The Hundred Dresses – I: Judgement, Kindness, and Hidden Truths

The Hundred Dresses – I by Eleanor Estes is a powerful and sensitive story about judgement, bullying, and empathy. It shows how small actions, even silence, can deeply affect someone. The story encourages us to look beyond appearances and understand others with kindness.

By the end of this article, you will be able to:

• understand the story in detail
• analyse characters and their behaviour
• identify themes like bullying and empathy
• answer exam-based questions effectively

Table of Contents

• About the Author
• Summary of the Chapter
• Characters
• Themes of The Hundred Dresses I
• Important Concepts
• Key Takeaways
• Practice Zone

About the Author

Eleanor Estes was an American author known for writing about children’s lives and emotions. Her stories often:

• explore real-life situations
• highlight moral lessons
• focus on feelings like guilt, kindness, and empathy

Summary of the Chapter

This story is about Wanda Petronski, a Polish girl who attends school with other American children in an American town. Her name was different from her classmates', and she was often mocked. She was a simple girl who remained quiet and scarcely talked to anyone. She had to endure insults from her friends because she was poor and could not afford to come to school in the same dresses as other girls in her class. Her classmates, Peggy and Maddie, often made fun of her, and to counter their remarks, she claimed she had hundreds of dresses, all different and distinct from one another. Eventually, she proved her mettle by winning the first prize in a drawing contest by painting a hundred dresses.

Characters

Wanda Petronski

• Quiet and reserved
• Imaginative and talented
• Sensitive and strong
• A victim of bullying

Peggy

• Confident and popular
• Teases Wanda regularly
• Does not realise the harm she causes

Maddie

• Kind and thoughtful
• Feels uncomfortable with bullying
• Lacks courage to speak up
• Later feels guilty

Themes of The Hundred Dresses I

1. Bullying and Judgement: Wanda is judged based on her appearance and background, showing how unfair assumptions can hurt others.
2. Empathy and Kindness: The story teaches us to understand others’ feelings and treat them with respect.
3. Guilt and Realisation: Maddie realises her mistake too late, showing that silence can also cause harm.
4. Hidden Talent: Wanda’s creativity and imagination are revealed through her drawings.

Important Concepts

1. Appearance vs Reality: Wanda appears poor, but she is rich in imagination and talent.
2. Silent Bystander: Maddie represents those who neither bully directly nor stop it.
3. Power of Imagination: Wanda’s drawings show how imagination can express truth in a different way.

Key Takeaways

• Never judge people by their appearance
• Silence can also be harmful
• Everyone has hidden talents
• Kindness and empathy are important

Practice Zone

A. Very Short Answer-type Questions

1. Where did Wanda live, and what did she talk about?

Answer: Wanda Petronski lived up on Boggins Heights, and she talked about a hundred dresses in different colours.

2. Why did Wanda Pentronski sit in the last row?

Answer: Wanda Petronski sat in the last row of the class because she was a quiet girl and she avoided much attention from her classmates.

3. How did Maddie’s mother alter her dresses?

Answer: Maddie’s mother tried to disguise the old dresses with new trimmings.

B. Short Answer-type Questions

1. Why did Maddie write a note to Peggy and then tear it? [CBSE 2019]

Answer: Maddie wanted Peggy to stop making fun of Wanda; hence, she wrote a note to her. However, she thought the note would annoy Peggy and that Peggy would start teasing her instead, so she tore it.

2. In what way was Wanda different from the other children?

Answer: Wanda was an immigrant from Poland, and she had a different name. She was quiet and rarely laughed. She was talented, patient, and skilled. She used to wear dull and faded dresses.

3. What shows that Peggy was not really cruel?

Answer: Peggy used to protect the children from bullies. She not only did this, but she also cried for hours if she witnessed animal mistreatment. This indicates that Peggy was not really cruel.

C. Long Answer-type Questions

1. It disturbs you that Peggy and Maddie make fun of Wanda. You don’t like it. You decide to speak about this as weak, ugly or poor. Write a speech to express your thoughts. [CBSE 2016]

Answer: Dear friends, Today I would like to share my thoughts on bullying. Those who are weak, ugly, or poor often become targets for those who possess a slight superiority in these aspects. But I would like to draw your attention to the fact that being ugly or poor is not a personal choice or fault. God creates us with different qualities, and we should see them in others, too. One may be poor or physically unattractive, but they may have better qualities or skills than we do. As in the story, Wanda Petronski is better than Peggy and Maddie in her creativity and drawing. I hope we all respect each other and don't judge anyone by their income or skin colour. Let us all be encouraging human beings who help and uplift others.

