The Spider and the Fly Questions and Answers ISC

Short Questions
(a) ‘The Spider and the Fly’ is a tragic tale with a clear message. Discuss with close
reference to the text.
Answer : “The Spider and the Fly’ is included in Howitt’s collection of poems entitled Sketches
of Natural History (1834). Like other poems in the selection, this poem is also meant to make
children aware of the perils they can face in life.
In this poem this spider and the fly are personified. They talk and behave like humans. The
spider represents those people who are wicked, cunning, flatterers and ruthless. The fly
represents those who are innocent, simple-minded and gullible.
The spider is hungry and wants to eat the fly who happens to fly up near the spider’s web. The
spider invites the fly to come to his drawing room which she will find the prettiest that she has
ever seen. The fly declines the invitation firmly saying that she has heard that no one comes back
who enters this room. The spider is in no mood to give up. He offers another temptation. He tells
her that he has a variety of nice dishes in his room. Again the fly turns down his invitation.
The spider then addresses the fly as ‘sweet creature’ and praises her for being witty and wise. He
flatters her saying that her gauzy wings are pretty and her eyes are very bright. He asks her to
come to his drawing room and have a glimpse of her beauty in a mirror placed on a shelf there.
The fly thanks the spider for what he says and then bids him farewell, saying that she will come
some other day.
The spider goes into his room. He weaves a web and sets a table to ‘dine upon’ the fly. He is
certain that the fly will return soon. He comes out and begins to sing praising the beauty of the
fly’s wings, her colours, the crest on her head and her eyes. The fly does come back, gets caught
and eaten by the spider.
(b) Who do you think is responsible for the fly’s death?
Answer : On the literal level, it is obvious that it is the spider who is responsible for the fly’s
death. It is he who cunningly tempts her with so many things. He flatters her too much. A
flatterer is often successful in his or her aim.
But if we read the poem carefully. It becomes clear that the spider should not be blamed for what
happens to the fly. It is the fly, in fact, who is responsible for her tragic end. She is fully aware of
the dangers of coming close to the spider’s home. But she throws all cautions to the wind and is
taken in by the cunning spider. Flattery proves to be fatal in her case. She knows well that it is
dangerous to enter the spider’s web. Even then she comes very close to the web, so overpowered
is she by the flattering words of the spider. The spider cannot be held responsible for what he
does. It is the fly who proves to be foolish enough to be tricked by the wily spider. Had she not
forgotten what she had heard about the spider’s den’ she would not have met her doom. We all
need to learn a lesson from her fate.
(c) What is the message of the poem? How is it conveyed?
Answer : ‘The Spider and the Fly’ is a fable, and like any other fable it is primarily meant to
convey a message. The message given in the last stanza of the poem is quite clear. The poet,
through the tragic story of a simple-minded and gullible fly, wants us to be wry of all kinds of
flatterers. We should pay no heed to the flattering words of the wicked counsellors. The moral is
directed to the little children. Why can’t it be extended to everyone, especially women who
become easy prey to their flatters? Perhaps the poet had adult men and women in mind when she
personified the spider and the fly as male and female.
The message is conveyed by the poet herself. She addresses the readers directly to convey the
message:
“To idle, silly, flattering words, I pray you n’er give heed’.
If we omit the last stanza, the tale itself provides this message clearly. The modern critic does not
like this overt sermonizing by the writer, which amounts to treating readers like ignorant fools.
(a) Closely referring to the text of the poem ‘The Spider and the Fly’ analyse the character
of the spider.
Answer : ‘The Spider and the Fly’ is a fable in which the poet personifies the spider as a human
being. The spider talks and behaves like a human. He is presented as a very clever and scheming
being. Seeing a fly near his web he at once makes up a scheme to eat her. So he very politely
invites the fly to his drawing room, the prettiest that she has ever seen. Then he adds that the
room has beautiful curtains and fine sheets on the bed. He invites her to come and take rest. He is
quite and humble and condescending in suggesting that he himself will put her on the bed
comfortably. When the fly turns down the request, he offers another temptation. He tells the fly
that he has got a variety of tasty dishes which she much taste . The fly refuses to come into his
trap.
The spider is a determined creature. He does not give in easy. He has a keen insight into the
female mindset. So he resorts to flattery, a weapon he knows almost never fails in its effect. He
calls the fly witty and wise. Then he praises the beauty of her looks:
How handsome are your gauzy wings, how brilliant are our eyes!
“Come hither, hither, pretty fly, with the pearl and
silver wing:
Your robes are green and purple; there’s a crest
upon your head;
Your eyes are like the diamond bright……..
Even when the fly departs, he does not lose hope. He knows his flattering words will surely
work, and they do work. The fly returns to be caught and eaten by him.
