The Hen Flashcards
by H.H. Munro (SAKI) — tap or click to flip
Flashcard Review
Flashcards: The Hen
Why is Mrs. Sangrail worried at the beginning of the story?
Dora Bittholz is arriving on Thursday, but Jane Martlet is already staying at the house, and the two women are bitter enemies over a hen dispute.
What caused the feud between Jane Martlet and Dora Bittholz?
Dora sold Jane a bronze Leghorn hen at an inflated price, but the hen refused to lay eggs, leading to an exchange of furious letters between them.
Why could the quarrel between Jane and Dora not be resolved?
Jane was willing to retract her insults if Dora took the hen back, but Dora refused because that would mean admitting she was in the wrong.
What is Clovis's first scheme to get Jane to leave the house?
He tells Jane that the butler Sturridge suffers from dangerous delusions, and currently believes Jane is Queen Anne who ought to be dead.
Why does Clovis's first scheme fail?
Despite being alarmed by the story about Sturridge, Jane stubbornly refuses to cut her visit short, declaring she will simply stay on her guard.
How does Clovis finally succeed in getting Jane to leave?
He tells Sturridge to carry an unsheathed sabre to Jane in the morning-room, and she flees through a back stairway in terror, convinced the butler is attacking her.
What makes the ending of the story ironic?
Dora Bittholz writes the same day to postpone her visit, making Clovis's entire scheme to remove Jane unnecessary.
How does Mrs. Sangrail differ from her son Clovis in her approach to the social dilemma?
Mrs. Sangrail is helpless and anxious about the situation, while Clovis is confident and resourceful, claiming "miracles are rather in my line."
What kind of guest is Jane Martlet?
She is an immovable house guest who never stays less than a fortnight even when invited for a week, and whose departure schedule cannot be altered by ordinary means.
Who is Sturridge and what is his actual temperament?
Sturridge is the Sangrails' long-serving, impeccable butler who is thoroughly sane and reliable. He is completely unaware of the role Clovis assigns him in the deception.
What does Clovis claim happened when Sturridge believed a guest was the Prophet Elijah?
He says Sturridge refused to serve the guest any food, believing ravens would provide for her as they did for Elijah in the wilderness, forcing her to cut her visit short.
What is the "Ella Wheeler Wilcox" that Clovis makes?
It is a cocktail Clovis invented and irreverently named after the sentimental American poet, made partly of old brandy and curacao with other secret ingredients.
How does the story illustrate the absurdity of Edwardian social conventions?
Mrs. Sangrail cannot simply ask Jane to leave because hospitality rules forbid it, so an elaborate deception involving fake madness and a drawn sword is needed instead.
What does the story suggest about the relationship between pride and conflict?
The feud over a worthless hen persists because neither woman will yield on principle, showing that pride can make trivial disputes permanent.
How does Clovis embody the theme of deception as a creative art?
Clovis constructs an elaborate fictional narrative about Sturridge's madness with inventive details, treating social manipulation as a form of storytelling.
What role do appearances versus reality play in the story?
The entire plot hinges on the gap between appearance and reality: Sturridge appears threatening but is innocent, and Clovis appears helpful but is scheming to expel Jane.
How does Saki use dramatic irony in the sabre scene?
The reader knows Sturridge is innocently delivering the sword on a fake errand, while Jane interprets the same action as a murder attempt, creating comic terror.
What is the effect of comparing the quarrel to Wagner's "Fliegende Hollander"?
It is hyperbole that elevates a petty dispute over a hen to the level of grand operatic tempest, underscoring the absurd intensity of the women's feud.
What literary technique does Clovis use when he says "Exactly" after Jane says she would go mad from Sturridge's routine?
It is an example of double meaning and misdirection: Clovis redirects Jane's innocent remark to support his fabricated claim that Sturridge has gone mad.
How does the title "The Hen" function as a literary device?
It is understated and misleading, since the hen never appears and the story is really about social manipulation, creating a gap between the title and the actual plot.
What does "invective" mean as used in the story?
Insulting or abusive language. Clovis says the letters between Jane and Dora were "a revelation as to how much invective could be got on to a sheet of notepaper."
What does "impalpable" mean in the description of Sturridge's qualities?
Unable to be touched or felt; intangible. It describes how the ideal butler should be present yet physically unnoticeable.
What does "omniscient" mean in the context of Sturridge's role?
All-knowing. Clovis uses it to describe how Sturridge knows everything about his department's silver, glass, table linen, cellar, and pantry.
Who says "Nothing fans the flame of human resentment so much as the discovery that one's bosom has been utilised as a snake sanatorium"?
Clovis says this to his mother, describing how the former friendship between Jane and Dora makes their current enmity even more bitter.
What is the significance of Clovis repeating "Exactly" and staring at his empty cocktail glass after Jane recalls that Queen Anne is famous for being dead?
It is the pivotal moment where Clovis implies that Sturridge considers Jane as someone who should be dead, letting the word "dead" hang ominously in the silence.
What does the narrator mean by saying Clovis "holds the record as the only human being who ever hustled Jane Martlet out of the time-table of her migrations"?
It is the story's closing line, treating Jane's visits like a force of nature with a fixed schedule that only Clovis has ever managed to disrupt.