Critical Guide

to
The Almsgiving
Regi Siriwardena

E.A. Gamini Fonseka

 SMART INTERNATIONAL
Janaka Kumara Mawatha, Amunudowa
BANDARAWELA
(Sri Lanka)
© EA Gamini Fonseka, 2021

All rights reserved; no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a

retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written
permission of the publisher.

National Library of Sri Lanka – Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

Fonseka, E. A. Gamini
Critical Guide to the Almsgiving EA Gamini Fonseka – Bandarawela
Author: 2021
72 pp. : 24 cm

ISBN Price: Rs 650.00

i. 822 DDC21 ii. Title
1. Sri Lankan Literature in English 2. Drama 3. Criticism 4. Theatre

2
Study Guide No. EAGF/21

EA Gamini Fonseka – Critical Study of The Almsgiving by Regi Siriwardena

77 pp.
____________________________________________________________
ABSTRACT
This study guide - Critical Guide to The Almsgiving by Regi Siriwardena - aims at
helping those who wish to study plays as literature. It has eight main parts: an
introduction to the book; a biographical sketch of the dramatist; a summary
of the plot; a copy of the script; a detailed synopsis of the play; a set of
characterizations; an analysis of the playwright's artistry; and a set of critical
exercises to be carried out as recommended ways of interacting with the play
script and the study materials provided in this book. The introduction
answers a few questions arising from the issues such as what relevance Regi
Siriwardena has to Sri Lankan readers of drama; what use study guides have
in general in understanding high literature produced in any language; in
what methods a study guide can be used in individual or group efforts for
learning literature in English; and how this particular study guide can be
used in understanding the play in question. In the discussion, all parts of the
book are addressed in an attempt to show the relevance of each part to the Sri
Lankan student of English Literature. Thus, this critical guide aims at serving
the reader in a variety of ways in her pursuit of drama for academic purposes
or as an intellectual pastime.

E.A. Gamini Fonseka, BA (Kelaniya), MA (Edin), PhD (Vaasa), FRSA (UK)

Senior Professor in English
Department of English & Linguistics
University of Ruhuna
Wellamadama, MATARA
(Sri Lanka)

01. 09. 2021

Available from
SMART INTERNATIONAL, Janaka Kumara Mawatha, Amunudowa
BANDARAWELA (Sri Lanka)

3
CONTENTS
Introduction 05
Regi Siriwardena: A Biographical Sketch 09
The Plot of The Almsgiving 13
The Script of The Almsgiving 15
A Detailed Synopsis of The Almsgiving 39
Act I 39
Act II 46
Act III 51
Characterisations in The Almsgiving 57
Cedric Rankinda 57
Daisey Rankinda 58
Sriyani 58
Sita 59
Ranjit 59
Florence 60
Monty 61
Regi Siriwardena’s Artistry in The Almsgiving 63
Structure 63
Themes 65
Symbolism 66
Satire 66
Diction and Style 67
Exercises on The Almsgiving 73

4
The Almsgiving
- A Detailed Synopsis
ACT I
The entire action of the family drama The Almsgiving takes place in the drawing
room of the Rankinda family’s house in Colombo. While providing stage directions
such as a side door leading to the veranda and a door in the rear wall to the interior
of the house that facilitate the entrances and exits of the characters, Regi
Siriwardena accords prominence to the dominant personality of the late Cedric
Rankinda by means of a photograph of his bust as a man in the middle of his life, in
coat and tie and an advocate’s gown, that remains apart among a series of other
family photographs on the wall not so significant in the impact they make on the
setting. “The portrait seems to dominate the room both by its size and by the severe
expression on its subject’s face.” It is implied the photograph is a reproduction of an
old one especially made for his funeral. Regi Siriwardena specifically conveys here
the dominance Cedric used to exercise over the rest of his family during his lifetime
as a lawyer by profession and as the husband of the eldest among a group of siblings.

“It is customary among the Sinhala Buddhists, to commemorate a family member’s

death anniversary by inviting a group of monks to the house for the occasion and
giving them alms. The almsgiving is preceded by a ritual chanting of sacred texts
(pirith) and a sermon (bana), the night before. These practices are believed to confer
merits on the person and to ensure his or her wellbeing in the next life.” The
explanation provided by Siriwardena builds the understanding that the play has got
its title as The Almsgiving because the cast gathers to hold an almsgiving in memory
of Cedric on completion of a year after his death. The cast is composed of Mrs Daisy
Rankinda, the widow of Cedric Rankinda, 65; Florence, Daisy’s younger sister, 55;
Monty, the brother of Daisy and Florence, 58; and the younger generation of the
Rankinda family - Shriyani, 40; Ranjit, 38; and Sita, 36; and Ranjit’s friend Lal, in his
mid-thirties.

The curtain rises to signify that it is 9 o’clock on a Tuesday morning. Shriyani

Rankinda, 40, is seated in an armchair, reading a newspaper. The doorbell sounds.
Shriyani gets up from her chair and goes to the door. She stands there for a moment,
evidently talking to a visitor on the veranda. The visitor is Lal, a man in his mid-
thirties. He has come to see Ranjit Rankinda who has flown home all the way from
the UK to attend the almsgiving that is being performed in memory of his father. She

5
accompanies Lal to the drawing room, gets him seated, and announces that Ranjit
arrived home late in the previous night due to a two-hour delay in the flight. Lal feels
hesitant whether his visit would be a nuisance to Ranjit at a time the latter obviously
needs a rest. But Shriyani encourages him to stay on, revealing that Ranjit is already
up and is having breakfast, and offers to tell Ranjit about Lal’s presence.

When she is about to go in, Ranjit appears himself; he is in a sarong. He receives Lal
with outstretched arms, implying that they are great friends. When Lal expresses his
hesitation about turning up so early in the morning, Ranjit relieves him. His remark
about Lal’s apparent cheerfulness after marriage implies that Lal has got married in
the absence of Ranjit, after his departure to the UK. When Lal returns that he has
got to know of Ranjit’s present singleness, the latter sounds non-committal about
it. Yet Lal conveys jokingly that Ranjit is already too late to get married, with a
warning against aging that would make him less attractive to the opposite sex and
take his marital prospects away.

