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Rattigan makes this scene amusing through Desmond's awkward manner of speaking. This can be seen from  when Desmond responds to Catherine's question  of his purpose of his visit with "I have a taxi-cab waiting at the end of the street".  Desmond does not answer directly to Catherine and instead mentions this seemingly insignificant detail to show off that how his time is running out. However, Catherine sees this as random and not answering the question. This thus completely undermines the desired effect as Catherine sees this as comical, instead of romantic and makes us laugh at this failed romantic gesture.

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Rattigan makes this scene so amusing through the vivid portrayal of the change of manner in his attitude during the proposal
In the beginning, Desmond keeps the proposal less obvious, dropping hints that gives Catherine ‘some inkling of what question (he has) to put to (her)’. He speaks in a Long winded manner, beating around the bush. ‘I have a question to put to you, Kate, which...you might- who knows...or-if...again who knows...Do you follow me, Kate’ . His nervousness during the proposal causes him to ramble on instead of going straight to the point. However, as soon as Catherine tells him of her gratefulness, he explodes into emotions and confesses that he could prove to be the ‘most devoted and adoring husband that ever lived’ and that his ‘love for (her) will never fade’. As if she didn’t take it seriously by insinuating his speech being ‘very charmingly said’, he changes his tactic and uses a business like tone to converse with her. ‘Fact One...Fact Two’. Supposedly a romantic tone, Desmond forgets everything and uses a conversing technique that is very familiar to his job scope, finally revealing that he wants Catherine to ‘be (his) wife’. The prodigious contrast in the way he proposes, from being indirect to being very concise and direct when Catherine flattered him makes the scene amusing.

- ebe n dil

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Rattigan makes the scene amusing by portraying Desmond’s awkward proposal to Catherine. This can be seen by Desmond’s repetitive use of “if” and “my love for you”. Despite knowing very well that Catherine is not interested in him, he still tries his best to convince Catherine to love him. Stating out why he was the one for her and the benefits she will have from being with him. He also uses a very helpless tone, making it seem like he was more of talking to himself and comforting himself rather than trying to impress Catherine. He also has a weird word choice when proposing to Catherine. He says “Fact one, you don’t love me and never can. Fact two, i love you, always have and always will.” This shows that Desmond treats his proposal more like a court case, listing out the pros and the cons. He is completely unromantic and does not seem aware of it. Thus making this scene extremely amusing.

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How does Rattigan makes this scene so amusing.

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How does Rattigan makes this scene so amusing.

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Rattigan makes this scene so amusing through his attitude towards his proposal to Catherine. One such way he did so is his awkwardness when attempting to propose to Catherine. One such example is, " i have a question to your Kate....do you follow me, Kate?" This shows how long winded Desmond is and how detailed his opening to his proposal is, he constantly talks about unimportant details thus it shows he is anxious. He wants everything to be perfect but in turn made it too draggy. He does not go to the point and has roundabout manner in his speech. Another such way is that Desmond was being extremely polite when talking to Catherine. A example is, "I fear I should have warned you of my visit. Perhaps i have interrupted." Desmond such politeness towards Catherine shows that he wanted tell Catherine something important, which is his proposal. Him being polite made it obvious that Desmond wanted to propose to Catherine. Even so, Desmond continued his proposal. Thus his obvious failed attempt to conceal his proposal by being polite is comical.

chin and chin

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Rattigan makes this scene so amusing through the vivid portrayal of the change in his attitude during the proposal
In the beginning, Desmond keeps the proposal less obvious, dropping hints that gives Catherine ‘some inkling of what question (he has) to put to (her)’. He speaks in a Long winded manner, beating around the bush. ‘I have a question to put to you, Kate, which...you might- who knows...or-if...again who knows...Do you follow me, Kate’ . His nervousness during the proposal causes him to ramble on instead of going straight to the point. However, as soon as Catherine tells him of her gratefulness, he explodes into emotions and confesses that he could prove to be the ‘most devoted and adoring husband that ever lived’ and that his ‘love for (her) will never fade’. As if she didn’t take it seriously by insinuating his speech being ‘very charmingly said’, he changes his tactic and uses a business like tone to converse with her. ‘Fact One...Fact Two’. Supposedly a romantic tone, Desmond forgets everything and uses a conversing technique that is very familiar to his job scope, finally revealing that he wants Catherine to ‘be (his) wife’. Therefore, the prodigious contrast in the way he proposes when Catherine flattered him makes the scene amusing.

- ebe n dil

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How does Rattigan make this scene so amusing ?

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How does Rattigan make this scene so amusing ?

