Roald Dahl's "The Landlady" is a short story that tells the tale of a young man named Billy Weaver who travels to Bath on a business trip and decides to stay at a small bed and breakfast run by an old woman named Mrs. Amelia Figgis.
At first, Billy is attracted to the cozy atmosphere of the bed and breakfast and the seemingly kind and hospitable landlady. However, as the story progresses, it becomes clear that there is something not quite right about Mrs. Figgis and her establishment.
One of the first clues that something is off is the fact that Mrs. Figgis charges Billy an extremely low rate for his room, almost as if she is trying to lure him in. Additionally, the old woman is overly friendly and eager to please, which makes Billy feel uneasy.
As the night goes on, Billy begins to notice more and more strange details about the bed and breakfast, such as the fact that there are no other guests staying there and that all the clocks in the house are stopped at different times.
The final, and most unsettling, discovery comes when Billy goes to bed and finds that the bedspread and pillowcases are monogrammed with the initials "B.W." – his own initials. It becomes clear to Billy that Mrs. Figgis has a disturbing obsession with her guests and has likely killed and preserved the bodies of previous visitors in the basement of the bed and breakfast.
In the end, Billy narrowly escapes with his life by pretending to be asleep and slipping out of the bed and breakfast before Mrs. Figgis can do him harm.
Overall, "The Landlady" is a chilling and cautionary tale about the dangers of trusting strangers and the importance of being aware of one's surroundings. It serves as a reminder to always be cautious and to trust one's instincts when something doesn't seem quite right.
The Landlady by Roald Dahl Plot Summary
It is answered immediately a little old lady who invites him to enter and tells him the room rate. Read it Oooh, this was really good! Read it wow, just wow! I've read a few adult short stories from Roald Dahl in the past, and this follows a similar vein - mysterious circumstances with an overriding feeling of foreboding and dread for the main character. I loved the dark side of this short story, I kept trying to guess what the landlady had done to the men listed in the visitors book. While in delirium Ordynov, in dream or reality, spies on Murin who has taken to his bed through illness and is recounting tales to Katerina — he rushes into Murin's room; Murin's attempt to shoot Ordynov with a gun, misses. And even more disturbing to my reading ego, I feel that the narrator is laughing at me for rooting for such a doomed character. He becomes determined to remember how he knows them, and the landlady enters the room as he begins saying the names aloud in an effort to recall the association. The creepiness multiplies tenfold from this point on! Both of these men are dead, and have had taxidermy performed on them film.
“The Landlady”
In The Landlady, Roald Dahl, one of the world's favourite authors, tells a sinister story about the darker side of human nature. Mulholland, was propped up in bed by the defendant, looking like he is reading a book. The theme of innocence, youthful innocence as embodied in Billy Weaver, runs strongly throughout the book. This is my first time reading anything of Roald Dahl's that wasn't a children's book and I have to say that I wasn't a huge fan. Dahl seems to take great pleasure in presenting these sweet and innocent old women and having their character be completely at odds with their image. Influenced by Sophie Ollivier says that the novella tries to "penetrate into the essence of the historical consciousness of the Russian people, of the Russian faith". Billy is curious about the two names in the guest book, and asks the landlady several questions about them.
The Landlady
We read this during the English lesson back in High school, and I'm surprised that it was so good! The story ends with Billy drinking likely poisoned tea and it is implied that she will stuff his body once he's dead. This young man is so young, just seventeen, that I almost feel that the narrator is laughing a bit at him, thinking him too naive, too green to go out of town to work by himself. The other man, Mr. She is undoubtedly a threat to humanity, must be found guilty of first degree murder, and punished to the full extent of the law. The reader only realise later, the implication of what the landlady says here.
The Landlady Summary
The landlady has had experience with first degree murder, had time to think about what she did, and was sane at the time of all three of the murders. They begin talking about the former guests, and she notes that both of them were handsome young men just like him. The two young men have never been found, and she has never been caught, presumably because nobody suspects the landlady of such terrifying violence. . .
The Landlady Character Analysis in The Landlady
Meanwhile, the landlady has prepared tea for Billy and encourages him to sit with her on the sofa. Crap ending means I took off two stars. Heh, I found the story cute almost more than I found it disturbing. The tea tasted faintly of bitter almonds. In The Landlady, Roald Dahl, one of the world's favourite authors, tells a sinister story about the darker side of human nature. This story can be used to introduce students to the conventions of the horror genre and how an author relies on these tools to help enhance their work within a certain theme or category. I'm inclined to be just a teeny weeny bit choosy and particular — if you see what I mean.