Looking at his watch, to imply he is in a hurry because he has a lecture at nine-thirty,

he reveals the purpose of his sudden visit. The mention of his lecture scheduled for
the morning suggests that Lal is a university teacher by profession. In fact, Lal has
come to give Ranjit an invitation to a seminar on new research in Sri Lankan history
organised by his faculty. It is established that Ranjit and Lal are both history scholars
as university academics when Lal reveals how he got to know of Ranjit’s discovery
of some material on the Bracegirdle affair in the colonial archives in London. A
university teacher himself, Regi Siriwardena cleverly articulates in this stretch of
conversation how individuals become intimate friends on the basis of their academic
interests which they share even while being in distant lands.

The scene changes when Lal “breaks off and stands up as Mrs. [Daisy] Rankinda,
Ranjit’s mother, comes in through the rear door with a cup of tea on a tray. She is an
old lady of 65.” Offering the cup of tea, Daisy remarks that they see each other after
a long time, and Lal, taking the cup of tea, expresses his pleasure over their meeting.
That signifies that Lal who initially was only university colleague of Ranjit has now
become a friend of the entire membership of his family. “As he resumes his seat,
Daisy sits down too.” Daisy’s friendly enquiry about his Lal’s wife Tilaka and their
children further supports the idea that they are family friends. Yet Lal’s use of the
address code “Mrs. Rankinda” as a salutation to call Ranjit’s mother suggests that
their relationship is formal. While Daisy wants to be chatting further, Ranjit cuts it
short warning about his lecture due in half an hour, gets back to the topic of his
“research into the Bracegirdle case”. Enthusiastic about his research, Lal, without
any idea about Ranjit’s itinerary, regrets that he could have invited Ranjit to the
seminar to present a paper, if he had known of his visit in advance. In response,

6
Ranjit reveals that there is no problem about presenting a paper even in the existing
state, as he has currently a paper he is revising on his computer, but warns him
against the shortness of his visit that is limited to a period of four days. Lal who has
so long in the opinion that Ranjit has come to Sri Lanka to follow his research,
expresses his disappointment about it. But Ranjit emphatically states that the main
purpose of his visit is to comfort his mother who is very keen that he should come
home to attend the almsgiving which is due in two days to mark the first death
anniversary of his father.
Daisy’s response to Ranjit’s explanation to his visit suggests that she is really fond of
the latter. In fact, she complains about Ranjit’s disappearance from home for five
consecutive years, his absence at his father Cedric’s funeral, and the shortness of his
stay. She conveys her intellectual loneliness in the absence of her son.

Ranjit tries to defend himself from her mother’s charges on the grounds that he is
prevented by his professional commitments to the University of Essex where he is
employed, and that he managed to show up at home this time after an enormous
struggle. Then he switches on to his friend Lal who is also disappointed with his short
itinerary as it prevents Ranjit from participating in an ongoing university seminar he
has organised and upsets his plans for their meeting. Yet Lal is satisfied with Ranjit’s
promise to send the paper that he has been working on in agreement with each
other. As Lal is in a hurry, he takes leave of Ranjit and Daisy. Daisy invites Lal and his
wife Thilaka to the almsgiving and the pirith and bana the evening prior to it. Ranjit
points out that it is unrealistic of his mother to invite Lal to the pirith chant because
of his tight schedule but justifies her invitation for him to the almsgiving as it allows
him to have a good feed. Lal politely responds to the controversies the conversation
invited and leaves them. Mrs Rankinda’s flexibility is suggested in her final words to
Lal, “Now don’t forget, Thursday Morning!” There she emphasises only the
almsgiving. “Ranjit stands at the door for a moment and waves as Lal drives off. He
comes back and sits down again.”

After Lal's departure Daisy makes a remark about his politeness and Ranjit endorses
it, recalling their past. The topic changes suddenly when Daisy expresses her opinion
that Lal would have proved a better husband to her daughter Sita than Palitha whom
she married. Ranjit interrupts her abruptly, saying that she cannot determine the
other people's affairs to her taste. Then she describes Lal as the happy father of two
kids, and regrets Ranjit's singleness. By and by she drives the point that she is
concerned about Ranjit’s future and that she would like to introduce him to suitable
girl to get married to. Ranjit expresses his revulsion over this and says that such an
attempt would unduly accelerate his return to the UK. Sad about her son's
unconcern about marriage, Daisy politely warns Ranjit that she is getting closer to
death and is desperate to see him "settled and happy" before she leaves this world

7
one day. Ranjit tactfully changes the subject, comically assuring her of her survival
of all her children.
“Mrs. [Daisy] Rankinda seems to blink bock a tear and is about to speak when Sriyani
comes in through the rear door with Florence, 55, who is [Daisy's] sister." Florence
and Daisy are supposed to go shopping for the following day almsgiving. Still Ranjith
cracks a joke about Florence dressed up to go loafing. Florence responds innocently,
explaining that she and her sister together have so much marketing to do, and
enquires from Daisy whether she is ready to join her.
Meanwhile Sriyani tells Ranjith about Sita's call for him when he was in the
bathroom, to know whether he was going out that morning, and Ranjit responds,
'No". While Sriyani was reporting on Sita's visit that morning, the latter appears with
Monty. "Sita, Ranjit's younger sister, 36, enters through the side door, with Monty,
58, brother of [Daisy] and Florence." Sita and Ranjith greet each other warmly. “They
hug and kiss each other. Sriyani watches them with a superior look of amusement
on her face."
ln order to annoy Sita, "as soon as she has moved out of the embrace", Sriyani says
to her, referring to Lal, 'Your old boyfriend was here a little while ago." The mention
of Lal as Sita's boyfriend hurts Sita, but it does not lead to any quarrel between
Sriyani and Sita, as Ranjit distracts her attention by starting to admire her good
looks. Monty joins in the conversation and tells about his wife Caroline’s absence at
the moment because of her backache and her plan to attend the almsgiving the
following day. Getting ready to go out with her brother and her sister, Daisy orders
Sriyani to see that the servant does not “put too much salt in the curries" and Sriyani
obeys. "Mrs. Rankinda and Florence move out through the side door with Monty,
Sriyani goes in through the rear door. Sita takes Ranjit’s hand and they sit down
together on the sofa.”
When Sita and Ranjith are left alone they find room to discuss so many things about
their family. First, they discuss Lal’s visit that morning, his unsuccessful invitation for
Ranjith to address a seminar at the university, and Daisy's invitation for Lal to attend
the almsgiving.
It is understood that Lal used to be interested in Sita as a young man, and that Sita
presently does not want to have any contact with Lal for the reason that her
husband Palitha is on baseless grounds suspicious of them as lovers.
When Ranjith defends Lal's innocence, Sita reveals that Sriyani has poisoned Palitha
against Lal as her former lover. Ranjit gets angry with Sriyani and calls her “a bitch”.
Sita’s explanation to her provocations is that Sriyani is jealous of her because of her
failure to get married.
She also relates that Palitha is disappointed with her because of his business failures
as well as her inability to produce a child for him so far. Going by the typical Sri
Lankan thinking, Sita dares not endorse Ranjith's rational view about sterility as a

