Get here the summary, questions, answers, textbook solutions, extras, pdf of the story Dream Children: A Reverie by Charles Lamb of NBSE Class 11 Alternative English. However, the given notes/solutions should only be used for references and should be modified/changed according to needs.
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A. Answer the following questions briefly.
1. What kind of stories do children like listening to?
Answer: Children enjoy hearing stories about their elders that allow them to imagine a great-uncle or grand-mother whom they have never met.
2. What kind of a woman was Mrs Field?
Answer: Mrs Field was a good and religious woman who was well-liked and respected by all. She was such a good and religious woman that she knew all the Psalms and a large portion of the Bible by heart. She was also tall, straight, and elegant. Even the cruel disease that bowed her down in pain couldn’t break her spirits, which remained firm.
3. How did the author spend time at his grandmother’s place?
Answer: During the holidays, the author spends hours staring at old busts of the Twelve Caesars or Emperors of Rome, until the marble heads seem to come to life again or he is turned to marble. He never got tired of wandering around the massive mansion and, on occasion, the spacious old-fashioned gardens that he had almost entirely to himself. He liked walking around among the old melancholy-looking yew trees and firs, picking up red berries and fir apples. He’d spend his time lying around on the fresh grass, surrounded by all the fine garden smells, or basking in the orangery until he could imagine himself ripening as well. He also enjoyed watching the dace swim around in the fish pond. He enjoyed these busy-idle diversions more than the common baits of other children.
4. Who was John L.? Why did Mrs Field love him in an ‘especial manner’?
Answer: The author’s elder brother was John L.
Mrs Field adored him in a “special” way because he was smarter than her other children. He was a brave, handsome, and spirited young man who reigned over his family like a king.
5. How did the author court the fair Alice?
Answer: For seven long years, the author courted the fair Alice, sometimes in hope, sometimes in desperation, but he never gave up.
C. Answer the following questions in detail.
1. Why is the story subtitled ‘A reverie’?
Answer: Lamb never married and thus never had children, so the story Dream Children is subtitled ‘A Reverie.’ He conjured up an imaginary picture of a happy conjugal life, which eventually disintegrates into nothing as he returns to reality. Charles Lamb is depicted as a recliner lost in a beautiful reverie, recalling some of his fond memories of his grandmother, Mrs Field. In his sweet reverie, he tells the children the story of his great grandmother. He responds to their questions, and they eventually vanish as he awakens from his dream. In fact, the subtitle ‘A reverie,’ which literally means a daydream or a fantasy, is a foreshadowing of the pathos of the return to reality, despite the fact that the essay (Dream Children: A Reverie) begins on a deceptively realistic note.
2. What kind of a relationship did the author and John share?
Answer: According to the author, John L. was a kingly figure. He admired him for his bravery and charisma. John L. had a soft spot for the author. He used to transport the author on his back. Many a mile he couldn’t walk for pain when he was a lame-footed boy. In fact, he was afraid of John L. when he was impatient or in pain. He had no idea how much he loved his brother until he died, and he missed him all day, missed his kindness and crossness, and wished he could see him again.
3. `…such a distance there is betwixt life and death …’ Explain the significance of the line in light of the context.
Answer: The sudden absence of his brother John L., caused by his death, forced Lamb to feel the chasm, the difference between life and death. Even though his brother had only been dead for an hour, it seemed like he had died a long time ago. That’s how far apart life and death are. He realised that death created a permanent absence because the dead cannot be brought back to life. Lamb adored his brother, but death seemed to have left such an immeasurable void in his life that it was impossible for him to comprehend the significance of the difference between the two.
4. How does the author manage to bring out the individuality of the two children? Cite examples.
Answer: Even though he did not provide a description of the two children in Dream Children: A Reverie, the author was able to bring out their unique personalities while narrating the story. While listening to Lamb’s personal story, Alice first reacts by spreading her hands when Lamb says how good, religious, and graceful a woman she is. Mrs Field had been there. Alice reacts to it either with astonishment or with a pious gesture. She also sobs when Lamb discusses his elder brother’s suffering and death. When he heard that the great house was being stripped of its ornaments, he smiled, implying the folly of the task. He was attempting to appear brave in order to persuade his father that he, too, would not have been afraid of the ghost. When Lamb was talking about his elder brother’s pain and death at the end of the storey, John, like Alice, began to cry.
5. Critically analyse the line, ‘We are only what might have been, and must wait upon the tedious shores of Lethe millions of ages before we have existence.
Answer: This line from Dream Children: A Reverie reveals Charles Lamb’s philosophical observation about life. His belief that life is a dream is reflected in his dream, which relieves his memories and allows him to tell stories about his deceased loved ones. He sees no distinction between the modes of life in the past and the modes of life in the present. The dream implies that it will take millions of years for man to be able to target anything at all. It will be there once we have a name and an existence. The twist occurs near the end of the essay. The speaker’s children, John and Alice, turn out to be figments of his imagination. The essay Dream Children: A Reverie is especially successful because the realisation that it has all been a dream does not occur until the very end. The reader becomes engrossed in the speaker’s story, believing it to be true. The twist ending reveals that it was all a dream.
Additional/extra questions and answers/solutions
1. Create a character ketch for Lamb’s grandmother.
Answer: Lamb’s grandmother worked as a housekeeper at the grand mansion in Norfolk. Lamb was influenced by his grandmother as a child. She was a good and religious lady who was well-liked and admired by all. She had a great spirit, which enabled her to care for the great house in the most dignified manner until her death. She was often referred to as the mistress of the great house, despite the fact that she was only a caretaker there. She adored all of her grandchildren and frequently invited them to spend their vacations in her magnificent home. In her youth, she was regarded as the best dancer. Everyone assumed she knew the Psalter and the Testament by heart. When she died, people travelled long distances to attend her funeral.
7. Why does Lamb say that grandmother Field was not the owner of the house yet in some ways she might be said to be the mister of it as well?
Answer: Mrs Field was the caretaker of the great house in Norfolk. She took exceptional care of the great house, even after the royal family relocated to a newer and more fashionable residence. She looked after it as if it belonged to her. She was devoted to her duties and upheld the dignity of the household until her death. Many people admired her dedication and loyalty. Despite the fact that she was not the true mistress of the house, she was referred to as such.
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