Please refer to The Address Class 11 English Notes and summary provided below. The following summary and solved questions have been designed as per the latest syllabus and books issued by CBSE, NCERT, and KVS. By going through and learning the below notes for Class 11 English you will be able to understand the entire chapter and easily solve questions in your exams. Also, refer to the Class 11 English Chapter Summary for all chapters in your textbooks.

Class 11 English The Address Summary and Questions

The following The Address Class 11 English Notes and questions answers will help you to easily learn the entire chapter. You will be able to solve all questions in upcoming Class 11 English exams and score better marks

Summary

Holland was fighting for independence. The narrator had joined the forces. It was a long drawn and deadly war. Success seemed a far cry. The people doubted if any of the soldiers would return alive.

The narrator had only her mother Mrs S at home. Her mother was worried about the safety of her belongings. She had a lot of silver cutlery and antiques. One day, an old acquaintance of hers turned up unexpectedly. She was Mrs Dorling. She won the confidence of Mrs S and offered to take away Mrs S’s precious things to her own home for safe-keeping. And Mrs S accepted the offer thankfully.

The narrator was home for a few days during the first half of the war. She noticed the change in the room. She missed several things. She surprised the mother by her keen observation. It was then that Mrs S told her about Mrs Dorling who had kindly taken away all the table silver, vases, antique plates, crockery. Mrs Dorling promised to keep all those nice things safely. Mrs S, however, did not get an assurance that those things were returnable. Next morning, Mrs Dorling turned up again. This broad back woman was taking away the heavy suitcase stuffed with things. The mother introduced the narrator to Mrs Dorling. It was the first time the girl had met her. Mrs Dorling lived in Marconi Steet, House No. 46. The mother told the daughter to remember the address. And she did remember it for a long time.

After the war of liberation had come to an end, the narrator returned to her city.

Gradually, everything became more normal again. And one day the narrator was reminded of all her possessions. The mother was no more alive. She was alone, living in a single room. There was no space to recover all those things and keep them in that room. Still, she wanted to see them and touch them once. So she travelled by train to Marconi Street and rang the doorbell of house No. 46. A woman opened the door partly. Through the narrow opening, she studied the visitor. She was Mrs Dorling herself. She hadn’t expected the girl to come back home alive. She refused to recognise the visitor. The narrator for a while wondered if she had come to the wrong place. But her doubt was removed when she saw Mrs Dorling wearing her mother’s green knitted cardigan.

So she had come to the right address. Mrs Dorling could not help asking how she alone had survived the war. She refused to let the visitor into the house. She closed the door also. The narrator looked at the nameplate again. It said Dorling, Number 46. She walked back to the station and travelled back the memory lane. Her first visit to Mrs Dorling’s house was in vain. But she didn’t accept defeat. She decided to try a second time.

This time, Mrs Dorling’s 15-year-old daughter opened the door. Mrs Dorling wasn’t at home. The narrator decided to wait. She followed the girl along the passage. She saw her heavy candle holders hung next to a mirror. She was taken to the living room. She found herself in the midst of things which she wanted to see. But she was pained to see them arranged in a tasteless way. The furniture was ugly and the air was damp smelling. She sat down at a table and noticed that the table cloth was hers. It had a burn mark to the edge, left unrepaired by her mother.

The girl said that her mother would be back soon and she had already made tea for her. The girl offered a cup to the visitor as well. She opened a box and took some spoons out. All those things were a part of the narrator’s mother’s belongings. She realised that one got so very used to things that one didn’t notice them intently. Mrs Dorling’s daughter also never noticed that the cutlery she used every day was silver. She opened a drawer to bring out more spoons and forks. But the narrator didn’t wait to see them. She didn’t want to meet Mrs Dorling. So she jumped up to go to catch her train.

At the corner of the road, she looked up at the nameplate. The address was correct. But she didn’t want to remember it any more. She had no intention to visit that house again. She had lost interest in the things that had been taken away from her house and put in strange surroundings. Moreover, she had no need of them in her small rented room. Only a handful of cutlery fitted in the narrow table drawer. So she made up her mind to forget that address forever, and it was quite easy to do now.

Important Points

• Marga Minco – The narrator. She was a girl of fifteen or seventeen. Her family was Jewish and Hitler was planning to kill all the Jews in Germany, Holland, Austria, etc. Probably she was away from home.
• Mrs. S – The Narrator’s mother. S may be Suzanne, Susannah, etc.
• Mrs. Dorling – A very wicked, shrewd woman. She visited the narrator’s mother saying that she was her classmate years ago. We do not know if it was so or not. She offered to help the narrator’s family by carrying their house hold utensils, furniture and all the other valuables.
• In fact she had no intention to help the narrator’s family. All she hoped was that the narrator’s family die in the war and never return.
• The war was over and everyone (except the narrator) in the narrator’s family was either deported (sent out of one’s own country) or killed in the gas chambers.
• When the war was over and the Jews were feeling safe in these countries, Marga (the narrator) returned to her house (which was no more!) and lived in a small hut.
• One day, Marga thought of the woman (Mrs. Dorling) who had taken all her possessions. She remembered her address – 46, Marconi Street.
• Marga went to Marconi Street by train.