8
matter common to either parties and takes the full blame on her for their failure to
have a child.
Further, she points out Palitha's dislike for adopting a child and his desperation for
having a child of his own. Ranjith disapproves of Palitha’s attitude to children but
Sita is helpless. “Ranjit’s tone suggests such helplessness that Sita evidently thinks
that it is time to change the subject.”
By and by they come to a crucial topic “that concerns the whole family”. It is about
their mother's disappointment with their father for his act of rewriting his will,
leaving their property for their aunt Florence and their sister Sriyani but with a life
interest for her.
They both agree that it has already been confirmed that Ranjith had expressed his
disinterest in the property and has given his mother the power to represent him in
the testamentary case; and that Sita has been satisfied with the dowry she had
received from her father in the event of her marriage and does not want to have any
claim for her ancestral house.
ln order to put Ranjith in the picture, Sita relates about her effort to comfort their
mother on their disinterest in the property and her failure to convince her of their
stand about it.
Concerned about their mother’s disappointment with their dead father, they both
harbour a dilemma about the reason for their father to make secretly such a sudden
change in his will just fortnight before he died. Then Sita provides an explanation
formulated on the basis of the document as “that they were both unmarried, and
they would have nobody to depend on when Amma was gone”. Being a rational
person, Ranjit endorses it readily. “Well, it was Thaatha's right to dispose of his
property as he wished, and even if Amma is upset, I'm not going to worry about it."
The clash between their opinions about their mother's concern about their father's
will, makes them recall some incidents that took place in the past. Sita recollects the
resentment between their father and their sister Sriyani that used to cause
disharmony in their home and recites the rhyme Sriyani composed at their father's
funeral.
'It would be easier for me if I could cry.
But I don't feel any grief, my heart is dry.'
She highlights thus Sriyani's apathy for their father throughout his existence. When
asked by Ranjith whether Sriyani’s attitude towards their father has changed at
present, Sita describes that she still remains "as cold as a stone". When Ranjith asks
her about Sriyani's reaction to the new will, Sita continues to talk about her
indifference but adds that Florence "cried a bit".
Still Ranjith does not find anything fishy in their father’s behaviour while altering his
will to the advantage of his aunt Florence and his sister Sriyani, and tries to expulse

9
Sita's concerns by referring to the unexpected things people do in the world around.
He sounds sarcastic about the cosmic insurance that people strive to achieve in this
kind of act which do not have any direct impact on their existence. Sita's response
to it draws attention to their father's worldliness and his unconcern about any after
life existence. According to her, their father with a reputation for being a
philanthropist, "If he was worried about the next birth, would have left money to a
charity, a school, and a home for elders, the kind of place he was concerned about
all his life."
"On the last line Sriyani has come in through the rear door, and stands intently
watching them, with their heads huddled together." Cynically, she shouts,
"Conspiring?" Ranjit's and Sita's heads swing round. Agonised by Sriyani's remark,
Ranjit speaks out. He stresses that he and Sita have no subject to conspire about,
but presumes that, on the basis of her indifferent behaviour, Sriyani may be
conspiring against them.
ln response Sriyani asks Ranjit what they have been talking about. Then Ranjit gets
to the point directly. Despite Sita's entreaty, he warns Sriyani against her attempt to
ruin Sita's marriage by her wicked allusions to Lal as her former lover. Sriyani's
response explicitly conveys her hypocrisy. She pretends not to understand the
reflection of such an allusion on the marital relationship between Sita and Palitha,
who is naturally jealous and sensitive to such issues, and does not feel responsible
if any damage happens. Ranjit exposes Sriyani's wickedness in this matter and
charges her in advance of any possible damage because of her obnoxious talk.
ln reaction, Sriyani calls them both two intimate thieves always plotting together
against her and sarcastically compares Ranjit's intervention in Sita's problem of
family dispute due to her remarks, to that of the British legendary character "Sir
Lancelot saving the princess from being eaten up by the dragon!" Her allusion to the
mythology of England suggests her constant engagement in reading English as a
middleclass woman in Sri Lanka.
Ranjit calls Sriyani's baseless suspicion about him and Sita a matter of paranoia. That
allows Sriyani to reveal her frustration caused by her deprivation of a proper
university education and the pathetic confinement of her to the household that she
has undergone from her childhood just like their aunt Florence, at the hands of their
parents.
Ranjit expresses his innocence about what happened in that sense, but Sriyani
makes an allegation against him and Sita for considering her inferior to them while
their parents discriminated against her. When Ranjit curtly protests against the
allegation levelled at him, she relates some dispute she had with Sita during their
childhood where Ranjit sided with Sita. "! remember how you lied and got me
punished when she was in the wrong.” She charges Ranjit as if she is still a child.

