Say the Right Thing | CBSE Class 7 English Notes

This note covers the play "Say the Right Thing" by G.C. Thornley: a scene-by-scene summary, the characters, the themes, key quotations and answers to the textbook questions.

Who wrote this play and what is it about?

"Say the Right Thing" is a humorous play by G.C. Thornley. It shows a mother, Mrs Shaw, advising her daughter Mary to be polite and say the right thing when guests visit.

The play is introduced as one in which the daughter "hilariously forgets her mother's guidance" when the guests actually arrive, and she then "commits blunders" and "embarrasses the guests as well as her mother".

The play is built around dramatic irony: Mary makes critical remarks about people she thinks are strangers, but each remark turns out to describe someone connected to the very guests sitting in front of her. This creates the play's comedy and its lesson about tact in conversation.

The play is set in two scenes. In Scene I, Mrs Shaw prepares Mary and gives her advice before Mrs Harding and Mrs Lee arrive. In Scene II, the guests visit, and Mary commits one blunder after another, embarrassing both the guests and her mother.

Who are the characters?

Who is Mary Shaw?

Mary Shaw is "a young girl", Mrs Shaw's daughter. She is confident and insists she "can talk very well" and knows "the right things to say".

In practice she repeatedly says the wrong thing, criticising children, bankers, clothes, invalids, talkative women, dogs and horse-riders, each time unknowingly insulting a guest or their relative.

By the end of the visit Mary is still unable to say the right thing: when the guests try to leave, she says "Oh, must you stay? Can't you go?" instead of her mother's advised line, showing she has learnt nothing from the lesson.

Who is Mrs Shaw?

Mrs Shaw is Mary's mother. She wants to "know Mrs. Harding well" so that the Hardings will invite her to their house, because "there isn't much to do here in Lanfield" and she wants "some more friends". She coaches Mary carefully: "you'll always be right if you're kind to people."

Throughout Scene II, Mrs Shaw tries desperately to repair the damage Mary causes, quickly changing the subject or agreeing with the guests, for example saying "I like blue dresses and red coats" after Mary mocks Mrs Best's outfit.

Who is Mrs Harding?

Mrs Harding is "the wife of Mr. Harding, a wealthy man" who has recently bought a big house in Lanfield, having lived in London before.

She corrects Mary's claim that she has children: "I have no children; believe me." It later becomes clear that details Mary mocks, such as the blue dress and red coat and the dog Towzer, belong to Mrs Harding herself.

Who is Mrs Lee?

Mrs Lee is "Mr. Harding's married sister", who has been staying with the Hardings. She unintentionally reveals, point by point, that Mary's criticisms of a stranger actually describe her own brother (Mr Harding) and mother: her brother is the commuting banker who reads newspapers and rides and shoots, and her mother is "a very talkative woman".

What happens in the play, scene by scene?

Scene I: Mrs Shaw's advice to Mary

The scene opens with Mrs Shaw tidying the room before Mrs Harding and Mrs Lee arrive, telling Mary to put her coat away. Mary protests that she is "not a child" but agrees to tidy up.

Mrs Shaw explains who the visitors are: Mrs Harding, wife of a wealthy man who has just bought a house in Lanfield, and Mrs Lee, his married sister.

Mary insists she can talk well and wants to stay and meet the guests instead of going for a walk. Mrs Shaw warns, "If you stay with me, you may not say the right thing," but eventually allows Mary to stay, on condition that she "take care".

Mrs Shaw's advice is simple: be kind, say things that please people, laugh and make others laugh, and if everyone falls silent, say something to start the conversation again.

She also tells Mary that when guests want to leave, she should look sorry and say, "Must you go? Can't you stay?" Mary promises to remember this and changes into a clean dress before the guests arrive.

Scene II: The visit of Mrs Harding and Mrs Lee

Mrs Shaw opens politely, and Mrs Harding says she likes Lanfield even though "it's not the same as London". When conversation falters, Mary tries to fill the silence, but every remark she makes causes embarrassment. She praises Mrs Harding's "beautiful children", only to be told, "I haven't any children."

Mary then mocks Mr Best, a commuting banker who "never reads a book" and dismisses him because "he's only a banker, and bankers can't think". Mrs Lee quietly reveals that her own brother is a banker with exactly the same routine.

