Observation

This was not a popular question. Candidates did not understand the requirements of the questions. Answers were scanty and mere narrations.

The required answers should include:

• • Theme of attitudes to marriage in the middle-class family of the Hardcastles.
• • The casket scene where Tony, having succeeded in stealing Constance’s jewels from a ‘drawer in mother’s bureau’, hands the casket over to Hastings.
• • Tony’s character as revealed by the scene.
• • The scene as a tool to create suspense.
• • The scene provides a revelation as the plot develops.

Candidates’ performance in this question was poor.