Read the excerpt from "The Lady Maid's Bell."
I had been near a week at Brympton before I saw my master. Word came that he was arriving one afternoon, and a change passed over the whole household. It was plain that nobody loved him below stairs. Mrs. Blinder took uncommon care with the dinner that night, but she snapped at the kitchen-maid in a way quite unusual with her; and Mr. Wace, the butler, a serious, slow-spoken man, went about his duties as if he'd been getting ready for a funeral. He was a great Bible-reader, Mr. Wace was, and had a beautiful assortment of texts at his command; but that day he used such dreadful language that I was about to leave the table, when he assured me it was all out of Isaiah; and I noticed that whenever the master came Mr. Wace took to the prophets.
Which best describes a gothic element in the excerpt and the social attitude it reveals?
The arrival of Mr. Brympton causes fear, revealing that men are powerful in the world.
Mrs. Blinder prepares a dinner well, revealing that cooking is considered the highest art.
Mr. Wace reads the Bible, revealing that religion is no longer a respected institution.
The servants do not like the master, revealing that having servants is no longer acceptable.
Answers
Answer :
The following sentence best describes a gothic element in the excerpt and the social attitude it reveals :
The arrival of Mr. Brympton causes fear, revealing that men are powerful in the world.
The lines 'Mrs. Blinder took uncommon care with the dinner that night, but she snapped at the kitchen-maid in a way quite unusual with her' and ' Mr. Wace, the butler, a serious, slow-spoken man, went about his duties as if he'd been getting ready for a funeral' reveal that Mr. Brympton was a powerful man and the servants feared him.
Cambridge English Dictionary defines 'gothic' as 'used to describe writing or films in which strange things happen in frightening places.'
Considering the excerpt from ‘The Lady Maid’s Bell,’ the first option seems to be the most relevant one.
The arrival of Mr. Brympton caused fear among his servants.
His fear made the servants, who functioned effortlessly on the rest of the days, to dwindle and everything was chaotic.
This shows us the old element and social attitude the excerpt reveals.
Hence, option ‘A’ is the correct answer to this question.