Mary next laughs at Mrs Best's blue dress and red coat, and Mrs Harding reveals she wears the same combination herself.

Mary criticises Mrs Cotter for staying in bed and calling the doctor often; Mrs Harding says she stays in bed herself, and Mrs Lee says she often visits the doctor. Mary then calls an unnamed woman too "talkative";

Mrs Lee replies, "My mother's a very talkative woman." Several times, "no one says anything" after Mary's remark, showing the guests' discomfort.

Mary spots a dirty dog near the house and asks who would want such a dog; Mrs Harding reveals it is their own dog, Towzer. Mary then mocks Mr Pomeroy for riding horses and practising shooting instead of liking people;

Mrs Lee reveals her brother does exactly this, having sold his London house to ride and shoot in Lanfield.

Mrs Harding then decides it is "getting a little late" and the guests leave, with Mary, still unable to say the right thing, saying, "Oh, must you stay? Can't you go?" instead of Mrs Shaw's advised phrase.

What themes does the play explore?

Why is tact in conversation important?

The central theme is the need to think before speaking. Mrs Shaw's advice, "you'll always be right if you're kind to people," sums up the lesson, but Mary's repeated blunders show how easily careless talk can embarrass both the speaker and the listener.

How does the play show the gap between advice and practice?

Mary confidently claims she already "knows the right things to say" before the guests arrive, but this confidence does not match her performance. The play contrasts Mrs Shaw's careful coaching with Mary's inability to apply it, highlighting how knowing advice is different from following it under real pressure.

What does the play say about wanting to make a good impression?

Mrs Shaw's motive for the visit is social: she wants to "know some more people" and hopes Mrs Harding will invite her to their house. This desire to impress new, wealthier acquaintances in Lanfield adds pressure to the scene, making Mary's blunders feel costlier.

How does coincidence create the play's humour?

The comedy depends on Mary unknowingly criticising people who turn out to be connected to her listeners, such as the banker, the dog's owner, and the talkative mother. This repeated pattern of unintended coincidence, met each time by silence, is the engine of the play's humour.

What are the key quotations?

The following lines are the key quotations from the play: Mrs Shaw's warnings and advice in Scene I, and the guests' quiet corrections in Scene II. Reading them in order shows how carefully the advice is set up before it is broken.

"If you stay with me, you may not say the right thing."
— Mrs Shaw, warning Mary before the guests arrive.

"You'll always be right if you're kind to people."
— Mrs Shaw, giving Mary her main piece of advice.

"Oh, I haven't any children."
— Mrs Harding, correcting Mary's first blunder.

"He's only a banker, and bankers can't think."
— Mary, unknowingly describing Mrs Lee's own brother.

"My brother's a banker."
— Mrs Lee, revealing the coincidence after Mary's remark.

"That's Towzer. It's our dog."
— Mrs Harding, after Mary criticises the dog outside.

"Oh, must you stay? Can't you go?"
— Mary, getting the farewell line wrong at the end.

Notice the pattern across these lines: Mrs Shaw's early advice is stated as a simple rule, while every one of the guests' replies is a quiet correction rather than an angry one. This restraint is itself part of the play's comic and social lesson.

What are the answers to the textbook questions?

Do you think Mary will be able to follow her mother's advice successfully?

Based on the play, Mary does not follow the advice successfully. Although she promises to remember Mrs Shaw's instructions, she repeatedly embarrasses the guests with careless remarks about children, bankers, clothes, illness, talkativeness and dogs, and finally gets even the simple farewell line backwards, saying "Oh, must you stay? Can't you go?"

Why did Mary insist on staying with her mother when the guests arrived?

Mary insists on staying because she is confident in her own ability to talk. She tells her mother, "I can talk very well when I like," and wants to prove this by handling the conversation with Mrs Harding and Mrs Lee herself.

How can we say that Mary enjoyed good health?

Mary says, "I've never been to a doctor in my life," while criticising Mrs Cotter for often calling the doctor. This remark shows that Mary herself has not needed medical attention, suggesting good health, though the comment also embarrasses Mrs Lee, who often visits the doctor.

What does Mary's comment about Mr Best reveal about her viewpoint on bankers?

