Mary Poppins Scene 2 Summary

A "Man's World"?

  • Bert scoots on over to the Banks house, where we can hear screaming and chaos breaking out inside.
  • It turns out the nanny is resigning and leaving. The Banks children, Jane and Michael, have run away…and the nanny's sick of their antics.
  • The maid tries to block her from leaving, and, at the same time, the children's mother, Winifred, arrives back from a suffragette meeting (a meeting about women's right to vote), excitedly talking about what happened.
  • Next, she sings a song about the struggle for women's suffrage—while the irritated nanny tries to interrupt, to say she's leaving.
  • But Winifred isn't breaking up this musical number so easily. Finally, the nanny punctures the mood and tells her that the kids have run away for the fourth time this week—and she's leaving.
  • Winifred pleads, but the nanny's set.
  • At that moment, Admiral Boom's cannon fires, and the maids and Winifred all prevent vases and objects from falling.
  • Outside, the father, Mr. George Banks is walking home. He and Admiral Boom chew the fat about how awesome the British pound is doing. Mr. Banks helps the nanny put her luggage on the carriage she's leaving in, without realizing she's resigning.
  • Next, George enters the house, and sings a song about how pleasant his life is and how great it is to be a British man in 1910.
  • He sings, "It's the age of men." He thinks it's a man's world—like James Brown.
  • Finally, Winifred gets his attention, and explains that the children ran away and the nanny resigned.
  • George calls the police, while a constable knocks on the door. It turns out the constable has already found Jane and Michael.
  • The kids explain they didn't really intend to run away—their kite got loose and they chased it across the park.
  • When the constable tries to banter about kites, George semi-dismissively interrupts him and offers him food in the kitchen. But the constable just leaves.