10
Regi Siriwardena introduces Sriyani as a patient of a chronic psychological disease in
her hysterical recollection of a childhood quarrel between her and Sita over a doll
where she got punished by their mother on Ranjit's words, 'They both fought". She
even recalls the two hard slaps she received from their aunt Florence as something
she did not deserve. Her vivid narration of this unpleasant situation suggests the
chronic state of suffering Sriyani has undergone throughout her life, retaining in her
mind memories of physical and psychological torture. Ranjit's balanced attitude to
childhood quarrels is clear from his response, "l don't remember any of this, Akka:
you must have imagined it, or dreamed it.” But Sriyani has been collecting venom
from numerous events of such unpleasantness and considers that it is time for her
to spit it at them.
Surrendering herself to Sriyani's attack as a helpless creature, Sita hangs her head
as she breaks the silence in a thin, pained voice. She recalls exactly what happened
and confesses to her guilt before both of them but with a clear justification of her
assault on Sriyani that day as only a return to a long series of offensives from the
latter. "It's true I hit her first, it’s true you lied to defend me, it's true she was
punished. But she had been bullying me for a long time, I was only five or six, she
was bigger and stronger, and that was why I took my chance when I saw it and hit
her. And it may have been wicked of me, but I was glad when you lied and she was
slapped." This allows Sriyani to get to the crux of the matter. “1 hated both of you,
Thaththa's pet and Amma's darling". Her jealousy and hatred sprang from the
discrimination she underwent before the moral and material comforts the other two
enjoyed as children. "which was which?" Ranjit, who so long has had no intention of
harming Sriyani under any circumstance, gets flabbergasted by her remarks.
Sriyani continues to insult Ranjit and Sita, vindictively recalling how highly their
parents used to consider the latter, and how loathsome they used to be towards
her. The metaphor of "the ugly duckling who never became a swan" suggests a
paradox out of the allusion to the real ugly duckling in the original source - "The ugly
Duckling” by Hans Andersen. In her superiority complex over her sister whom she
considers their mother's ‘sweet-faced stupid little daughter', Seiyani seems to be
meaning that she used to be a swan-ling mistaken for an ugly duckling.
Disgusted and frightened by the revengeful allegations made by Sriyani, Ranjit
expresses his amazement about the venomous anger and hatred against him and
his sister that has been so long boiling and fermenting in Sriyani's heart. Sriyani's
naïve response to this suggests that the two of them, Ranjit and Sita, have to fear
her as she is now legally entitled to the property which has nothing to do with their
future. When Ranjit declares his position to assure Sriyani of her security in the
house, she responds with scepticism, “I don’t trust anybody." Still she is clueless
about the reason for her father to leave everything to Punchiamma and her. From
what has happened all the years in terms of suffering from explicit discrimination
and indifference in the hands of her mother, she surmises that it is meant to clear
his conscience about her destiny in that house. Being a literate person, she

11
interprets it as a material compensation for her psychological loss caused by her
mother's indifference towards her.
The scene changes when "Mrs. Rankinda comes in by the front door, carrying a bag
full of vegetables, which she puts down on the table, and then looks from Ranjit's
dazed look to Sriyani's angry expression to Sita's tearstained face." She gets
flabbergasted by their glum faces and asks them in surprise, "What's the matter?
What has happened?" Sriyani looks to be wildly enjoying the consternation
prevailing in the atmosphere. She takes pleasure in tormenting her siblings and,
alluding to a childhood quarrel, she sarcastically insinuates Ranjit to talk in defence
of Sita this time as well. "She sweeps out of the room with the bag. Mrs. Rankinda
looks at Ranjit as if expecting him to speak, but he turns away silently, and goes out
through the rear door." The family reunion thus allows Sriyani to satisfy her age-old
grudge against her family. Sriyani dominates the environment in a spirit of authority
that she cultivates on the basis of the new identity she achieves as the heir to the
family property. Act One ends thus with the declaration of a shift of power from the
strong to the weak, and a warning from the new power holder to the once powerful.
The irony that emerges from the whole matter is that property often tends to
become power in human societies and set people against each other, submerging
their truly human values and qualities.

ACT II
Act ll takes place in "the same drawing-room on Wednesday morning. Ranjit has set
up his laptop computer on the centre table and, with a sheaf of notes beside him, is
making revisions in his paper on the Bracegirdle case. Florence comes in through the
rear door, carrying a troy with a gloss on it.” It is understandable that Ranjit as an
academically oriented modern man uses his time on research and does not have any
concern about the family disputes or anything outside his academic interests.
Florence interrupts him by offering him a drink and he collects it politely and gets
back to his work. He declines her offer to bring him something to eat. "Florence
watches uncertainly for o moment, almost as if she were interested in the characters
on the screen." She cautiously enquires from him whether he is highly busy and
when she is confirmed that he is not, she begs his permission to talk. "He goes
through the process, switches off the computer and turns bock to her." Ranjit's
respect for her is implied in his serious preparation to listen to her.
She expresses her concern about the element of disharmony among the siblings and
enquires from him about what went wrong, as she did not receive a clarification
from his two sisters. Ranjit seems to have almost forgotten about it, but answers in
brief that he is concerned about Sriyani's belief that she has been deeply wronged
by the entire family, including Florence.
Then Florence reveals the explosion she experienced within the family after Cedric's
will was proclaimed. Ranjit thoroughly expresses his and Sita's disinterest in the

