man they rather divide people based on vote- bank politics. But as long as people judge them by their outward appearance, politicians and priests continue to cheat them. In order to look virtuous, a priest puts ash on his forehead and carries a container containing holy water. In this way, they deceive the whole world but they fail to deceive their own selves. They know that they are sinners and they confess in the dark and pray to God for forgiveness. The poem then brings up the subject of patriots, whose long fast survives the death i.e., it is to show others in order to gain instant publicity. They undertake fasting to achieve their political game. But the poor children are not so lucky. They have to go without food for days together. They are not able to survive their hunger. The city mortuaries are full of unclaimed dead bodies. They die of hunger. In the concluding lines the poetess satrizes by saying that God is sting comfortably in heaven and everything is right with world. But in reality, the world is stinking with evil practices. It is totally rotten. Hypocrites have contaminated this world.

 

EXPLANATION WITH REFERENCE TO THE CONTEXT

Every virtue requires today

A fancy dress; the cassock is

The priest’s main virtue, the clever

Politicians dons a saint’s mean

Apparel.

REFERENCE TO THE CONTEXT: These lines have been taken from the poem, “The Fancy Dress Show”, written by Kamala Dass. In this poem, the poetess laughs at the masked people of the society. The priests and politicians tend to deliberately create an impression of themselves which is quite different from what they are in reality.

EXPLANATION: The poetess says that now a days every virtue in society demands a fancy dress. The priest is forced to wear a cassock which is known as a holy- dress. It is as if he is not a priest without it. The cassock is beautiful mask for him and he can cover all his vices under it. Here the poetess laughs at the human tendency to judge a man by the external appearance only. Politicians are the most corrupt in the society. They appear to be poor, simple and honest in their apparel which is suitable for a saint. But most of them are highly corrupted, having power and wealth. They take the advantages of the sentiments of the common man they rather divide people based on vote- bank politics. But as long as people judge them by their outward appearance, politicians and priests continue to cheat them.

 

EXPLANATION WITH REFERENCE TO THE CONTEXT

The holy ash is

On the legitimate forehead

And the holy water is in

The right container. Confessions

Are mumbled regularly in the dark.

REFERENCE TO THE CONTEXT: These lines have been taken from the poem, “The Fancy Dress Show”, written by Kamala Dass. In this poem, the poetess laughs at the masked people of the society. The priests and politicians tend to deliberately create an impression of themselves which is quite different from what they are in reality.

EXPLANATION: In these lines the poetess satirically says that in order to look virtuous, a priest puts ash on his forehead and carries a container containing holy water. She means to say that hypocritical men try to look genuine by misusing outward symbols. In this way, they deceive the whole world but they fail to deceive their own selves. They know that they are sinners and they confess in the dark and pray to God for forgiveness.

 

EXPLANATION WITH REFERENCE TO THE CONTEXT

The patriots have survived their

Long fasts; the children of the poor

Have not been so lucky, we hear.

A pity. The city morgues are

Full of unclaimed cadavers, yes.

God is in His heaven and all

Is right with this stinking world.

REFERENCE TO THE CONTEXT: These lines have been taken from the poem, “The Fancy Dress Show”, written by Kamala Dass. In this poem, the poetess lashes at the hypocrites in society who tend to create an impression of themselves which is quite different from what they are in reality.

EXPLANATION: The poem then brings up the subject of patriots, whose long fast survives the death i.e., it is to show others in order to gain instant publicity. They undertake fasting to achieve their political game. But the poor children are not so lucky. They have to go without food for days together. They are not able to survive their hunger. The city mortuaries are full of unclaimed dead bodies. They die of hunger. In the concluding lines the poetess satrizes by saying that God is sting comfortably in heaven and everything is right with world. But in reality, the world is stinking with evil practices. It is totally rotten. Hypocrites have contaminated this world.