46 pages • 1 hour read
Roald DahlThe Landlady
Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1959A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Essay Topics
Throughout the story, Billy fails to pick up on what seem to be some fairly obvious hints that all is not right with the landlady. Why do you think that this is?
Billy is drawn into the house by a strange force, even though he had originally planned to look at some other lodgings first. What do you think that this force is, exactly? Do you think that it is emotional, supernatural, or both?
Why do you think that the story ends in the quiet way that it does, with Billy’s fate hinted at but not spelled out? How would the story be different if the ending were more graphic and violent, and less ambiguous?
How would you describe the tone of the narration of this story: jokey, serious, or both? How does this tone affect our reading of the story?
Why do you think that Dahl chose the setting of Bath, for this story? How do you think that the setting impacts the story’s two characters?
While the landlady is a dangerous predator, her demeanor around Billy is addled and absentminded: she keeps getting his last name wrong, as well as the last names of the other two boarders, for example. Do you believe that this absentmindedness is a calculated act, intended to make her seem harmless? Or do you believe that it is sincere?
In this story there is a strong mood of claustrophobia and dread. What are some key details in the story–small and large, background and foreground–that help to convey this mood?
Related Titles
By Roald Dahl
