Chapter the-luncheon: The Luncheon | Summary

The Luncheon is a brilliantly witty and ironic short story by William Somerset Maugham that explores the themes of social pretense, greed, and the awkwardness of youth. The narrative is framed as a recollection triggered by the author meeting a woman at a play after twenty years. He remembers when he was a young, struggling writer living in a tiny apartment in Paris, barely earning enough to survive. At that time, the woman, who had read one of his books, wrote to him expressing her desire to meet for lunch at Foyot’s—an expensive restaurant frequented by French senators. Flattered and unable to say no, the author agreed, despite Foyot's being far beyond his modest means. He had only eighty gold francs to last the month and calculated that a simple meal would cost about fifteen francs.

Throughout the luncheon, the woman repeatedly asserts that she 'never eats anything for luncheon' or 'never eats more than one thing,' yet she proceeds to order the most expensive seasonal delicacies available. Her choices include caviare, salmon, giant asparagus, ice cream, coffee, and even a peach, which was not in season. The irony lies in the contrast between her verbal claims of moderation and her actual gluttonous behavior. The author, trapped by politeness and the fear of social embarrassment, watches in mounting horror as his month’s budget evaporates. He orders the cheapest item—a mutton chop—only to be lectured by the woman for eating such a 'heavy' meal. The tension reaches a peak when he worries he won't have enough money to pay the bill and contemplates faking a robbery.