The Landlady

Dominic

The Landlady

About the Author

Roald Dahl, the author of the short story The Landlady, is a british author born September 13, 1916, Llandaff, Cardiff, United Kingdom. He wrote for walt disney in 1943, which was unsucessful. He reached bestseller status when he wrote Someone Like You in 1953. He became populkar and won The Costa Book Rewards in 1983. He is best known for Charle and the Choclate Factory.

The Characters

Billy Weaver - Billy weaver is the stories protgonist. He is a happy innocent 17 year old boy trying to stay in a BNB for the night. Billy is a round character.

The landlady - The landlady is the unnamed charming lady who runs the BNB billy stays at. Allthough she is odd, she comes off as rather nice. The landlady was the antagonist and played the key part in Billy's demise. The landlady is a round charcater

Although there are only 2 active characters, there are a few mentioned in the book. Mr. Greenslade, Christopher Mulholland, and Gregory W. Temple are mentioned in the landladys book. These characters create forshadowing and hints. All of them are static and play a role in the land lady's craze. these characters are static and flat.

Specificly the streets of england, where billy is trying to find a place to stay

Where does the landylady take place?

The landlady take place in Bath, england, 1900's.

Young Billy has moved to england for a newly acquired job. He needs to find a BNB to stay at. He wanders the dusk streets of England and comes across a quite charming BNB. Too charming in fact. This would be Billy's first (and last) stay at a BNB.

The Landlady asked him to sign in on a book, when Billy opened the book, he realized that the 3 other people who signed in the previous YEARS had naver signed out. Billy thought nothing of it and signed in.

The story prespective is in 3rd person

Lets break down the story!

Billy stays the night, and has a cup tea in the morning, which tastsed like bitter almonds. He becomes queasy and the Landlady finially reveals herself and Billy is ultimatly murdered, just like the poeple on the sign in book explaining why they never signed out.

The narrator, whos name is unknown, of the story lets you see the evil side of the Landlady, whilist young Billy is unaware.

He enters in and is met by the Landlady, a elderly and sweet lady. She offers him a cup o' tea and has him sit on the couch. The room was cozy and charming, the only thing tht seemed out of place were the stuffed animals and parrots around the room. The Landlady had a cute dog who seemed to lie still on the couch and sleep

Although Billy did not expect anything, the narrator used these as hints to the reader to show that something isnt quite right.

What is the theme of the story?

Theme

The main theme of the story is You cant judge a book by its cover, as people may not be what they seem. For instance, the Landlady seemed sweet, but was in reality was a crazed murderer who will make you into a stuffed animal.

What is the theme of the story?

Conflict

The conflict of the story is man vs man and man vs self. or in this instance, Billy vs the landlady. The landlady poisoned and murders billy. Billy also had internal conflict, as he struggled with the descison to stay or not to stay, ultimatly deciding to stay.

Vocab

10 unique words used in the story

2- Landlady, A woman who owns and rents land

1- Swanky, Strikingly fashionable or luxurious.

4- sixpence, The sum of six pennies

3- rapacious, Living by killing prey.

6- tantalising, Teasing; tempting, but beyond reach.

5- queer, Odd.

7- taxidermy, A preserved animal that is stuffed.

8- frisky, Energetic, lively, and playful.

9- Dither, A state of indecisive agitation.

10- façades,The face of a building.

Mood and tone of the landlady

The tone of the Landlady is one of on edge and mysterious. The sick hints, forshadowings and suspense generated will keep the reader guessing what fate is in store for Billy.

The mood is creepy and dark, as the reader knows what the Landlady is, even when Billy does not. In addition Billy is also murdered making the oerall sstory dark.

Symbols

The two symbols in the landlady is the tea, and the title, Landlady.

The tea taste is a symbol. When it says it tastes like bitter almonds, it is actually symbolizing the poison, potassium cyanide. This poison is commen in that time and England.

The title "Landlady" is a symbol for a older women, who is generally freindly.