2. How did Wanda succeed in winning the love and confidence of her classmates?

Answer: Wanda was a Polish girl. She was a new student in the school. She was a poor girl who wore a faded blue dress to school every day. Her feet were usually caked with dry mud as she walked for many miles to reach school. The girls at the school made fun of her name and dress. Peggy and Maddie would wait for her outside the school to make fun of her. They would ask her how many dresses she had. Wanda told them she had a hundred dresses, and they made fun of her. Wanda did not protest and kept mum. However, during a drawing competition in which students painted various kinds of dresses, Wanda placed first because she drew 100 beautiful dresses. All her classmates clapped and appreciated the drawings, and they whistled or murmured admiringly.

Thus, she succeeded in winning her classmates' love and confidence.

3. You are ‘Wanda’. You are deeply hurt by the behaviour of your classmates. Express your feelings in the form of a diary entry. [CBSE 2014]

Answer:

Monday

26th March, 20XX

Dear Diary

My classmates' behaviour deeply hurt me today. I feel very lonely and grieved. Peggy, a classmate of mine, is the most popular girl at the school and is well-liked by everyone. She, along with her best friend Maddie, insulted me and even made fun of my surname. I could not reply or object to their insults and remained troubled all day. I don’t have any friends, and none of my classmates befriended me. When Peggy enquired about my dresses, I responded that I possessed a hundred exquisite ones. Then she asked me how they were, like, she asked me about my shoes, etc. My reply was mocked by all the girls in the class, and I felt extremely humiliated. I was embarrassed, but still I kept quiet. Maddie, Peggy’s best friend, always remained silent and never opposed Peggy’s actions. It seemed that she lacked the courage to say anything to Peggy or stop her from making fun of me. I never said anything because for me it would make no difference. I hoped that someday they would realise their mistake and stop bullying children.

Fortunately, my father has come to know everything and has decided to shift to another city. It gave me a sense of relief, and I am hoping to make new friends in the new place.

D. Extract-based Questions

1. Today, Monday, Wanda Petronski was not in her seat. But nobody, not even Peggy and Madeline, the girls who started all the fun, noticed her absence. Usually Wanda sat in the seat next to the last seat in the last row in Room Thirteen. She sat in the corner of the room where the rough boys who did not make good marks sat, the corner of the room where there was most scuffling of feet, most roars of laughter when anything funny was said, and most mud and dirt on the floor.

Wanda did not sit there because she was rough and noisy. On the contrary, she was very quiet and rarely said anything at all. And nobody had ever heard her laugh out loud. Sometimes she twisted her mouth into a crooked sort of smile, but that was all.

A. Who was absent on Monday?

1. Peggy 
2. Madeline
3. Wanda 
4. Miss Mason

Answer: 3. Wanda

B. Wanda used to sit next to ___________________________.

1. the last seat in the last row
2. the first seat in the second row
3. the last seat in the second row
4. Maddy and Peggy

Answer: 1. the last seat in the last row

C. Who used to sit in the corner of the classroom?

1. intelligent and diligent boys
2. rough boys who did not make good marks
3. sincere and studious girls
4. Peggy and Madeline

Answer: 2. rough boys and who did not make good marks

D. What does the phrase 'scuffling of feet' mean?

1. walking quietly
2. walking sheepishly
3. running 
4. noisy, dragging movements of the feet

Answer: 4. noisy, dragging movements of the feet

E. What kind of girl was Wanda?

1. quiet 
2. talkative
3. moody 
4. rude

Answer: 1. quiet

2. Nobody knew exactly why Wanda sat in that seat, unless it was because she came all the way from Boggins Heights and her feet were usually caked with dry mud. But no one really thought much about Wanda Petronski, once she sat in the corner of the room.The time when they thought about Wanda was outside of school hours — at noon-time when they were coming back to school or in the morning early before school began, when groups of two or three, or even more, would be talking and laughing on their way to the school yard.

Then, sometimes, they waited for Wanda — to have fun with her.

A. Where did Wanda come from?

1. a nearby town
2. Boggins Mansion
3. Boggins Heights
4. none of the above

Answer: 3. Boggins Heights

B. No one really thought of Wanda Petronski when ______________________.

1. she sat at the corner of the room
2. she sits on the first row
3. she talks to Peggy and Maddy
4. she talks to Miss Mason

Answer: 1. she sat at the corner of the room

C. When did Wanda’s classmates think of her?

1. when she does not attend her classes
2. when she sits at the corner of the room
3. outside the school hours
4. inside the school

Answer: 3. outside the school hours

D. Why did Wanda’s classmates wait for her sometimes?

1. to help her with home assignments
2. to talk to her
3. to make fun of her
4. to give her company

Answer: 3. to make fun of her

E. Find an antonym of the word ‘ended’ from the extract above.

1. began 
2. waited
3. coming 
4. laughing

Answer: 1. began