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Rattigan makes this scene amusing through the portrayal of Desmond's bumbling and unromantic demeanour. Desmond takes a long-winded and roundabout manner to propose to Catherine, and instead of cutting the chase, he rambles on about insignificant details, such as "I have a taxi-cab waiting at the end of the street," and "i have a question to put to you, Kate, which, if I had postponed putting until after the verdict, you might-who knows-have thought had been prompted by pity-if we had lost. Or-if we had won, your reply might-again who knows-have been influenced by gratitude. Do you follow me, Kate ?" This highlights how socially inept Desmond is and shows that he lacks confidence to get to the point. Although he has genuine intentions and feelings that he is trying to convey, his nervousness get in the way as he starts blabbering and over-thinking in front of Catherine, which causes him to digress from the point. As he fails to get to the point and instead goes about his proposal in a roundabout way, he fails to capture Catherine's attention and affections, which is seen through "Catherine (her thoughts far distant) : Why?". Thus this creates a tragic comedy as Desmond tries wholeheartedly and earnestly in his own way to propose to Catherine even though it is clear that Catherine's feelings for him does not go beyond a 'warm friendliness' for him.

Charmaine and Praahthana

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How does Rattigan make this scene so amusing?

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How does Rattigan make this scene so amusing?

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Amusing means something that is comical or interesting.

Rattigan makes this scene so amusing through Desmond's awkward proposal to Catherine. This is seen in "you might--who knows--have thought had been prompted by pity--if we had lost." When Desmond talks to Catherine, he constantly stumbles over his words and is very long-winded. The repeated use of hyphens to further emphasise Desmond's awkwardness, and shows readers how socially inept and nervous he is. This is amusing as we see Desmond struggling to find the right words when proposing  to Catherine. This is also evident when Desmond proceeds to 'examine the facts', where he begins to explain to Catherine why she should marry him. 'Fact One. You don't love me and never can. Fact Two. I love you, always have an always will.' Marriage proposals are meant to be romantic, but Desmond does it in a formal and business-like manner, talking like a lawyer, which further emphasises Desmond's ungracefulness. His terribly unromantic porposal is portrayed clearly by Rattigan, thus making this scene so amusing.

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How does Rattigan make this scene so amusing?

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How does Rattigan make this scene so amusing?

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Rattigan makes this scene so amusing through the portrayal of Desmond's awkward demeanour as he proposes to Catherine.As Desmond proposes to Catherine,Desmond is seen to be long-winded in his proposal as he says,'I have a question to put to you, Kate, which ,if I had postponed putting until after the verdict ,you might--who knows--have thought had been prompted by pity --if we had lost.Or--if we had won, your reply might--again who knows--have been influenced by gratitude.Do you follow me Kate?'Desmond's roundabout manner in which he proposes to Katherine displays Desmond's lack in confidence and nervousness, making this proposal unromantic as Desmond is seen to be overthinking and bumbling on rather than getting straight to the point of asking for Catherine's hand in marriage, making Desmond's proposal to Catherine rather business-like, like a business proposition rather than a romantic proposal.Additionally, through Desmond's awkward demeanour in the way he proposes, we look past the sincerity of his proposal, viewing his proposal as rather odd and frustrating rather than feeling happiness for his proposal to Catherine.Thus, Rattigan makes this scene so interesting through Desmond's social inaptitude.

-Rebecca Chan and Elizabeth Lim 4A

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How does Rattigan make this scene so amusing?

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How does Rattigan make this scene so amusing?

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Rattigan made this scene so amusing through his awkward marriage proposal to Catherine. This can be seen in, 'I have a question to put to you, Kate, which, if I had postponed putting until after the verdict, you might-----who knows-----have thought had been prompted by pity-----if we had lost. Or-----if we had won, your reply might-----again who knows-----have been influenced by gratitude.' This shows that Desmond is not getting to the point and is rambling on unnecessarily. He is also thinking about all the different possible outcomes of the case. He was awkwardly trying to approach the topic of marriage and putting Catherine on the spot as well. This can also be seen in, 'Perhaps you feel I cling too much to my past athletic prowess. I feel it myself, sometimes-----but the truth is I have not much else to cling to save that and my love for you. The athletic prowess is fading, I'm afraid, with the years and the stiffening of the muscles-----but my love for you will never fade.' This shows that he is making the whole situation for Catherine and himself even more awkward than it already is and is making the proposal extremely draggy by talking about irrelevant topics while he is trying to propose Catherine. This makes Catherine very disinterested in Desmond and gives her more reasons to not accept Desmond's proposal as he was being very long-winded in his proposal instead of being direct towards Catherine.