Mary dismisses Mr Best's daily commuting and newspaper-reading as a poor way of life, concluding that "bankers can't think". Her comment reveals that she judges people's routines quickly and harshly, without considering that the same routine might belong to someone in the room, as Mrs Lee's brother's case shows.

What do the repeated stage directions "no one speaks" indicate?

The repeated direction shows the growing discomfort and awkward silence in the room after each of Mary's tactless remarks. It signals that the guests are offended or uneasy but are too polite to respond directly, leaving Mrs Shaw to try to smooth things over.

What do Mrs Harding's and Mrs Lee's responses reveal about their characters?

Both women respond calmly and factually rather than angrily, simply correcting Mary's assumptions, for example, "I have no children; believe me." Their restrained, polite replies suggest they are well-mannered guests who choose not to make the awkward situation worse.

How does Mary repeatedly say the wrong thing?

Mary's blunders follow a clear pattern across Scene II. She makes a confident, critical remark about someone outside the room, and a guest then reveals that the remark unintentionally describes a person close to them.

This happens with the children, the banker, the dress, the illness, the talkative woman, the dog and the horse-rider.

Each blunder is followed by the stage direction "no one speaks" or similar silence, which marks the embarrassment caused. Mary's habitual response, "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know," shows she recognises her mistake only after making it, never before speaking.

This repeated structure builds the play's comic rhythm: audiences can predict that Mary's next remark will again embarrass someone, even as Mary herself remains unaware of the pattern until the very end.

Why does Mrs Shaw want Mary to be polite?

Mrs Shaw has a clear social goal for the visit: she wants to "know Mrs. Harding well" so that she will be invited to the Hardings' house. She explains that there "isn't much to do here in Lanfield" and that she wants "some more friends".

This goal explains why Mrs Shaw is so anxious about Mary's behaviour. Each of Mary's mistakes threatens the good impression Mrs Shaw hopes to create, which is why Mrs Shaw keeps intervening, for example agreeing quickly with Mrs Harding about blue dresses and red coats to cover Mary's rudeness.

Mrs Shaw's advice, to be kind, to laugh and make others laugh, and to fill silences with pleasant talk, is practical guidance for exactly this kind of socially important visit, making her disappointment at Mary's failure understandable.

What is the humour in the play?

The play's humour comes mainly from irony and coincidence. Mary thinks she is talking about strangers, but her listeners keep revealing that she is describing their own relatives or even themselves, such as Mrs Harding's own dog, Towzer, or Mrs Lee's banker brother.

A second source of humour is the mismatch between Mary's confidence and her actual performance. She repeatedly claims she "can talk very well" and knows what to say, yet gets everything wrong, right down to reversing her mother's careful farewell line at the very end.

The final line, "Oh, must you stay? Can't you go?" is the clearest comic payoff: after an entire visit of mistakes, Mary manages to get the one rehearsed sentence exactly backwards.

What can we learn from the stage directions?

The play includes several stage directions in brackets that guide how lines should be delivered, such as "(not very pleased)", "(quietly)", "(quickly)" and "(with a red face)". These directions show the guests' and Mrs Shaw's reactions without extra dialogue.

The recurring direction "(No one says anything)" or "(No one speaks)" is especially important, as it marks the silences that follow Mary's blunders and conveys the guests' discomfort more powerfully than words could.

Several directions also describe small physical actions that add to the comedy, such as Mrs Harding "looking out of the window" just before she reveals that the dirty dog Mary has mocked is in fact Towzer, her own pet.

The direction "(with a red face)" after Mary learns about Towzer shows her embarrassment directly, without a single extra word of dialogue being needed to tell the reader how she feels at that moment.

Reading these directions carefully helps a reader or performer understand the emotional undercurrent of the scene, which is otherwise hidden beneath fairly ordinary-sounding dialogue about dresses, dogs and newspapers.

How is the play structured?

The play has just two scenes. Scene I is a private conversation between mother and daughter, setting up Mrs Shaw's advice and Mary's confidence. Scene II is the public test of that advice, when the actual guests arrive.

This two-part structure lets the audience compare what Mary was told to do with what she actually does, making her repeated failures easy to follow and increasingly funny as the pattern repeats with each new topic she raises.

Within Scene II, the dialogue is built from a chain of near-identical small episodes: Mary makes a remark, a guest reveals the coincidence, and a stage direction marks the silence that follows. This repetition, rather than a single long conflict, carries almost the whole second scene.

