1. What Is The Relationship Between The Two Characters In This Scene From The Play? 2. Where Are They? 3. What Happened Before This Passage In The Play? 4. Who Are The Women They Are Meeting? 5. What Do You Think Will Happen After This In The Play?

shanks889 | 14:02 Mon 13th May 2019 | Film, Media & TV

9 Answers

Red Carnations
Boy: (crossing to a bench) I think I will sit down if you don't mind. It’s a devil of a bore standing
first on one foot and then on the other. (He sits down on the opposite end of the bench.)
Man: Have a cigar?
Boy: No, thanks; I’ll just finish this cigarette. (He turns directly to the MAN, and as he does, his
eye lights on the carnation in the other’s lapel. He shows annoyance. He takes one from his own
lapel, hesitates a moment, then replaces it. The MAN, noticing the action smells his.)
Man: Pretty flowers, carnations, aren’t they? The wonderful fragrance they have, too. I am very fond
of them, and I see your taste runs in the same direction.
Boy: (disturbed) Yes, indeed. Very fine flower. But I—well, I hope you won’t think me silly, but
as a matter of fact, if it doesn’t make any difference to you, Would you mind keeping your
carnation out of sight for a while, until—well, just to be a good sport if you would hide it for a
few minutes, I'd be very grateful.
Man: (good-naturedly) Now, I’d like nothing better than to do you a favor, Mr.--- Mr.---
Boy: Smith.
Man: Thank you, Mr. Smith. That’s strange. Very strange.
Boy: What is strange? The name of Smith?
Man: Yes, strange that you should have it, when that is my name, too.
Boy: Oh, your name is Smith, too? Well, after all, there are lots of us in the world --- lots of us
Smiths, l mean—so there is no reason why such a coincidence.
Man: Of course not—only, I was thinking about the red carnations.
Boy: Well. I don’t see—
Man: I may be mistaken, Of course. But two Smiths, meeting in the same spot at the same hour,
both wearing red carnations! You must confess it's a bit——
Boy: By Jove! So it is! (He looks intently, suspiciously, at the MAN.) I wish you could move to
another spot, or take that flower out of your lapel, or---it isn’t absolutely necessary for you to
wear it, is it?
Man: But it is! Absolutely! And you are going to cause me all sorts of trouble if you don’t move,
or change your name, or at least throw away your carnation.
Boy: I shall do nothing of the kind. I can’t! My Lord, man, she doesn't know me! That is, she
doesn't know what I look like. That is why she asked me to wear a red carnation.
Man: But that is exactly my predicament. The woman / am to meet does not know me by sight.
She asked me to wear a red carnation. So you see, I can’t help you out. After all, a man must
look to his own affairs first.
Boy: What a beastly coincidence! (brightening) Oh, well, it may not matter. One of them will
arrive before the other does. If you recognize her as your—a—friend, you can speak up at once,
and get on out of the way. If mine should arrive first, I shall do the same.

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1. What Is The Relationship Between The Two Characters In This Scene Of The Play? 2. Where Are They? 3. What Happened Before This Passage In The Play? 4. What Do You Think Will Happen After This In The Play?

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spathiphyllum

1.

The two characters in the Scene from the play are strangers in relation to each other. We know this because they requested each others names, only to discover they both shared a name, which came as a surprise.

spathiphyllum

2.

The scene takes place on a bench. This is all we know about the location of the characters. We know this because the boy (whilst "crossing to a bench") asks the man if he is able to sit down next to him.