12
property. Then Florence responds that the public opinion about their father's will
would create a social uproar. She refers to Monty Mama and Caroline Naenda as
potential people to denounce it. Ranjit looks at the matter as a rational man. His
position is that it should not be a matter of concern as far as he and Sita are not
bothered.
Ranjit counts on the law and shows Monty’s incapability to interfere with the will
any more. Dissatisfied with Ranjit’s position, Florence relates that, before Ranjit's
arrival, Monty visited them and tried to persuade Florence and Sriyani to alter
Cedric's will by writing a deed of gift, allowing a share of property to Ranjit and Sita,
in order to correct the wrong Cedric committed. “What?” Ranjit asks her in
amazement. Then Florence repeats Monty's advice. “That's nonsense.” Ranjit
expresses his revulsion against Monty's persuasion and assures Florence to correct
him.
Still Florence cannot come to terms with it. She conveys her embarrassment over
the prejudices people would harbour from this development, suspecting that she
and Sriyani must have tricked his father. She simply advocates for her own
innocence and total ignorance of what went on until the will was proclaimed. Ranjit
admits her innocence and rationalises that his mother Daisy can understand it
perfectly as he and Sita are not interested in the property.
Florence regrets the ominous nature of this development that is about to shatter
the relationship between her and her sister Daisy and ruin the happiness she used
to share with the entire household, including the children. Ranjit confirms the
congeniality of Florence as an aunty closer to him by age. Her devotion to the family
is obvious in her recollections from the childhood of Ranjit.
She recalls how she dressed for some time a wound Ranjit sustained by treading on
a piece of glass and the promise he made to pay her financially. Ranjit remembers it
vividly and Ranjit offers to pay her in sterling pounds. Walking down the memory
lane, Ranjit "turns up one of his trousers, and holds the bared leg out to Florence.
She feels it.” lt exposes the element of love and interdependence they share with
each other within the aunt-nephew relationship. “They both laugh again. In the
middle of their laughter, Mrs Rankinda come in.”
Repulsing the harmony in the atmosphere, Daisy ironically conveys her displeasure
to see them both laughing together, “I’m glad to see both of you so happy. Florence
is embarrassed and courageously responds. Turning the innocent humour in the
promise Ranjit made as a child to pay Florence an amount of Rs 7.50 for dressing his
wound into bitter sarcasm, Daisy retorts that Florence does not need such small
sums of money anymore, being an heiress to a large property. "Florence shrink in
confusion, then rises and hurriedly leaves the room.'' Regi Siriwardena conveys the
venom in Sriyani’s sarcasm through the unceremonious departure of Florence. The
inappropriateness of her sarcasm is confirmed by Ranjit who explicitly protests
against her. "That was cruel of you, Amma.”

13
In reaction to Ranjit’s comment, Daisv speaks like an arbitrator and tries to define
cruelty and kindness in her own way. Yet Ranjit does not keep quiet. He tries to
redeem Florence of the unjust allegation made against her regarding his father’s
testament and declares his disinterest in the property and that of Sita. Daisy calls his
position about the whole matter ignorance.
"There is a silence as Ranjit feels unable to cope with this remark. It is broken by
Sriyani rushing in through the rear door.” In a moment she also joins in, questioning
as to why Daisy is tormenting Florence for a crime the latter is not guilty of. “Sriyani
has flung these words at Mrs. Rankinda from the doorway, but the latter has not
even turned her head; she sits grimly silent, her lips compresses. Sriyani now crosses
the space between and faces Mrs. Rankinda frantically.” She vertically questions
Daisy about her double role as a pious Buddhist in society and as a ruthless
tormentor at home. “Mrs. Rankinda remains silent. Sriyani stands for a few
moments, facing her, then turns back and leaves the room.” Her murmuring made
in reaction to Sriyani’s questioning suggests her frustration about Cedric’s will.
Regi Siriwardena achieves a paradox in her interpretation of her frustration as a
retribution of an act she committed in a previous birth. ln fact she has not practically
undergone any kind of deprivation while everybody in the family is in support of the
will. Her frustration is totally ideological as any sensible person can understand that
her life interests are preserved by it, that Florence and Sriyani should have means
to live on as they are fundamentally dependents in the family, and that Sita and
Ranjit should be left alone when they are satisfied with what they have received and
have no more interest in the family property. Ranjit confirms it, charging her of
"acting heartlessly”, justifying $riyani's criticism, and pointing out her
misunderstanding of the Buddhist concept of kamma. “It's not what you've done in
your previous birth, Amma, that matters, but what you're doing now." He tries to
correct Daisy’s perception of Buddhism.
Stubborn, self-opinionated, and incorrigible by nature, she makes a vain attempt to
turn the wave by contradicting Ranjit's rational position about the issue and labelling
him baselessly as a selfish absconder in the face of family crises. "If you call me
heartless, I can call you selfish..." Her vindictive argumentation suggests the rhetoric
she has adopted to save her face while campaigning for her selfish ambition to
dominate the rest of the family by means of intimidation and deprivation and
remain an authoritarian for ever. It is clear that Cedric's testament that allows the
two unmarried members of the household the total ownership of the property by
the demise of Daisy has nothing to do with her social and financial security or that
of the others. What is absurd is that she wants to prolong the deprivation of the
rights of Florence and Sriyani even after her death.
ln response, Ranjit explains the reason for her departure for England as the stifling
nature of the household atmosphere. "l had to run away to save myself'" He implies
in strong language the suffocating atmosphere precipitated by a continuous dispute

