Inferencing of Meaning (1-7)

1. In the chapter entitled "Assumptions, Presuppositions, and the Inferring of Meaning”, Short describes packages of connected bits of information as schema, of which there are two types. Sequentially ordered information is stored as a script, while non-sequentially ordered information is stored as a frame. In other words, a frame constitutes the more general aspect of the schema, and the script, the more specific occurrences that take place within the frame. The episode "The Psychiatrist" from "Fawlty Towers” depicts the schema of a hotel stay. Frame assumptions include some sort of long reception desk behind which Sybil sits on a high stool or some kind of chair, facing the lobby where the hotel guests, Dr. and Mrs. Abbott stand. A cash register and a computer are expected to be present to take payment and to record hotel bookings. As well, there is usually a wall clock near where the hotel clerk sits and a row or rows of labelled keys or door passes, each of which corresponds to a different room in the hotel. Further assumptions include a doorway leading to offices behind the wall and furnishings in the lobby such as chairs or couches. There are also probably paintings on the walls and vases of flowers placed throughout the lobby.
2. Script assumptions include the sequentially ordered information in a given schema. In the schema of a hotel stay, script assumptions commonly commence with the clerk greeting the guests as they enter the lobby. This does in fact occur in the opening line of the excerpt when Sybil says "Good evening" (1) to Dr. and Mrs. Abbott. An exchange between the guests and the clerk should follow when the clerk inquires as to whether or not the guests have made a reservation or when the guests inform the clerk they have done so. In informing the clerk that he had "telephoned earlier" (2), Dr. Abbott fulfils this next assumption in the script. Following such an exchange of information, the clerk is expected to confirm the booking for the guests and then to hand over the key or key card to the hotel room while stating the room number and providing directions. In the episode, this occurs immediately following the dialogue and after Mrs. Abbott witnesses Basil’s strange behaviour. His odd behaviour is foregrounded in this scene because the reader/audience expects the hotel staff to behave professionally given the context, and does not expect this sort of occurrence to take place in this particular context.
   The guests would then transport their luggage to the hotel room, possibly assisted by hotel staff. If this were the case, the guests would give the staff person a small amount of money as gratuity for their service. During their stay, guests may request hotel services such as wake up calls or room service. They may also perhaps inquire at the front desk for messages or at the concierge concerning local tourist attractions. At the end of their stay, guests will return to the front desk in the lobby, return their keys, and pay for their stay if they have not yet done so. Most of the aforementioned assumptions are met in the episode.
3. and 4. The exchange between the Abbotts and Mr. Johnson regarding the town of Torquay is humorous. For instance, when asked by the Abbotts for a guidebook, Basil states that he has run out of them. As a result, Mr. Johnson offers them his own guide book instead, to whose generous offer Mrs. Abbott responds, "Yes, what's on in Torquay.” Mr. Johnson’s reply of “Yes, it's one of the shortest books” seems to suggest that there is not much to do in this holiday resort town. On the other hand, Basil seems to disagree with Mr. Johnson's view of the town, and with Mr. Johnson in general. This is evident in the dialogue that takes place between Basil and Mr. Johnson after the Abbotts exit. It begins with Basil inquiring sardonically, "Are you dining here tonight? Here at this unfashionable dump?" Mr. Johnson replies that he would like to go out to dine in town somewhere instead, and asks Basil if there is anywhere that serves French food, to which Basil replies, "Yes, France I believe. They seem to like it there...The swim would certainly sharpen your appetite. You'd better hurry...the tide leaves in six minutes." The effect of this humorous response is two-fold:
   
   

   1. From the opening of the episode, it is clear that Basil dislikes Mr. Johnson and is very jealous of him. This sarcastic response strengthens this character dynamic.
   
   2. The response also clearly communicates that Basil disagrees strongly with Mr. Johnson's negative view of Torquay, which is clearly not in line with his own view of the town.

