William Somerset Maugham​

The Luncheon
 Agenda

A
About the author

Introduction

The Story

Summary

The Luncheon by William Somerset Maugham 2

 About the Author
The British novelist William Somerset Maugham (1874-1965), one of the
most popular writers in English in the 20th century, is noted for his clarity
of style and skill in storytelling

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 Introduction
The Luncheon - William Somerset Maugham
 Introduction
The story is an anecdotal experience that the writer had with one of his
patrons who asked to meet him in person. The writer is in his struggling
phase as he has only gotten one book published. He is aware of his
financial constraints but is flattered with the interest shown by his fan
The fan is actually an older woman who desires to have a meeting in one
of the premier and costliest restaurants of the city. Owing to his humility
and sense of gratitude, the writer agrees to the conditions
She wins the author's favor and expresses her wish to meet him at a high
class restaurant.
 William exposes the false motives of modest eating habits, of the middle
classes with a touch of humor
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“ The Story

The Luncheon - William Somerset Maugham

”
 The story
The luncheon’ is a short story by W. Somerset Maugham.
The story begins with the narrator meeting one of his acquaintances in
the theater. They had met after a long time (20 years), and the narrator
found it hard to recognize her.
The acquaintance i.e. a lady, recognized him immediately and asked him
if he remembered the last and first time they had met.
She reminded him that he had asked her out for luncheon. The narrator
quickly remembers what had happened and now he tells us the story….

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 Twenty years ago…
The narrator was living in Paris. He had a small apartment in a Latin Quarter. He describes
his income as ‘just enough to keep body and soul together’.
One of his books were read by that lady and she wrote to him about it. He thanked her and in
a few days, received another letter from her, saying that she was passing through Paris and
would like to have a chat.
The narrator took some time to decide where to take her for lunch.
He finally considered Foyot’s, which was a restaurant where many French senators ate, and
although it was a little expensive for our narrator, he was flattered by the ladies compliments,
and decided to cut down cost by drinking no coffee for the next two weeks.
He had 80 gold francs to last him the month, and he assumed that a decent lunch wouldn’t
cost him more than 15 bucks. So, he asked the lady out for luncheon (a formal lunch) at
Foyot’s
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 At Foyot’s, 20 years ago….
The lady didn’t turn out to be young, as the narrator had expected. She was in her
forties. The narrator described the lady as ‘having more teeth than necessary’ i.e.
talkative and unattractive.
The narrator decided to listen more and talk less. The menu startled the narrator,
as the prices were higher than what he had estimated. The lady reassured him by
telling him that she never had more than one item for lunch.
The narrator generously said, “please don’t say that”, but he dearly wished she ate
only one item. She ordered Salmon and caviar for herself and the narrator ordered
the cheapest dish on the menu – a mutton chop, for himself.
All the while, the lady told him that meat was a heavy dish, and that he should
follow her example and eat only one dish although she was clearly having more
than one
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 At Foyot’s, 20 years ago….
After the meal, she ordered white champagne, which further sank the narrator’s heart
as he focused his thoughts on what the bill would sum up to. He only ordered water.
The lady enjoyed the meal and kept talking about art, literature and music.
When the waiter arrived with the bill, she waived him aside and wanted to know if
they had any Asparaguses at the restaurant. The narrator wished the waiter would say
“no”, but the waiter smiled and told them that they had large, tender, fresh and
miraculously juicy ones.
The lady ordered Asparagus and asked the narrator if he wanted to as well. The
narrator refused and made the excuse that he didn’t like Asparagus.
 Our narrator was seized by panic. Now he began to think if he would have enough
money to pay the bill. The asparagus arrived and the narrator described the lady as
‘shamelessly thrusting the Asparagus down her throat’.
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 At Foyot’s, 20 years ago….
After the lunch, the narrator asked her if she wanted coffee, to which she
replied, “yes, just an ice cream and coffee”.
The narrator had stopped worrying about the cost now, and he ordered her
both.
After the luncheon, just when they were about to get up, the waiter
appeared with a large basket of fresh peaches, much to the dismay of our
narrator.
The narrator refused for himself but the lady took one peach. She kept
thinking that the one mutton chop he had had, had ruined his appetite.
It was not the season of peaches, so the narrator had to pay extra. After the
bill came, he had only 3 francs left, and that too, he paid as a tip
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 Outside Foyot’s, 20 years ago…
After the luncheon, when it was time for them to leave, the lady advised
him to follow her example and eat only one dish for lunch, which was
ironical coming from someone like her, who had just had a whole
stomach full for lunch.
The narrator replied by saying, “I will do better than that. I will eat
nothing for dinner tonight”.
The lady called him a ‘humorist’. This was again ironical because the
narrator really meant it.
He did not have a single penny in his pocket, and he had the whole month
left

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 In the theater, 20 years later…
This brings us back to the present time, where the narrator and the lady
are meeting after twenty long years.
The narrator tells us that he had had his revenge for the luncheon ordeal.
 How did he have his revenge? -The lady weighed 130 Kg now (in some
versions of the story, her weighed is said to be 21 stones, or 294 pounds,
which is the same as around 130 Kg).
The narrator observed this result with a pardonable sense of achievement

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 Summary
The story is an example of irony. The lady exploits the narrator by
pretending an interest and admiration for his work, which she might not
even actually feel. The irony is that the narrator takes her to an expensive
restaurant where he’d never dared to go himself, as he could not afford it.
The lady probably understood his financial situation and ‘took him for a
ride’

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 Name : Yashada H. Mohan​

Thank you Class/Division: 8th(Excellent)

Roll no: 14