Bishop’s Candlestick: NBSE, BSEM English questions, answers

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Bishop’s Candlestick: NBSE, BSEM English Literature questions, answers

Get notes, questions, answers, solutions, summary, pdf, and extras for the chapter Bishop’s Candlestick. However, these notes should be used only for references and additions/modifications should be made as per the requirements.

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NBSE Class 9 book specific notes

BSEM Class 10 book specific notes

Summary

The play is based on the theme that love and care can change a man, rather than violence. The play is about a convict who broke into the Bishop’s house one night as the Bishop’s sister Persome and the Bishop were about to have dinner. The convict had actually escaped from the prison because the police had forgotten to chain him up. He was sent to prison for ten years because he had stolen food for his sick wife because he didn’t have a job or money. The Bishop told the convict that he should not be afraid but take a rest. The benevolence of the bishop somewhat softened the convict, but, when he saw the candlesticks, he became greedy and stole them. He tried to run away with them.

The candlesticks were given to the Bishop by his dying mother and so they were very dear to him. The convict was, however, caught by the police and brought back to the Bishop without realising that they had caught an escaped criminal. The convict expected to go back to jail, but the Bishop informed the police that the candlesticks were a gift to the man and he was his friend. The act of kindness by the Bishop changed the convict’s heart and he believed in the spirit of God that dwells in the heart of every human being.

After the police were gone, the Bishop gave the candlesticks to the convict and told him to move to Paris and start a new life selling the candlesticks. The convict became a changed man.

Additional/extra questions and answers

1. Why did the convict break into the Bishop’s house?

Answer: The convict broke into the Bishop’s house because he was starving and had not eaten for three days. As an escaped prisoner, he did not have any food, money, or shelter, so he resorted to stealing in order to survive.

2. How did the Bishop react when the convict threatened him with a knife?

Answer: When the convict threatened the Bishop with a knife, demanding food, the Bishop remained calm and kind. He offered to get the convict some food from the cupboard, wanting to help feed the starving man despite being threatened. The Bishop showed no fear.

3. Where in the Bishop’s house does this play take place?

Answer: This play takes place entirely in the kitchen of the Bishop’s modest cottage.

4. What did the convict demand from the Bishop when he first entered the house?

Answer: When the convict first broke into the Bishop’s cottage, he demanded food, telling the Bishop he was starving and hadn’t eaten in three days. He threatened the Bishop with a knife, demanding to be quickly fed.

5. Who is Persome and what is her relationship to the Bishop?

Answer: Persome is the Bishop’s sister. She lives with him and takes care of the household duties like cooking meals. She is protective of her brother but disapproves of his charitable habits.

6. Discuss the conflict between Persome and the Bishop over his charitable actions.

Answer: Throughout the play, Persome frequently becomes angry and disapproving over the Bishop’s charitable giving of their money and possessions to the poor. She sees his open-handed generosity as foolish, believing he is taken advantage of by greedy, lazy people who pretend to be in need. Their most heated conflict arises when the Bishop sells their family silver salt cellars, a treasured heirloom, in order to pay the rent of a sick elderly woman. Persome laments that soon they will have nothing left if he keeps giving everything away. However, the Bishop maintains that there is so much suffering in the world that he must try to help, even if he can only do a little. Their opposing viewpoints create ongoing tension between the siblings.

7. Explain why the Bishop sold his silver salt cellars.

Answer: The Bishop sold his valuable family heirloom silver salt cellars in order to give the money to an impoverished, elderly woman named Mere Gringoire. She needed the money to pay her rent and avoid eviction. The kind-hearted Bishop wanted to help her in her time of need.

8. What item did the Bishop refuse to sell despite his sister’s insistence?

Answer: The Bishop refused to sell his candlesticks, even though Persome insisted he would end up selling them too based on his habitual generosity. The candlesticks were gifted to him by his mother on her deathbed, so they held deep sentimental value from his childhood.

9. Who gave the Bishop the candlesticks and why were they so sentimental to him?

Answer: The Bishop’s mother gifted him the candlesticks on her deathbed shortly after Persome was born. She asked him to keep them in remembrance of her. This dying wish imbued the candlesticks with deep personal meaning to the Bishop.

10. How did the convict end up in prison for 10 years? Discuss the backstory given.

Answer: The convict reveals that he was originally a good man until hardship struck. He had a cottage and loving wife. However, when his wife grew gravely ill, he and his family were living in poverty, unable to find work or feed themselves. In an act of desperation, he stole food in order to save his wife from starving to death. However, when he was caught, the police and magistrates did not care about the circumstances that drove him to steal. They sentenced him to a devastating 10 years of hard labor on the prison ships. This cruel punishment for stealing to save his wife left him feeling enraged at society’s callousness.