   
   It is interesting that the Abbotts are the only guests who state their reason for visiting Torquay and staying at Fawlty Towers. It can be inferred that Raylene is visiting Torquay on vacation as well since we learn through her conversation with Basil that she is from Australia. However, Mr. Johnson behaves as if he does not want to be staying at Fawlty Towers, allowing us to infer that he is staying there only to visit his mother. In several instances, Mr. Johnson appears bored and in one, when he is speaking on the phone in the lobby and Sybil continues to speak to him, his body language clearly indicates that he is annoyed with her.

5. When Basil shows Raylene to her room in the hotel, he gestures toward the window and says that it is “the English Riviera.” Contextually, it is probably a tongue-in-cheek statement because this follows the previously mentioned humorous exchange between himself and Mr. Johnson. On the other hand, his actions suggest that he finds Raylene attractive and might have been speaking thus to impress her. Nevertheless, his insincerity is clear.
6. Based on his conversation with Mr. Johnson and his reference to "the English Riviera”, Basil appears to have a more positive view of Torquay than the others. However, reading between the lines reveals that he has a distaste for Mr. Johnson and not for what he is saying. In labelling Torquay "the English Riviera" when he shows Raylene her room, Basil makes yet another sarcastic statement, akin to the ones he makes during the exchange with Mr. Johnson in the hotel lobby. Basil shows much jealousy toward Mr. Johnson in the beginning of the episode and expresses his dislike of him during their conversation regarding Torquay and French food. Thus, he is probably expressing further distaste of Mr. Johnson to Raylene when he refers sarcastically to Torquay as "the English Riviera."
7. Basil behaves inappropriately in the beginning of the scene until he hears that Mr. Abbott is a doctor, at which point he immediately shakes Mr. Abbot's hand, repeating the title “doctor” several times. A humorous exchange, in which Basil fails to understand that both Mr and Mrs Abbott are doctors, follows. In the exchange transcribed below, he instead suggests that Mr. Abbott is perhaps two doctors.
   
   

   Basil: "And Mrs. Abbott, how do you do?"
   Mr. Abbott: "Doctor Abbott, actually."
   Basil: "I'm sorry?"
   Mr. Abbott: "Dr. Abbott."
   Mrs. Abbott: "Two doctors."
   Basil: (to Mr. Abbott): "You're two doctors?"
   Mrs. Abbott: "Yes."
   Basil: (again, to Mr. Abbott): "Well, how do you become two doctors?"

   
   It is apparently not possible, in Basil's view, for a woman to be a doctor and so he instead takes on the absurd belief that Mr. Abbott is two doctors in one person.
   What follows during the remainder of the episode is a series of embarrassing circumstances and humorous misunderstandings, in which Basil is witnessed by the Abbotts to be doing absurd things such as peering into hotel room windows to spy on people and listening to guests through the walls. In one instance, he misinterprets a question posed by Mr. Abbott which leads to further embarrassment.
   
   

   Mr. Abbott: “How often do you manage it?” (meaning get away on vacation)
   Basil: (Having just found out Mr. Abbott is a psychologist, has said to his wife that psychologists link everything to sex. As a result of this conversation he thinks that Mr. Abbott has just asked him how often he has sex): "What would be average?"
   Mrs. Abbott: "A couple of times a year."
   Mr. Abbott: "Once a year? My wife didn't see how you could manage it at all."
   Basil: "Two or three times a week, actually."

   These situations are all the more amusing because Basil is trying to impress the Abbotts after having found out that they are doctors. Rather than impress them, however, he only succeeds in embarrassing himself on numerous occasions, around which the episode’s comedy is centered. Given the context of a hotel stay, the audience can infer that the Abbotts become increasingly annoyed with Basil during each of these situations. In fact, the relationship between the Abbotts and Basil goes from bad to worse during the episode, at the very end of which the Abbotts witness Basil hopping about while covering his head with his hands – a last absurd act that completely defies the hotel stay schema.