(b) What do you think of the fly as depicted in the poem?
Answer : The poet has also personified the fly. The fly acts and behaves like a woman. She is
simple-minded but alert. When she reaches near the spider’s web, the spider invites her to her
room. He asks her to rest on his bed. Then he tempts her with a variety of tasty dishes he has
stored. The fly is alert and well-informed. She turns down the offers made by the spider. That the
fly is bold and frank becomes clear from the words she uses in snubbing the spider firmly,
though politely:
………….to ask me in vain,
For who goes up your winding stair can ne’er
come down again’.
But like all young and beautiful girls , she is susceptible to flattery. The spider knows this
weakness in all females. So when the spider utters highly flattering words she is pleased. She is
obviously too excited and pleased to follow all precautions . She forgets all the dangers and
comes very close to the spider who at once catches and kills her.
Thus, the fly is simple-minded and gullible. She is easily pleased with flattery. She shows a
female weakness for which she has to pay dearly.
(c) Comment upon the form of the poem.
Answer : Fable in form : In form the poem is like a fable in which animals talk and behave like
humans. It is simple, straightforward and chronological. As it is meant for the children , its
language is easy to understand. It is divided into seven stanzas of varying length using the
couplet form aabb. The rhyming words – fly, spy; stair, there; vain, again; high, fly ; thin, in –
are mostly linked to the main idea in the story and help in building the proper atmosphere and
advancing the tale further. The rhythm varies to convey the change in the mood. As such there is
variation in line length.
The foolish fly, drawn by the flattering words, forgets all the dangers, and comes close to the
spider’s web. The spider catches hold of her fiercely and drags her up his winding stair to his
dark cell from where she never comes back.
The speaker gives the moral of the story. The readers should pay no heed to the flattering words
of the evil persons. Flattery is often used to hurt others. It may be harmless at times.
The fable appeals to us because of its powerful poetic impact. The irony of fate is employed with
telling effect. The fly knows how dangerous it is to enter the spider’s web. It is ironic that she is
finally taken in by the sweet words and meets her doom.

Long Questions
Question 1 : Give in your own words the story of the spider and the fly as narrated by
Mary Howitt in the poem ‘The Spider and the Fly’. Who is responsible for the fly’s tragic-
end – the spider or the fly? Discuss.
Answer : ‘The Spider and the Fly’ by Mary Howitt tells a simple , tragic story in straightforward
manner. The spider and the fly are personified. They act and behave like humans, and are, in
fact, metaphors for some kinds of people in real life.
The spider is wily and evil-minded. It wants to eat the fly that happens to come high up near his
web. The spider invites the fly to come to his drawing room, the prettiest that she has ever
seen .He says that there are beautiful curtains round the room. The bed in the room has fine and
delicate sheets. The fly declines the invitation saying that she knows whoever sleeps upon his
bed never wakes up.
The spider does not give up. The spider does not give up. He gives the fly a temptation to have a
nice feast in his room. Says he:
“I have within my pantry, good store of all
that’s nice;
I’m sure you’re very welcome; will you please
take a slice?”
The fly in her wisdom declines the invitation once again emphatically. She says that she knows
what he has in his store, and she does not have any desire to see what he has.
The spider, then, resorts to plain flattery. He addresses her as ‘Sweet creature’ and praises her for
being witty and wise. He exclaims that her gauzy wings are very pretty and her eyes are very
bright. He asks her to come to his drawing room to have a glimpse of her beauty in a small
looking-glass placed on a shelf there. The fly thanks the spider for what he says and then bids
him farewell, saying that she will come some other day.
The spider goes into his dark cell, and is confident that the foolish fly will soon return. He
weaves a web and sets a table in his room ‘to dine upon’ the fly. Then he comes out and begins
to sing praising the beauty of her wings, her colours, her crest on her head, and her eyes. The
foolish fly, does come back, enchanted by the flattering words, gets caught and eaten by the
spider.
The end of the fly is, no doubt, tragic. But she is herself responsible for her end. She throws all
cautions to the wind and is taken in by the cunning spider. Flattery proves to be fatal in her case.
She knows well that it is dangerous to enter the spider’s web. Even then she comes very close to
the web, so overpowered is she by the flattering words of the spider. The spider cannot be held
responsible for what he does. It is the fly who proves to be foolish enough to be tricked by the
wily spider. Had she not forgotten what she had heard about the spider’s ‘den’ she would not
have met her doom. We all need to learn a lesson from her fate.
Question 2 : Is the poem ‘The Spider and the Fly’ a fable? Discuss with close reference to
the text.