14
within the household. "What was wrong with life in this house?" This is a silly
question exposing Daisy's insensitivity to the others’ psychological welfare and
mental health. There can be food and shelter in a house but the absence of
psychological freedom and sense of security can ruin one's prospects of living there.
Highlighting this point, Ranjit conveys that the dispute within the family is a chronic
situation with an unpleasant history that runs backs to his schoolboy days.
Innocent about the actual reasons for Daisy's frustration and loneliness that he
experiences throughout his life at home in terms of hostility between his parents
and Daisy's resentment about Florence and Sriyani, he presumes that it may be
because of his father's busy schedule as a lawyer and social worker that curtails his
association with his mother and that it may be because of the too many
encumbrances his mother has to shoulder at home almost singlehandedly. When
Daisy retorts with scepticism, he reveals that he could not stand her demand for a
kind of attention and love that he could not cope with. "Ranjit stops and look at his
mother, as if waiting for her to speak, but she doesn't. He gets up and walk away
from her.” His movements on the stage exemplify the psychosomatic discomfiture
he used to be suffering while being at home.
Further, he divulges the psychological condition that has prevailed in his mind
through the revelation of a dream he had before his departure from England. The
symbolism of entrapment leading to incarceration is appropriate to reveal the
restriction of his mental freedom imposed by his mother's unconsciously made
insinuations. The ping pong ball that lures him into the pit in his isolation suggests
the pleasure and comfort he feels at the initial stages of this oedipal tendency in the
association with his mother, and the sides of the pit that grow deadly tall when he
is in it suggests an imaginary snare he is entangled in, as a result. The deadly
suffocation he suffers from inside the pit symbolises the trauma that he feels unable
escape from. Regi Siriwardena uses the ping pong ball, the pit with water, and the
organic behaviour of the sides of the pit as constituents of a metaphorical
configuration of sexuality. Based on his dream, one may presume that, although he
has not practically cohabitated with his mother, his mind is dominated by her
femininity that has been unconsciously revealed to him by her overdependence on
him. His reaction to the dream conveyed in terms of his battered physical condition
and his desperate decision to cancel his trip to sri Lanka stand for his inability to
cope with the psychological pressure his relationship with his mother has imposed
on him.
Daisy's ignorance and insensitivity are revealed in her simplistic response to his
agony, “You have a silly dream and I'm to blame for it." She has an interesting
explanation to Ranjit’s affected mental disposition. “The trouble with you is that
you’ve read too many books and find complications in everything." She does not
understand what her frustrated efforts to achieve solace could do to a young man
like Ranjit, although he is her own son. However explicit, Ranjit tries to sound, Daisy
does not try to understand him. The oedipal nature of his suffering is powerfully

15
conveyed in his words, "... your love – your possessive love – has left its mark on me
for life." He declares the psychological hindrance he finds in his way to developing a
relationship with a woman as a grown-up man as a morbidity sustained from his
mother's over-intimate association. "l have left you and gone away but you still
possess me.” Thus, he conveys the cause of his resort to celibacy until he became
38 years old.
Having realised the graveness of the damage she has unconsciously done to her son,
Mrs. Rankinda covers her face with her hands as if stricken. "Ranjit stands looking
at her. At that moment Sita walks in through the side door." The dramatization of
this episode is very professional as a result of the orchestration of the behaviours of
the individual characters it helps to achieve in reaction to the matter in question. As
a stranger to the scenario, Sita enters and gets flabbergasted by the silence of her
mother and her brother. “She breaks off as she sees the expression, on Ranjit's face.
she looks from him to Mrs. Rankinda, who has recovered her self-control." She tries
to elicit from either of them the cause of their miserable appearance. "What's the
matter?” “Mrs. Rankinda remains grimly silent. Ranjit slowly walks out of the room.
Sita continues to rook at her mother inquiringly.” Her perplexity functions as a
technique to shed light on any unresolved issues in the Rankinda household. Act
Two ends at this point.

ACT III
"The same drawing-room, early on Thursday afternoon after the almsgiving is over.
When the curtain rises, the sitting-room furniture has been stacked on one side in
order to make room for the cushions, on which the monks at the almsgiving have
been seated. These cushions are now resting in two heaps against one of the walls,
and there are mats rolled up on the floor. There is a white garland round the portrait
of the dead mon on whose behalf the almsgiving was performed. Ranjit comes in
through the rear door accompanied by Lal.” The stage directions Regi Siriwardena
has provided are meant to accommodate a private family reunion after the
almsgiving. The action begins with the departure of the last remaining outsider Lal,
who has been present mainly for the sake of his friend Ranjit, who has come all the
way from England to attend the almsgiving, after a long absence from sri Lanka.
Their academic and professional interests figure prominent in the conversation
between Lal and Ranjit where they talk about a research paper. "Lal leaves through
the side door, while Ranjit goes in. After a few moments Monty comes out through
the rear door with Florence."
"Now that all the outsiders have gone, we can get down to business." Monty's
authoritarian words to Florence imply that he has already resolved to settle the
dispute over Cedric's will by influencing Florence and Sriyani to alter it, allowing a
part of the property for Ranjit and Sita despite their disinterest in it, in order to avert
any public opinion that may rise against it. His idea is that all kinds of dirt in the
family history can be washed away by means of legal documents as such that are

16
openly accessible to the public. "Have you thought about what I told you?" He asks
Florence, alluding to his attempts to persuade her since the death of Cedric. The
conversation becomes hot when she reveals Sriyani's refusal to agree to his
proposition. ln response to Monty's coaxing Florence relates Sriyani's complaint
about the discrimination she suffered from throughout her life and states her
position not to cooperate with the rest of the family at all in matters of wealth or
love. Monty's reaction to it is wicked. His cunning becomes clear in his suggestion to
Florence to leave Sriyani alone and write her portion of the property to Ranjit and
Sita. Florence sounds genuine in her explanation to her response to this proposition.
Her flexibility towards the family has changed because of Daisy's disregard of her
sacrifice for the family over the last forty years and the latter's conviction of her as
a criminal in the matter related to Cedric's will. So tormented all her life by her
consciousness that she has been "living a lie" for forty years, she abruptly vetoes
Monte's warning about being exposed in front of the children. Frustrated and
disgusted, Monte "rises and goes towards the rear door". Florence's innocence
appears in her reaction to Monty's pathetic behaviour after he has heard her
resolution. With "an expression of dismay crossing her face" she still wants to raise
hope in Monty and begs him for some more time. Monty sounds noncommittal this
time. Rather than trying to understand Florence's mental disposition, he tries to
punish her by exposing her as the mistress of Cedric before the children. "He goes
up to the rear door and calls. Ranjit! Sita! Come in, I want to talk to you. And bring
Amma with you. Ranjit and Sita come in, followed by Mrs. Rankinda." It is not clear
whether he understands Florence's helplessness in the setting where she, a girl of
fifteen years, was sexually approached by Cedric as the husband of her elder sister.
However, he is not sympathetic with her.
Curious to know the mystery behind the long prevailing conflict within the family,
"Ranjit and Sita draw up chairs and sit down, and Monty draws up a chair for Mrs.
Rankinda. Meanwhile Monty goes back to the door, and calls the others."
Summoned by Monty, Sriyani also joins in. "The group are now disposed about the
drawing room, except for Sriyani, who remains standing apart, an alert, hostile look
in her eyes.” When Monty tries to open his talk, Sriyani interrupts and turns to leave,
saying, "If this is a family council called to force me to give up what Thaththa left me,
then I'm not staying." Monty stops her, explaining that there is no more discussion
of the property matter, and draws her attention to something she had never
imagined of. He relates that forty-two years ago when Daisy got married and came
to live with her husband, she brought into the house her younger sister, Florence,
to keep company with her and help her around. No sooner Monty has begun the
story than Florence interrupts him and tells him to point out how old she was then.
Even though half-heartedly he admits that she was in her fifteenth year, and she
mentions specifically that she was only three months past her fourteenth birthday.
It is clear that Florence is in a lonely struggle to establish before the others her
innocence in this situation.