Shorts Questions

Question. How did the narrator discover for certain that the woollen tablecloth was hers?
Answer: In her second visit to Mrs Darling’s house, she noticed the woollen tablecloth. It was hers. She remembered that there was a burn mark on the edge which was never repaired. She ran her fingers on it and found it.

Question. Why did the narrator leave Mrs Dorling’s house in such a hurry?
Answer:The narrator had a painful experience on her first visit to Marconi Street. She got a very cold shoulder. But she could not help paying a second visit. She felt oppressed to see her things there. All her mother’s antiques and precious silver and artefacts were kept tastelessly in a small and musty room. Suddenly all those familiar things lost their value for her. She did not want to see dishonest Mrs Dorling again. So, she left the house in a hurry.

Question. How did the narrator and Mrs Dorling recognise each other?
Answer: The narrator knocked at Mrs Dorling’s house. Mrs Dorling recognised her and even asked how she had come back alive from the war. But she did not let the narrator enter her house. The narrator recognised Mrs Dorling from the cardigan she was wearing. It was her mother’s.

Question. Who was Mrs Dorling? How did she rob or cheat Mrs S of all her antiques and silver?
Answer: Mrs Dorling was an old acquaintance of Mrs S’s. She turned up unexpectedly during the wartime. She suggested that the silver and other antique valuables would be safe in her house. She won the confidence of Mrs S and carried away everything to her own house. Later on, she played foul and kept all those things with her.

Question. How had the narrator got Mrs Dorling’s address? Why did she wait for years to go there?
Answer: The narrator had once come home on leave. She was introduced by her mother to her old acquaintance Mrs Dorling who was taking away the suitcase stuffed with their valuables to her own house. The mother told the narrator Mrs Darling’s address and asked her to remember that. The narrator returned home several years later at the end of the war.

Question. Why and when did the narrator feel an urge to see her mother’s belongings?
Answer: After the liberation struggle was over, the narrator returned home. One day. she became curious about all her things at Mrs Darling’s house. She just wanted to see them, touch them and remember the old times and her mother.

Question. Comment on the title of Marga’s story The Address.
Answer: The story has aptly been given the title, ‘The Address’. In fact, the entire story moves around Mrs Dorling’s address, Number 46, Marconi Street. She had taken away all the valuables from the narrator’s mother. The narrator went to that address twice after the war. But she had a bitter experience. She finally resolved to forget that address.

Question. What makes the narrator to Mrs Dorling’s house twice? What was her experience there?
Answer: Mrs Dorling had taken away all the valuables of her mother for safe-keeping. The narrator wanted to see and touch those things once. In the first visit to Marconi Street, Mrs Dorling refused to recognise her. In the second visit, it was Mrs Dorling’s daughter who opened the door. But this time the sight of her ill-arranged things distressed her.

Question. What was the narrator’s attitude toward her things transferred to Mrs Dorling’s house?
Answer: The narrator came back home at the end of the war. She had lost her interest in the silver cutlery and plates which had been taken away by Mrs Dorling. But for once, she wanted to see them and touch them. She felt very unhappy to see her things arranged tastelessly in Mrs Darling’s house. So she resolved not to claim them back.

Question. If the address of Mrs Dorling’s house was correct, why did the narrator resolve to forget it?
Answer: The narrator visited Mrs Darling’s house a second time. In fact, she had no desire to get all her things back. The address was correct but she lost interest in those stored things. Her rented room was too small for them. So she made up her mind to forget her treasure as well as the address of Mrs Dorling.

Question. How was the narrator convinced that she had come to the right address and met Mrs Dorling?
Answer: The narrator went to House No: 46, Marconi Street. She recognised Mrs Dorling who opened the door. She had no doubt that she had come to the right place. She also noticed that Mrs Dorling was wearing her mother’s knitted green cardigan.

Question. Why did Mrs S allow Mrs Dorling to take away all her precious things to her house? Why didn’t the narrator object to it in time?
Answer: Mrs S was of Jewish origin. During the war, all the Jews were being evacuated from the country by the Nazi army. There was no security of life and property. So Mrs S allowed Mrs Dorling to take away all her silver and antique things for safe-keeping. The narrator could not prevent it because she usually came home only during holidays.

