The Luncheon | Class 11 English Notes
By ConceptScroll Team · Published on 17 July 2026 · 3 min read
The Luncheon – this guide gives you a concise, exam-ready overview of The Luncheon from Class 11 English, written by ConceptScroll editors and reviewed against the latest NCERT textbook.
Description of the Woman and Beginning of the Luncheon
The narrator recounts meeting a woman at a play after many years. He notes that she beckoned him during the interval, and he sat beside her. The woman is not as young or as attractive as he expected; she is about forty, which he describes as a 'charming age' but not one that inspires sudden passion. She is imposing in appearance, with notably large, white teeth, and is very talkative, especially about the narrator himself. Their conversation recalls their first meeting twenty years ago in Paris when she had invited him to luncheon, an event that the narrator remembers vividly due to his financial constraints at the time. He had a small apartment in the Latin Quarter and barely enough money to survive. Despite this, he accepted her invitation to Foyot’s, a restaurant frequented by French senators, which was far beyond his means. The narrator reflects on his youthful inability to refuse a woman’s request, even when it was inconvenient or costly. This sets the stage for the luncheon, highlighting the narrator’s financial anxiety and the social expectations that compel him to comply.
🧪 Activity: Students may be asked to imagine the narrator’s feelings when invited to an expensive restaurant beyond his means and discuss social pressures to comply.
🔗 Connection: Leads into the detailed description of the luncheon itself, the ordering of food and drinks, and the narrator’s growing anxiety about expenses.
Frequently asked questions
In “The portrait of a Lady” the author talks about his
Grandmother
1. Although the author was not a vindictive man he was very happy to see the twenty one stone lady who had impoverished him twenty years ago, and says he had finally had his revenge. What makes him says this? 2. There are quite a few places where the author uses the expressions ‘my heart sank’, ‘panic seized’ etc. What was the reason for this? 3. Locate instances of irony in the story.
1. The author says he had his revenge because the lady who had caused him financial distress by ordering an expensive luncheon without caring about the cost has now become very overweight, weighing twenty-one stone. This is a form of poetic justice or irony that gives the author a sense of satisfaction.
2. The expressions ‘my heart sank’, ‘panic seized’ reflect the author's anxiety and fear about whether he would have enough money to pay the bill for the expensive luncheon. He was worried about
1. People with foibles are often not conscious of them. 2. The author's attempts at keeping up his pretence of friendliness while he was mentally preoccupied with the expense of the luncheon.
1. People with foibles (minor weaknesses or eccentricities) often do not realize their own faults or shortcomings. In the story, the lady is unaware of her selfishness and extravagance.
2. The author tries to maintain a polite and friendly demeanor throughout the luncheon despite being anxious about the cost. He discusses neutral topics like the drama in the Balkans to mask his inner turmoil and maintain social decorum.
1. The author is a humorist a. How does the story reflect his sense of humour? b. What makes his lady friend remark—‘you are quite a humorist’? c. Give instances of the author's ability to laugh at himself. 2. How does the first person narrative help in heightening the literary effects of the story?
1a. The story reflects the author's sense of humour through witty observations, irony, and self-deprecating remarks. The humorous contrast between the lady's gluttony and the author's financial worries adds to the comedic effect.
1b. The lady calls the author 'quite a humorist' when he jokes about eating nothing for dinner after the expensive luncheon, showing his attempt to cope with the situation with humour.
1c. The author laughs at himself by admitting his anxiety, his plan to pretend the
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