Chapter 5-Mother's Day

NCERT Solutions for Class 11 English Snapshots Chapter 5 – Mother's Day

Author: J.B. Priestley | CBSE Class 11 | NCERT Snapshots

NCERT Solutions for Class 11 English Snapshots Chapter 5 – Mother's Day is a brilliantly comic one-act play written by the renowned British playwright J.B. Priestley. Unlike most stories that celebrate or sentimentalise motherhood, this play takes a sharp, satirical approach to the way society takes mothers for granted. The story centres on Mrs Pearson, a kind but thoroughly doormatted housewife who is constantly ignored and unappreciated by her own family. Students must check out the NCERT Solutions Resources for Class 11 English, like NCERT Solutions for Class 11 English and for all subjects, NCERT solutions for class 11. 

Her neighbour Mrs Fitzgerald, a bold and forthright woman with a talent for the occult, proposes a radical plan: the two women will swap personalities so that the confident Mrs Fitzgerald, now in Mrs Pearson's body, can teach the Pearson family a lesson about respect. What follows is a hilariously uncomfortable confrontation that forces the Pearson family to see their mother as a person, not a servant. For Class 11 CBSE students, Myclass24 offers clear and complete NCERT Solutions for this play, covering all characters, themes, and stage directions that the textbook questions address.

NCERT Solutions PDF – Chapter 5 Mother's Day (Myclass24)

Chapter 5 – Mother's Day: Summary, Analysis & Key Facts

J.B. Priestley's "Mother's Day" is perhaps the most overtly feminist text in the Class 11 NCERT Snapshots textbook, and it delivers its message with humour, energy, and theatrical flair. Written as a one-act play, it is a quick read but a deeply rewarding one, raising questions about domestic labour, gender roles, and the invisible emotional work that mothers perform every day.

Mrs Pearson is the kind of woman who lives entirely for others. She rushes around making tea, doing laundry, and generally running the household while her husband, son, and daughter treat her wishes as optional at best. Nobody consults her, thanks her, or considers what she might want. She is present in the house the way furniture is — useful, unnoticed, and taken for granted.

Enter Mrs Fitzgerald — larger than life, opinionated, and with a few unusual skills in the occult. She performs a charm that swaps the personalities of the two women. From this point on, it is Mrs Fitzgerald's blunt, no-nonsense character operating from inside Mrs Pearson's body. The effect is immediately shocking to the Pearson family. "Mrs Pearson" lights a cigarette, pours herself a drink, speaks sharply, and flatly refuses to make tea. She tells daughter Doris that her boyfriend Charlie Spence is a "nasty, conceited young man," and she informs son Cyril that his evenings at the club are a waste of time. She is brutal — but she is also largely right.

The play builds to a satisfying climax. Mr Pearson, who had been at his club, returns to find his household in chaos. He is also subjected to the truth — that he has been a self-important and unappreciative husband. For a brief, uncomfortable moment, the family is forced to look at themselves clearly. Mrs Fitzgerald then switches the personalities back, and Mrs Pearson — now emboldened by what she has witnessed her family is capable of accepting — stands her ground just a little more firmly than before. The play ends with the Pearson family agreeing to treat their mother with more care and consideration.

Priestley makes no heavy-handed speeches. The comedy does the work. By making the audience laugh at the Pearsons, he makes them uncomfortable enough to examine similar dynamics in their own lives. The play is a brilliant example of how theatre can challenge social norms while keeping audiences thoroughly entertained.

Key Facts Table

| Detail | Information | Chapter | 5 – Mother's Day | | Book | NCERT Snapshots (Class 11 English) | | Author | J.B. Priestley | | Form | One-Act Play | | Setting | The Pearson family home, England | | Main Characters | Mrs Pearson, Mrs Fitzgerald, Doris, Cyril, Mr Pearson | | Theme | Women's Rights, Domestic Labour, Family Respect, Gender Roles |

The Swap: Personality Exchange and Its Effects

| Before Swap | After Swap (Mrs Fitzgerald in Mrs Pearson's body) | Mrs Pearson is meek and ignored | "Mrs Pearson" is bold and outspoken | | Family takes her for granted | Family is shocked and confused | | No one listens to her | Everyone is forced to listen | | She does all chores without thanks | She refuses chores; demands respect | | Feels powerless | Family begins to reflect on behaviour |

For CBSE exams, the key questions include why Mrs Fitzgerald's methods are effective and what the play suggests about the status of women in families. Myclass24's NCERT Solutions address these with well-structured, detailed answers that are ideal for board exam preparation.