Question

explain the summary of drama the bishop's candlesticks

Answer 1

The play The Bishop's Candlesticks by Norman Mckinnell is built on a very simple plot involving characters like The Bishop, the convict, the Bishop's sister, Marie and others. The plot of the play revolves around a story that brings forth the themes of Christian virtues like love and redemption.

The play unfolds through a series of dialogues between Persome, the Bishop's sister and Marie, the maid servant regarding the whereabouts of the Bishop. Through a thorough questioning, the Bishop's sister is able to sense that the Bishop may have gone to do his usual philanthropic activities nearby. She feels that the simplicity and nobility of the Bishop is being misused by people and the Bishop falls an easy prey due to his innocence.

After some time Persome comes to know that the salt cellars which were gifted by her mother has been given away by the Bishop to help Mere Gringore pay her rent and save her from imminent eviction.

Persome has an argument with the Bishop regarding his undue innocence. She makes him promise not to give away the candlesticks to any body in future. Having said that she goes to sleep.

In the subsequent scenes, the play takes an interesting turn. The entry of a stranger is mentioned. The stranger is the convict who carries a long knife and seizes the Bishop from behind. The convict asks for food and threatens to kill him in case he informs others about his presence. The convict reveals his true identity to the Bishop. The Bishop comes to know about the circumstances by which the stranger became a convict,the torture meted out to him by the police and so on and so forth. During the convict's stay in the Bishop's house, he comes across the silver candle sticks. The Bishop tells him that how his mother gave these candle sticks to him and his sister at the time of her death. Ultimately, the convict is unable to resist his temptation and he runs away with the candle sticks.

Persome, the Bishop's sister starts a heated argument with the Bishop as usual only to hear that the convict is in more need of the candlesticks than them. However, the convict is unable to go too far so that he is nabbed by the Police. The Police brings the convict to the Bishop who instead of accusing the convict of theft, forgives him by saying that the convict is his friend . The police releases him .The convict is blessed by the Bishop who advises him to go to a good place to start a new career. The convict reaches Paris where he starts a business and settles down successfully. The convict realises that by this act of benevolence of the Bishop , the convict has undergo a transformation from a wild beast to a man once again.

Hope this helps!