SUMMARY, by Cristina Fernández
The tale is the story of one day in the life of an egocentric musician that has success in his career, but unable to manage with bills, creditors and everyday details.
He would like to be one of the aristocrat group of people
for whom he works, and behaves like one of them, meanwhile his wife has to
manage to please his extravagances with a low budget and be her maid.
The marriage doesn’t work, as he adores everything in
other women and loathes everything about his wife. Also, he tries to teach his
son to behave like an aristocrat, with the result that the child finds it
absurd.
To summarize the day, he gives singing lessons at home
to grateful women and at night he sings in a private house, and that night he went to dinner too with one of his students.
Today, all has been a success in his life, but not his
marital relationship, as he treats his wife as a maid, and he would like she
would be like one of his pupils.
QUESTIONS TO REFLECT
Why do we want to be the centre of everything?
Why is always the other the responsible for a failure?
QUESTIONS TO DEBATE
-What is the best way to wake up? Do you think that having to get up at a determined time is a kind of being a slave?
-Do you think marriage / living together changes the relationship between a couple?
-Our society has to do exercise or go to the gym
because most of the jobs don’t imply movement. Is this good or bad for our health in
particular, or for the mankind in general?
-According to your opinion, what kind of formalisms
are necessary in our daily routines? (saying “thank you”, e.g.) Aren’t these
formulas worn out?
-What are your politics about keeping a servant?
-“Vanity, that bright bird”: what is the meaning of
this expression? When vanity can be positive?
-How can governments promote culture for everybody,
not only for rich people?
-“Nobody is a hero for their servant / husband /wife”.
Why is that?
-“Ah, is we only were friends, how much I could tell
her now!” Do you tell different things to a friend than to your spouse?
VOCABULARY
overall, stick and stone, shell, clip his wings,
wedded, loofah, thrill, make it up, looked up, pansy, chords, waft, dairy