Long Questions

Question. Give a brief character-sketch of Mrs S’s daughter.
Answer: The narrator was a young Jewish girl living in Holland with her mother. When the World war II started, the Nazi army started evacuating all the Jews from Europe. The narrator and her mother became very insecure. During this period an old acquaintance of Mrs S befriended her and offered to keep all her valuable belongings in her safe custody. Mrs S was a noble and trusting lady. She allowed Mrs Dorling to take away her precious antiques and cutlery etc. The narrator had some doubts about Mrs Dorling but her mother silenced her.
The narrator survived the war and came back to her old city. Now her mother was dead, her house belonged to someone else and she had no worldly possessions. Still, she is happy to be alive and trying to make a life for herself. One day she feels an urge to go to Mrs Dorling’s house and see all her mother’s precious belongings. But when she sees that all her mother’s beautiful things were kept by Mrs Dorling in a tasteless manner and she was even using them, the narrator loses all interest in those things. With a feeling of detachment, she goes back to her own rented room and decides to start life afresh. She is a brave and self-respecting girl. She does not want to live in her past glory. She wants to live in the present.

Question. Describe the narrator’s first visit to Marconi Street, No. 46.
Answer: The narrator returned home after the liberation. Even though she had lost all interest in her old stuff yet she wanted to see, touch and remember her things. She took a train to Marconi Street and tapped on the door of House No. 46. Mrs Dorling opened the door. She was surprised to see the visitor come alive from the war. She was wearing Mrs S’s green knitted cardigan. She was feeling guilty. She refused to talk to the narrator even for a moment. Her own daughter was there inside. But the door was closed on the narrator and she walked back to the station with a heavy heart.

Question. Discuss the aptness and significance of the title of the story The Address.
Answer: The Address is a tale of war. The narrator is a young girl, probably studying at the university. She comes home during the holidays. Her mother, in her absence, meets her old acquaintance Mrs Dorling. She allows her to take away all her silver and antiques for safe-keeping in her own house. She asks her daughter to remember Mrs Darling’s address. Marconi Street, Number 46. The narrator remembers the address. At the end of the war. she goes to that address but Mrs Dorling refuses to recognise her. The narrator goes to the same address a second time. She recognises her mother’s belongings set tastelessly in a strange place. She loses interest in them and returns home. She resolves to forget that address forever.

Question. Write a brief note on Mrs Dorling.
Answer: Mrs Dorling was at one time Mrs S’s friend. But the two were not in contact. Both had a daughter each. Mrs Dorling herself was a mean, greedy and dishonest woman. She won the confidence of Mrs S’s and carted away all the table silver and precious old things to her own house. She had taken for granted that the narrator and her family would not come back alive from the war. The sight of the narrator at her doorstep gave her a shocking surprise. She did not allow the narrator to walk into her house. She sent her away dejected. When she saw the narrator at her doorstep, she became scared that the narrator would see all her mother’s precious things and would ask to take back everything. Mrs Dorling is greedy and means person. In fact, when she had offered to take away all the antique and precious things of Mrs S, to keep in her safe custody, her intention was not honourable at all. She had all the intention of grabbing all those things. She was quite sure that Mrs S and her family would not come alive after the war.

Question. Who was Mrs Dorling? What did the narrator learn about her from her mother?
Answer: Mrs Dorling was an old acquaintance of Mrs S’s, the narrator’s mother. She called on her old friend unexpectedly while the narrator was away at college. She won the confidence of her friend. She had her eyes on her friend’s belongings. She must have pointed out that during wartime she might lose all her silver and antiques. She offered to take the risk herself. In bags and suitcases, she carried away all those things to her own house. The narrator learnt about Mrs Dorling and her address during one of her visits home. She remembered the address given by her mother. At the end of the war, she felt like seeing. touching and remembering her things. So she visited Mrs Dorling’s house but got a very cold welcome. The dishonest Mrs Dorling kept all precious things to herself.

Question. What were the narrator’s experience and reaction when she went to Mrs Dorling’s house a second time?
Answer: The narrator had an unpleasant experience during her first visit to Marconi Street. Mrs Dorling gave her a cold shoulder. But the narrator’s urge to see her things and touch them did not cool down. She decided to try a second time. This time Mrs Dorling’s daughter opened the door. The mother had gone out. Her daughter led the narrator to a room inside. The narrator found herself in the midst of familiar things which were scattered in a tasteless way all around. The sight oppressed her. She noticed the candle holder and the woollen tablecloth. She noticed her mother’s beautiful tea set and the silver cutlery being used by that family in that small, musty room. Mrs Dorling did not even know how to use those precious things. All those things oppressed her now. She decided to leave the house at the earliest. Her things evoked the memories of her earlier life, and she was now living in a small rented room. So she made up her mind to forget her things and also Mrs Dorling’s address.