1. The Landlady
by Roald Dahl

2. Meet the Author Roald Dahl
Born in Wales ( )
He often writes stories with dark humor.
Some familiar stories:
James and the Giant Peach
Matilda
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
The BFG

3. Literary Element Used Foreshadowing:
the use of clues or hints suggesting
events that will occur later in the plot.
HINT: As you read “The Landlady” put yourself in the place of the main character (protagonist). Pay close attention to what Billy sees and senses.

4. Title A landlady is the owner of a “boarding house”
People pay to stay in her home.
They have their own room
She provides breakfast
Sometimes it is called “Bed and Breakfast”

5. “The Landlady”
Picture this: You’ve just arrived in a lovely new town by train and your looking for a place to stay. You find a bed and breakfast that looks very enchanting (nice) on the outside. You decide to stop and look in the window. What do you think you might see?

6. Covington B & Bs

7. Setting Bath, in the south of England, in the 1950’s
In the 1950’s, not many people had cars.
They travelled by train, by bus and on foot.
In the 1950’s men wore hats
like this. This hat is called a trilby.
Bath has many famous
old buildings

8. Setting
The story takes place in Bath, England probably during the mid-1900s.

9. Pubs Pubs are places where British people go to drink
beer and other alcoholic
drinks
There is usually a sign to show the name of the pub. Some pubs have very strange names.

10. Predicting the characters
There are two characters in the story:
Billy Weaver (a businessman)
The Landlady
How do you imagine them? What do you think they will be like?

11. Characters Protagonist is seventeen year old Billy Weaver
Owner of the Bed & Breakfast, The Landlady

12. Paragraphs 1-4 What time of year and day is it?
Winter (very cold)
Dark (nine o’clock, moon is rising)
What do we learn about Billy?
seventeen years old
never been to Bath before, knows nobody there
all his clothes are new
he is starting a new job
he is ambitious and wants to be a successful businessman
his company did not provide a place for him to stay

13. Paragraphs 5-8 What did Billy notice about the house?
sign
flowers in window
Why did the house seem a nice place to stay?
comfortable, warm, cozy
animals are “always a good sign”
Do you think Billy should stay at the boarding house or go to the pub?

14. Paragraphs 9-16
What things seem strange about the boarding house and the landlady?
the sign seemed to pull Billy inside
landlady appears immediately at the door
no other hats, coats etc
everything is always ready
bed sheets turned back
How does the writer describe the landlady at first? Does she seem nice?
forty-five or fifty
warm, welcoming smile
round pink face
gentle blue eyes

15. Paragraphs 17-20
What does the landlady remember about Mr. Mulholland and Mr. Temple?
tall, handsome
young
beautiful skin (Mr. Temple)
liked tea (Mr. Mulholland)
What is the landlady’s hobby?
taxidermy (stuffing dead animals)
What do you think happened to Mr. Mulholland and Mr. Temple?

16. Questions for discussion
How do your feelings about the landlady change as you read the story?
How does Billy feel about her? Are his feelings different from yours?
Why does Billy’s tea taste of almonds?
What do you think will happen to Billy?

17. Poison???????
Bitter almonds smell like cyanide because they contain cyanide, but sweet almonds smell primarily of benzaldehyde (which most people associate with the aroma of cherries... almond and cherry flavoring extracts rather famously smell nearly identical).

18. Taxidermy