11. Explain the harsh conditions the convict experienced while in prison.

Answer: The convict described the inhumane treatment and squalor endured on the French prison ships. He was chained up like an animal, lashed and beaten, given rotten food crawling with vermin, and forced to sleep on hard wooden boards. If he complained about the conditions, he was beaten more. The experience stripped away his humanity.

12. Where did the convict plan to flee after robbing the Bishop? Why?

Answer: After robbing the candlesticks, the convict planned to flee to Paris. As a large city, he hoped he could disappear there and evade capture by the police who were hunting for him across the countryside as an escaped prisoner.

13. Discuss how the Bishop reacted when he learned the candlesticks were stolen.

Answer: When the Bishop learned the convict had stolen the candlesticks, he was deeply saddened at first that his only keepsake from his mother was gone. However, he quickly shifted perspective and took it as a just punishment for coveting material goods too much. He did not blame the convict, refusing to tell the police.

14. Who arrived with the candlesticks in hand after the robbery?

Answer: After the convict fled into the night with the Bishop’s stolen candlesticks, he was spotted on the road by the local law enforcement. A sergeant of the gendarmes (French police) arrived at the Bishop’s cottage, accompanied by three other gendarme officers. The sergeant was in possession of the stolen silver candlesticks, which had apparently fallen out of the fugitive’s pockets during a struggle while the gendarmes arrested and detained him. Wanting to return the Bishop’s property, as well as confirm they were dealing with a robber, the sergeant brought the captured convict back along with the candlesticks.

15. Explain why the sergeant and police brought the convict back to the Bishop’s.

Answer: The sergeant recognized the valuable candlesticks they found on the convict as belonging to the Bishop. Wanting to return them and confirm they were stolen, they brought the caught convict and candlesticks back to the Bishop’s cottage.

16. How did the Bishop describe the convict to the sergeant? Why?

Answer: When the police brought the convict back, the Bishop insisted the man was his friend, not a robber. He claimed he had gifted the candlesticks willingly. The Bishop lied to protect the convict from being sent back to prison.

17. What did the Bishop insist the sergeant do with the convict?

Answer: The Bishop firmly insisted that, as his “friend”, the sergeant must let the convict go free rather than arresting him for the robbery. After an uneasy standoff, the sergeant reluctantly agreed to release the prisoner.

18. Why was the convict ashamed when brought back before the Bishop?

Answer: The convict was ashamed to be brought back and confronted with the truth of his crime after the Bishop’s generous kindness. He realized he had robbed one of the only good-hearted people he had met, who treated him like a human being.

19. Where did the Bishop advise the convict to flee after his release?

Answer: After the police released the convict, the Bishop advised him to flee through the woods behind the cottage, following a hidden path that led directly to Paris. The Bishop was still trying to help him escape.

20. What did the convict ask the Bishop to do for him before he fled?

Answer: Deeply moved by the Bishop’s mercy and forgiveness, the convict humbly asked the Bishop to bless him before he continued fleeing to Paris. He hoped the blessing would help change his ways.

21. How did the convict react emotionally to the Bishop’s kindness?

Answer: The Bishop’s astonishing kindness and forgiveness moved the convict to tears. After years of cruelty, he finally felt human again instead of like a wild animal. The Bishop’s blessings overwhelmed him with emotion.

22. What important life lesson did the Bishop teach the convict?

Answer: The Bishop taught the convict that despite his suffering, he always has hope because his body is a temple of God. He can still regain his humanity through compassion. This lesson deeply impacts the convict’s perspective.

23. Why did the convict believe he could never be good again?

Answer: After years enduring inhumane treatment in prison, the convict felt he was no longer human but had become a wild beast. He didn’t believe there was any good left in the world or any hope for himself.

24. Explain how the Bishop demonstrated true Christian values.

Answer: The Bishop treats the dangerous, threatening convict with unconditional compassion and forgiveness. He feeds the hungry, protects the vulnerable, and sacrifices material goods for those in need – all while maintaining faith the man’s soul can be redeemed.

25. Analyze how small acts of kindness can effect great change.

Answer: The play provides an impactful example of how even small acts of kindness, mercy, and compassion can profoundly transform another person’s life and perspective. Through humble actions like feeding the starving convict, forgiving his theft, speaking to him as a friend, and blessing him, the kindly Bishop reached past the man’s hardened, beast-like exterior that had been forged by years of cruelty. His grace ultimately penetrated the convict’s heart, evoking his long-buried humanity. This suggests we all have the power through simple kindness to redeem and reshape even the most broken souls, making the world a gentler place.