The play ends immediately after Mary's final reversed line, without any extra scene showing the aftermath, leaving the embarrassment of the final moment as the play's last impression on the reader or audience.

Glossary

• Hilariously — in a very funny way, describing how comically Mary forgets her mother's careful guidance once the guests actually arrive.
• Blunders — careless mistakes in speech or behaviour, here the tactless remarks Mary repeatedly makes in front of the visiting guests.
• Embarrasses — makes someone feel uncomfortable or awkward in front of others, as Mary's remarks embarrass both the guests and her mother.
• Talkative — tending to talk a great deal, a trait Mary criticises in an unnamed woman who turns out to be Mrs Lee's mother.
• Suffix — a word ending such as -ous, -ly or -ing added to a root word to change its meaning or grammatical form.
• Intonation — the rise and fall of the pitch of a speaker's voice while talking, which can change how a sentence is understood.
• Sentence stress — the emphasis placed on particular words within a sentence to highlight their meaning and importance to a listener.
• Declarative sentence — a sentence that states or conveys information and ends with a full stop, such as "There's always something to say."
• Interrogative sentence — a sentence that asks a question and ends with a question mark, such as "What shall I do when they want to go?"
• Exclamatory sentence — a sentence expressing strong feeling and ending with an exclamation mark, such as Mary's remark about Mrs Harding's children.
• Imperative sentence — a sentence giving an order, command or request, usually ending with a full stop, such as Mrs Shaw's instructions to Mary.
• Present perfect continuous — the tense formed with has or have plus been plus a verb ending in -ing, showing an action continuing up to now.
• Dramatic irony — a situation in which the audience understands the significance of a character's words, such as Mary's remarks, before that character does.
• Tact — the skill of saying things in a way that will not upset or offend the person being spoken to.
• Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam — a Sanskrit phrase meaning the world is one family, encouraging kindness and unity among all people regardless of differences.

Common errors and misconceptions

• Misconception: Mary stops making mistakes once the guests correct her. Correct: She keeps making fresh blunders on new topics throughout Scene II, right up to her final reversed farewell line.
• Misconception: Mrs Harding and Mrs Lee are angry at Mary. Correct: They mostly respond calmly and factually, with silence or a quiet correction, rather than anger.
• Misconception: Mrs Shaw wants Mary to simply stay quiet. Correct: She advises Mary to talk kindly and fill silences, not to avoid speaking altogether.
• Misconception: The dog Mary criticises belongs to a stranger. Correct: It is revealed to be Mrs Harding's own dog, Towzer.
• Misconception: Mr Best, the banker Mary mocks, is one of the guests' relatives directly named. Correct: Mr Best is a separate neighbour; the coincidence is that Mrs Lee's own brother shares exactly the same routine.
• Misconception: Mary gets her mother's farewell advice right at the end. Correct: She reverses it, saying "Oh, must you stay? Can't you go?" instead of "Must you go? Can't you stay?"

Exam-style questions with model answers

Q1. Who is Mrs Lee, as described in the play? [1 mark]

1. Mrs Lee is Mr Harding's married sister, who has been staying with the Hardings for a while.

Q2. Name two topics on which Mary makes an embarrassing remark during the guests' visit. [2 marks]

1. Mary wrongly claims Mrs Harding has children, upsetting her.
2. Mary mocks Mr Best's routine as a commuting banker, which matches Mrs Lee's own brother.

Q3. Why does Mrs Shaw want to make a good impression on Mrs Harding and Mrs Lee? [3 marks]

1. Mrs Shaw says there "isn't much to do here in Lanfield" and she wants more friends.
2. She hopes Mrs Harding will invite her to visit their house.
3. This social goal explains why she coaches Mary carefully and keeps smoothing over Mary's mistakes during the visit.

Q4. Explain, with examples, how coincidence creates humour in the play. [4 marks]

1. Mary criticises strangers, but her remarks keep describing people connected to her listeners.
2. She mocks a banker's dull routine; Mrs Lee reveals her own brother is exactly that banker.
3. She mocks a dirty dog; Mrs Harding reveals it is their own dog, Towzer.
4. This repeated pattern of unintended coincidence, followed by awkward silence, is the main source of the play's comedy.