Answer : We are all familiar with stories in which animals talk and act like the human types they
represent. Such stories are or were written to give some message to the readers. This message is
often implicit. The readers understand it without the narrator telling it. Sometimes the narrator
gives the message of the story in the end. The stories in which animals are characters are known
as beast fables.
‘The Spider and the Fly’ is an interesting table in verse. It is a beast fable. There are in it two
characters , the spider and the fly which are metaphors for certain human types. The spider is a
wily, wicked male, while the fly is an innocent but silly female. Though the poet/narrator says
that their tale is only meant to caution little children against flattering words of wicked
counsellor, it can be easily surmised that it is also meant to warn women against the
manipulating males who flatter and seduce them.
The tale, mostly told through dialogue, is simple, straightforward and chronological. The wily
spider is hungry and wants to eat the little fly who has flown high up near his web. He invites
the fly to walk into his parlour and see the most ‘curious’ things there. the fly knows well that
whoever goes up his winding stair never comes down again. So she doggedly declines the
invitation. The spider is not one of those who easily give in. He tempts her with an offer. She
must be tired from going up so high, so she should take some rest on his comfortable bed in his
room with beautiful curtains. The fly again turns down his offer:
“O no, no”, said the little Fly, for I’ve often
heard it said,
They never, never wake again, who sleep upon
your bed.”
The spider is very cunning. He shows his false love for her and asks for her and asks the fly what
he should do to prove his sincere love for her. He again tries to lure her by saying that he has got
many delicacies in his store, and that she should come and have a slice or so. When the fly’s
answer is in negative again, he begins to flatter her. He calls her a sweet creature who is both
witty and wise. He praises the beauty of her wings and eyes. He asks for her to come and have a
look at herself in a looking glass on the shelf of his room. The fly is determined and again rejects
his offer, and then moves away.
The spider is confident of his scheme. He weaves a web in one corner of his den and prepares the
table to dine upon the fly. He begins to sing a song cheerfully, knowing that the silly fly will
soon return. In the song he uses highly flattering words:
“Come hither, hither, pretty Fly,
with the pearl and silver wing:
Your robes are green and purple;
there’s a crest upon your head;
Your eyes are like the diamond bright,
but mine are dull as lead.”
The foolish fly, drawn by the flattering words, forgets all the dangers, and comes close to the
spider’s web. The spider catches hold of her fiercely and drags her up his winding stair to his
dark cell from where she never comes back.
The speaker gives the moral of the story. The readers should pay no heed to the flattering words
of the evil persons. Flattery is often used to hurt others. It may be harmless at times.
The fable appeals to us because of its powerful poetic impact. The irony of fate is employed with
telling effect. The fly knows how dangerous it is to enter the spider’s web. It is ironic that she is
finally taken in by the sweet words and meets her doom.
Question 3 : Give a critical analysis of the poem ‘The Spider and the Fly’.
Answer : ‘The Spider and the Fly’ is a verse-tale about a spider and a fly. The spider represents
those who are cunning and evil-minded, whereas the fly represents those who are innocent and
gullible. The spider finds the fly near its web, but it is not so near as can be caught. So he invites
the fly to come to his parlour (drawing-room) . The fly declines the invitation as she is well
aware of the dangers of entering the spider’s web. The spider is too clever to give up easily. He
gives several tempting offers to the fly – the fly should rest for a while on his beautiful bed; she
should see rare things in his room; she should have a feast of delicious things there. The fly, in
her wisdom, refuses to be tempted. The spider, then, resorts to an invincible weapon, that is,
flattery. He praises the wings, and the eyes of the fly. The fly does not respond and goes away.
But the wily spider is confident that the foolish, little fly will soon come back. So he weaves a
web and sets a table to dine upon her. Then he comes out to his door and sings a song in praise of
the fly:
“Come hither, hither, pretty Fly, with the pearl
and silver wing:
Your robes are green and purple; there’s a crest
upon your head;
Your eyes are like the diamond bright…….”
These flattering words draw the fly very close to the web, gets caught and is eaten by the spider.
The story is obviously a beast fable. The last stanza in which the narrator addresses the readers
(little children) and cautions them against flattery and wily persons like the spider is
unnecessary. The message of the poem is inherent in the tragic end of the fly itself. Then, the
third person intervention by the narrator in the last but one stanza too is, undesirable.
The poem is simple in form and structure. It employs the couplet form and varied line-lengths to
tell the story with telling effects. Most of the rhyming words are linked to the subject-matter. The
use of dated words by the spider (‘shew’ in place of show; ‘hither’ in place of ‘here’) are to be
noted. The fly does not use such words.
In short, ‘The Spider and the Fly’ is an interesting verse-tale and serves its purpose very well.