A sunny morning
Serafin and Joaquin Alvarez Quintero
Comprehension I
1. Yes, Laura is a regular visitor to the park because as she enters the
park, she fears that her seat would be occupied.
2. Laura is annoyed because Gonzalo has disturbed the birds feeding
on her breadcrumbs and accuses him of scaring away the birds and
hence, Gonzalo is irritated and replies in a rude manner.
3. C. she knows every word by heart.
4. C. Have the same temperament.
5. C. A pinch of snuff.
6. Yes, Laura is an effective narrator as she narrates her friend’s
death very sorrowful and Gonzalo believes it.
7. C. He looks grotesque and old.
Comprehension II
1. Laura and Gonzalo begin to recognise each other when they reveal
their places and secrets. Gonzalo tells her that he is from Valencia
and Laura tells him that she had the memories of Villa Maricela.
Valencia was the place where both lived and Laura stayed in that
villa and was called the ‘silver maiden’.
2. Gonzalo had gone to meet Laura at night and waited below her
window to hear her sing. The merchant who was supposed to marry
Laura came there unexpectedly and insulted him. They had a duel
and the merchant was badly wounded. Hence, Gonzalo had to flee
to Aravaca for a few days.
3. Laura and Gonzalo both pretend as if they did not know each other
but they pine for each other after they were separated by
circumstances. Laura is more passionate as she leaves the park
with hopes to meet him again. They are friendly to each other now
without revealing their identity but their imaginations keep their
past love alive.
4. Laura was sitting in the park feeding bread crumbs to the pigeons
when Gonzalo walks amidst the pigeons and scares them away. She
accuses him for his actions and he replies in a rude manner that he
did not care for the birds and she dare not talk to him. This shows
that Gonzalo is an ill-natured man.
5. A. Fool each other.
Comprehension III
1. Irony is the idea of integrating through a character or a plot an
intension opposite to that of which is as tensibly stable; Laura and
Gonzalo are two young lovers in the past, who are separated by
some circumstances. Laura’s parents have decided to get her
married to a local merchant, which initiates a dual between
Gonzalo and the merchant. The merchant is badly injured so
Gonzalo, fearing the consequences fl2ees Valencia. He writes
many letters to Laura but they are intercepted by her parents. She
is unaware of this she waits for almost two years for Gonzalo finally
agrees to marry the merchant. Presently, when they have met in
the park, the incidence, such as reading of the poem with lines, ‘All
love is sad, twenty years pass by, he returns here as are you and I
complete strangers.’ The description of Laura’s beauty, all these
hint some kind of a relationship between the two. A careful
reading of the play in fact clearly reveals that Laura and Gonzalo
were lovers in the past.
2. Laura and Gonzalo spin fictitious stories about them because they
realise that they are no more the young and good looking lovers
when they were separated by ill-fate. They started a normal
conversation after sharing a pinch of snuff and alternatively
sneezing thrice. The conversation continued and Gonzalo went on
talking about his interests in writing poetry. He mentioned
companion and how he met him at the age of six. At this point of
time he discloses the place where he hails from and immediately
Laura has slight idea that he may be Gonzalo. They continued their
conversation as Laura’s friend and Gonzalo’s respectively. During
the conversation they recognise each other and realise the high
esteem both have for each other. So they do not want to reveal
their identities. Gonzalo is grotesque and suffering from gout.
Laura has grown old with the wrinkled face. Considering all these
factors, they try to hide their identities by spinning fictitious
stories.
3. The play starts with the feeling of dislike towards each other. A
pinch of snuff makes peace between them. The animosity that is
witnessed in the beginning of the play is not seen at the end. The
pinch of snuff initiates a conversation where both Laura and
Gonzalo get to talk about Valencia and Marcella, the homes of the
two respectively. But after this conversation, the two have rubbed
each other the wrong way and do not talk in a friendly way.
Gonzalo is upset that his bench has been taken by three priests and
doesn’t want to share the bench with Laura. Laura on the other
hand is cross at him for being intolerant and scaring away the
birds. She retorts at him when he sits next to her and uses his
handkerchief as his shoe brush. She ridicules him which angers
Gonzalo and both of them are mad at each other. The snuff makes
peace between them and in fact helps them disclose that they are
two young lovers who have been separated due to misfortune at the
close of the play. The two have become quite close and part ways
promising to see each other again.
4. In the one act play ‘A Sunny Morning’ the two lovers Laura and
Gonzalo do not reveal their identities because they have grown old
and do not look pretty and grotesque respectively. Gonzalo was
suffering from government and did not want Laura to know about
this. They wanted to maintain the secrecy of their identities
thinking that they would remember each other as young, good
looking admirers who were considered to be the epitome of beauty
when they were young. They came to know of each other’s identity
at the end of the play but that did not change their perception or
opinion about each other. Probably they would have respected one
another the same way had they revealed their identities without
any inhibition.
5. The prose ‘A Sunny Morning’ written by Saraffin and Jaquin
Alvarez is aptly named. Sunny Morning depicts the warm love
story of Laura and Gonzalo when they were young and their
reunion after almost twenty years. This one act play showcases the
meeting of Laura and Gonzalo in a part on a pleasant morning
where the sun is showering its warmth and is not harsh. The title
also depicts the coming together of long last friends which is quite
a surprise to these lovers who were separated due to ill-fate. The
play holds a surprise to this couple who is presently old and may
also refer to the love that was ignited when they were young before
their unfortunate parting. Sunny morning refers to the warmth of
love that prevails throughout the play.