Q5. Describe what happens in Scene I before the guests arrive. [5 marks]

1. Mrs Shaw tidies the room and tells Mary to put her coat away, as Mrs Harding and Mrs Lee are coming.
2. Mary insists she is "not a child" and that she can talk well.
3. Mrs Shaw explains who the guests are: Mrs Harding, wife of a wealthy man, and Mrs Lee, his married sister.
4. Mary wants to stay and meet them instead of going for a walk, and Mrs Shaw reluctantly agrees, warning her to "take care".
5. Mrs Shaw advises Mary to be kind, to laugh and make others laugh, to fill silences with talk, and to say "Must you go? Can't you stay?" when the guests wish to leave.

Q6. Trace Mary's blunders in Scene II and their effect on the guests. [6 marks]

1. Mary wrongly says Mrs Harding has children; Mrs Harding corrects her firmly.
2. Mary mocks the commuting banker Mr Best; Mrs Lee reveals her own brother behaves identically.
3. Mary laughs at Mrs Best's blue dress and red coat; Mrs Harding reveals she wears the same.
4. Mary criticises Mrs Cotter for staying in bed and visiting the doctor; Mrs Harding and Mrs Lee say this applies to them too.
5. Mary calls someone too talkative; Mrs Lee says her own mother is very talkative.
6. Mary mocks a dirty dog near the house; Mrs Harding reveals it is their own dog, Towzer.
7. Mary mocks Mr Pomeroy for riding and shooting instead of liking people; Mrs Lee reveals her brother does exactly this.
8. Each blunder is followed by silence, showing the guests' growing discomfort, and the visit ends with Mary getting even the farewell line backwards.

Q7. What advice does Mrs Shaw give Mary about handling silences during the visit? [2 marks]

1. Mrs Shaw tells Mary that if everyone stops talking, she should say something to start the conversation again.
2. She adds that the guests do not want to sit looking at the floor in silence, so Mary must always think of something to say.

Q8. What final mistake does Mary make as the guests prepare to leave, and what should she have said? [3 marks]

1. Mary says, "Oh, must you stay? Can't you go?" as the guests prepare to leave.
2. This reverses her mother's advised phrase.
3. She should have said, "Must you go? Can't you stay?" to show she wanted them to remain longer.

Key takeaways

• "Say the Right Thing" is a humorous play by G.C. Thornley about Mary's attempts to be polite to guests.
• Mrs Shaw advises Mary to be kind, fill silences with talk, and ask guests to stay longer when they leave.
• Mary confidently insists she already knows how to talk well, but fails to follow the advice.
• Each of Mary's critical remarks unknowingly describes someone connected to Mrs Harding or Mrs Lee.
• Mrs Harding reveals she has no children, owns the dog Towzer, and wears a blue dress with a red coat.
• Mrs Lee reveals her banker brother, her visits to the doctor, and her talkative mother, each matching Mary's criticisms.
• Repeated silences after Mary's remarks show the guests' growing discomfort each time she unknowingly causes offence.
• The play ends with Mary reversing her mother's rehearsed farewell line, showing she has learnt little from the whole visit.

Test yourself

Who are Mrs Harding and Mrs Lee in relation to each other?

Mrs Lee is Mr Harding's married sister, so Mrs Harding is her sister-in-law, and Mrs Lee has been staying with the Hardings.

What does Mrs Shaw hope will come from the visit?

She hopes to know Mrs Harding well so that she will be invited to their house, as she wants more friends in Lanfield.

What mistake does Mary make about Mrs Harding's children?

Mary wrongly claims Mrs Harding has two children she has seen on the road, but Mrs Harding says she has none.

Whose dog is Towzer?

Towzer is Mrs Harding's own dog, revealed after Mary criticises it as dirty and unwanted.

What coincidence links Mr Best to Mrs Lee?

Mary mocks Mr Best's commuting and newspaper-reading as a banker, and Mrs Lee reveals her own brother has exactly the same routine.

What does Mary say instead of "Must you go? Can't you stay?"

She says, "Oh, must you stay? Can't you go?", reversing her mother's advised phrase at the end of the visit.

What does the stage direction "no one speaks" usually follow?

It usually follows one of Mary's tactless remarks, showing the guests' awkward silence and discomfort.