17
Then he relates the most unpleasant thing that happened within the household and
the clever trick that the Rankindas played to save their faces. Florence became
pregnant and the new couple were in turmoil to save their faces. ln order to avert
any possible scandal that it was definite to invite, Daisy was compelled to move
away from her social milieu in Colombo. First the Rankindas spread the story within
the neighbourhood that Daisy was pregnant and at the same time was suffering
from a heart disease. They gave the explanation that they selected Hambantota
because of the dry climate there. soon Mrs. Rankina left for Hambantota and settled
down there and after a nine-month long absence from Colombo only she returned
home. On their return home, the story they told their neighbours and friends was
that Daisy was cured after the baby had been born, and as a result they did not need
to stay in Hambantota any longer. Everybody listens carefully. At a time, the three
siblings are curious to know who that baby was, Monty points out Sriyani. When
their curiosity turns to the father of the baby, Monty relates that he was Cedric, the
same as theirs. The realisation the three siblings achieve of the truth behind the long
dispute within the family is marked by silence to mean the climax of the play. Regi
Siriwardena demonstrates his genius in the exploitation of emotions in preserving
the theatrical value of the episode. “Sriyani is the first to recover her voice, and cries
out in a tone of mingled pain and triumph." The stage direction he provides here is
vital as she is the most pathetic victim in this situation while she is shown all through
up to this point as a traitor. The audience is kept up to this point that Sriyani's
wickedness is innate and natural, but how it has been nurtured in her as a deprived
child becomes clear only at this point. The success of the episode lies in Regi
Siriwardena's application of dramatic irony to conveniently preserve the mystery of
the actual reason for the disharmony within the family up to the point of this family
reunion where the children who have been victimised by it all meet as adults.
"l thought he left us the property because he felt guilty when he was dying, and he
wanted to make up for the love he never gave me." ln spiteful terms, Sriyani exposes
her father’s will as a compensation for the torture and deprivation he caused her all
her life, made during the last moments of his life in an attempt to clear his
conscience. “I didn’t know he had greater sins on his conscience." With no sympathy
for the dead man, she sounds cynical about his sexual misconduct. The implication
can be that he might have treated her as a child never wanted in that household.
Daisy's response to Sriyani's anger is not effective because of her attempt to
camouflage Cedric's licentiousness and her own indifference, with abstention from
killing and generosity to grant her a lease of life. She demands in explicit terms for
Sriyani's gratitude for avoiding an abortion and allowing her to live. What is
unacceptable is that Daisy does not have any respect for either Florence or Sriyani,
as she has no consideration for their innocence in this matter. As perceived from the
situation, they became innocent victims first of Cedric’s licentiousness and later of
Daisy's indifference and jealousy. What has been missing in their lives is the sense
of responsibility on the part of Cedric and compassion and forgiveness on the part

18
of Daisy as the adopted parents of Sriyani and as the guardians of Florence. When
Florence conceived a child, they both refrained from the sin of killing but did not
consider it a damage caused by them to an innocent teenager and take any action
to repair it in terms of ensuring her wellbeing. Although they are sisters, this
accident seems to have created a huge gap between them.
Relating to what has happened to her and her real mother Florence, Sriyani calls
Cedric a hypocrite, and despises the name he had earned in society as president of
the Buddhist Society, founder of Maitreya College, benefactor of the poor; and
makes a joke out of the appreciatory talk the monk held on him at the almsgiving.
Sriyani's attack on the Rankindas exposes the hypocrisy of most people who use
religion and community service to camouflage their hypocrisy.
Daisy's counterargument for this sounds strange. “First she wants Sriyani to take
whatever that happened easy because he was her father and now he is dead and
gone. Failing to quieten her, she declares that it is true that Cedric committed a sin,
he repented of it thereafter, and she forgave him, and tries to advise the others to
follow suit with her. Sriyani rejects Daisy's admonition calling it Christianity picked
up during her convent education. However, Sriyani feels grateful to him for getting
her educated in Buddhism that teaches that no sin is passed without punishment.
She establishes her understanding of Buddhism by an allusion to the Arahant
Moggalllana who died a violent death to repay for a sin committed in a past birth
and predicts that her father would one day pay for his sins. She treats the property
she received from her father Cedric as "compensation for all the neglect and
discrimination [she] suffered" and refuses to "give him any forgiveness in return”.
Siriwardena conveys her feelings of hatred and hardheartedness by her audacity to
call herself the bastard child, the offspring of adultery.”
“There is another silence, as neither Mrs. Rankinda nor anyone else seems ready to
argue with Sriyani further. This time it is Sita who intervenes, in a rather small voice.”
When Sita elicits from Florence what she feels about the whole thing she remains
speechless. Florence is silent for a time, twisting a handkerchief in her hand as they
all look at her. Finally, she appears to summon up strength. Siriwardena genuinely
gets to the state of her mind while composing Florence's confession to what
happened to her and how she adjusted herself to her destiny thereafter. "l was only
fourteen when that happened to me. It was wrong, but I was helpless, I didn't even
understand properly what it meant. For the rest of my life I tried to make up for it. I
worked in this house, I looked after the children, I helped Daisy Akka to get over her
bitterness. And all the time I suffered." Her life as a silent sufferer is forcefully
conveyed in her narration of her deprived and destitute position although it is made
in utter embarrassment.
Sita, disheartened and embarrassed by the allegation Florence unconsciously
levelled at her father and her mother, gets up, moves to face the latter, and
questions her in an effort to expose if she has had any immoral inclination so long

19
during her stay at home. When Florence denies any affair with Cedric, Sita
contradicts it, drawing everybody's attention. She recalls experiencing Cedric and
Florene making love away from home on a picnic at an isolated estate bungalow
belonging their relation Oscar. She reminds Ranjit and Sriyani that they all three
were playing hide and seek in the afternoon but she did not appear from her hiding
until the game was over, because she was bewildered by the position in which she
saw the two of them - Cedric and Florence. She adds further that, much later, she
realised what they were doing, but only after the will was read, she began to wonder
whether there was a clandestine relationship between her father and her aunt, or
Cedric and Florence. yet she had never dreamt that Sriyani was born to Florence by
Cedric. Unable to cope with her shame, she breaks off.
Ranjit takes over from Sita, and continues the interrogation of Florence. Based on
Sita’s confession to have seen her in sex with their father, he surmises that Florence
has had a confirmed relationship with Cedric. Here Florence sounds genuine in her
response to Ranjit's premise. She reveals that she did not have a relationship with
him but just allowed him in his occasional sexual advances only out of pity. By this
time, she was considered to be in her mid-twenties but confined to home, because
of the taboo in society that the loss of virginity disqualifies a girl in entering a formal
marriage. According to the tradition, she was unable to marry somebody because
she was not a virgin. Further she swears that on her own she never slept with Cedric.
The solemnity of the occasion is ruined by Monty's advocacy for a pardon for Cedric
on the basis of the benefits Florence has enjoyed during her stay with the Rankindas.
“I suppose we have to be grateful for small mercies.” Sriyani spits her venom at him
for this. “What a nasty man you are!" She strides across to where Florence is, takes
her hand, and charges everybody for trying to make judgements on the latter,
claiming that she is “the one who has suffered the most”. "She clasps Florence's
hand, and Florence responds by looking up at her with tenderness.” Hence Sriyani
calls her “Amma” and assures her that she will take care of her for the rest of her
life to compensate for everything she has suffered.
Daisy cannot stand the identity revolution within the household after the discovery
of the truth. While Sriyani's Punchiamma (mother's younger sister) Florence
becomes her Amma (mother), her Amma Daisy becomes her Lokuamma (mother's
elder sister). To everybody's rage, Sriyani disregards Daisy's warning against her
adoption of the new address codes to match the actual relationships she has with
the members of her household. ln reaction to Daisy's warning about the servants'
presence, Sriyani exposes the falsehood that the Rankindas had maintained all the
years at the expense of her and her mother, and refuses to call her mother again.
Unable to face the shameful situation within the family, Sita asks Daisy why she did
not join her husband to go off to Oscar's estate that day and she sent Florence to
look after the children. 5he expresses concern over Florence's security and welfare
and considers it a betrayal committed against her. "Mrs. Rankinds seems to have

20
difficulty in answering the question. She waits a considerable time before speaking."
By and by Daisy reveals Cedric's extra-monogamous erotic desire influenced by his
infatuation with Florence's beauty and his carnal propensities that urge him to find
variety in sex and admits accommodating it by occasionally allowing opportunities
for Cedric and Florence to meet in private.
A rational person by nature, Ranjit expresses his amazement over Daisy’s tolerance
and coming to terms with such a clandestine affair between her husband and her
sister, and questions as to why she makes a fuzz something so trivial while
maintaining so much understanding. He exposes Daisy’s tendency to value property
and reputation at the expense of personal relationships. Daisy reveals what she
could not agree to was the breach of trust he committed between her and him. “She
is overcome by emotion, and can’t continue. Sita sits down on the arm of Mrs
Rankinda’s chair, and puts her arm around her mother's shoulders." Without
anything else to do with the situation, Monty takes leave of them, excusing that he
has "a meeting of the cricket club committee to attend.”
After Monty’s departure, Ranjit, a pragmatic person in general, carefully but
candidly talks to Sriyani for her own good. He first expresses his understanding of
the pain of deprivation Sriyani has suffered from over the years at the hands of his
parents, while being ignorant of her identity as a child unwanted in the family, and
then points out the repercussion of maintaining a grudge against the others. "Try to
get over it, forget the past, you have another life before you." ln plain language he
tells her to start life from a scratch with the newly gained economic stability.
Paradoxically, Sriyani rejects his friendly proposition, charging him as an escapist
who has no right to advise others, and wondering what the household atmosphere
will be like when the three of them - Daisy, Florence, and Sriyani - are to live
together, knowing the scandalous family secret that has been craftily and selfishly
hidden for years. "Come, Amma"' she calls Florence in a spirit of defiance as if to
mean the stand she will take in the future in her relationship with Daisy and her two
children. “Sriyani puts an arm round Florence and they walk out through the rear
door.” Pitying Daisy for her embarrassment after so much physical labour upon the
almsgiving, Sita takes her hand and goes inside. The departure of the two sisters -
Daisy and Florence - with their respective daughters - Sita and Sriyani - into two
separate quarters inside the house symbolizes the compartmentalization they
would use in the future as a defense mechanism to avoid the anxiety that arises
from the clash of contradictory values or emotions amongst them. "Left alone, Ranjit
seems at a loss about what to do for some moments. He then looks around, sees his
laptop computer on a shelf goes up to it and carries it bock to the centre table, opens
it, switches it on, and is busy again with his revisions when the curtain falls.” Thus,
Siriwardena provides a very intelligent end to the play, to portray Ranjit's
puzzlement about the irrational behaviour of his own family.

THE END

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