W.S. Maugham "Theater"

TASKS for Chapter 14

I. Find in the text the following words and phrases and translate them into Russian:

on one excuse and another – то с одной то с другой отговоркой, to confess to oneself – признаться самому себе, that was all to the good – все что случилось было к лучшему, shrewd - проницательный, vanity - тщеславие, to have an affair with sb. – состоять в отношениях с кем-то, sallow – бледный цвет, to feel compassion for sb. – сочувствовать кому-то, eminent persons – выдающиеся люди, to lay no claims on sb. – не предъявлять к кому-то права, to use all her arts of cajolery – использовать все искусство лести, stale food – безвкусная еда, to overcome one's scruples – побороть угрызения совести, to find someone a trifle dull – считать кого-то занудой, to have no inclination –не иметь побуждения, a man of the world – человек, умудренный опытом, she was modest about herself – она была честна с собой, a smack in the face – пощечина, sulkily - мрачно, Julia's heart was wrung – сердце Джулии сжалось, chivalrous courtesy – рыцарская вежливость, a vile disposition – отвратительный характер, alacrity -живость, wistful - тоскующий, to act with great naturalness – играть с большой естественностью, to make a scene – устраивать сцену, she was in a black rage – она была в праведном гневе, she'd get even with him – она свела с ним счеты, to rack one's brains – ломать над чем-то голову.

II. Answer the following questions:

1. Was Julia really in love with Tom Fennell? And he? As for Julia, it was not till after that night when they had first supped together that Julia confessed to herself that she had fallen in love with Tom. It came to her as a shock. But she was exhilarated. As for Tom, Julia was shrewd, and she knew very well that Tom was not in love with her. To have an affair with her flattered his vanity.

2. How old was Tom? What did he do? Why was he a success with women? Tom was 22. He was a highly-sexed young man and enjoyed sexual exercise. From hints, from stories that she had dragged out of him, Julia discovered that since he was seventeen he had had a great many women. He loved the act rather than the person. He looked upon it as the greatest lark in the world. And she could understand why he had so much success. There was something appealing in his slightness, his body was just skin and bone, that was why his clothes sat on him so well, and something charming in his clean freshness. His shyness and his effrontery combined to make him irresistible.

3. How can you characterize Roger? Where was he educated? What were his relations like with his parents? Did he know what he wanted to be? Did he want to go on the stage? Roger was seventeen. He was a nice-looking boy, with reddish hair and blue eyes, but that was the best you could say of him. He had neither his mother’s vivacity nor changing expression nor his father's beauty of feature. Julia was somewhat disappointed in him. He was rather stolid and he had a serious look. He was educated in Eton. The relationship between him and the parents were rather cold.  He wanted to go to Vienna for a few months and learn German before going up to Cambridge. He did not yet know what he wanted to be. Both Julia and Michael had from the first been obsessed by the fear that he would go on the stage, but for this apparently he had no inclination.

4. How did Tom and Roger get on together? Roger and Tom took a great fancy to one another.

5. Was Julia as successful in the movies as in the theatre? Did she envy the film-stars? She had no success in the movies. Her face on the stage so mobile and expressive for some reason lost on the screen, and after one trial she had with Michael's approval refused to accept any of the offers that were from time to time made her. She had got a good deal of useful publicity out of her dignified attitude. But Julia did not envy the film-stars; they came and went; she stayed.

6. Describe in detail how Julia managed to play different characters on the stage. What thrilled her? Why did she sometimes fell like God? The critics admired her variety. They praised especially her capacity for insinuating herself into a part. She was not aware that she deliberately observed people, but when she came to study a new part vague recollections surged up in her from she knew not where, and she found that she knew things about the character she was to represent that she had had no inkling of. It helped her to think of someone she knew or even someone she had seen in the street or at a party; she combined with this recollection her own personality, and thus built up a character founded on fact but enriched with her experience, her knowledge of technique and her amazing magnetism. People thought that she only acted during the two or three hours she was on the stage; they did not know that the character she was playing dwelt in the back of her mind all day long, when she was talking to others with all the appearance of attention, or in whatever business she was engaged. It often seemed to her that she was two persons, the actress, the popular favourite, the best-dressed woman in London, and that was a shadow; and the woman she was playing at night, and that was the substance. It was not the popularity, the celebrity if you like, that she cared for, nor the hold she had over audiences, the real love they bore her, it was certainly not the money this had brought her; it was the power she felt in herself, her mastery over the medium, that thrilled her. She could step into a part, not a very good one perhaps, with silly words to say, and by her personality, by the dexterity which she had at her finger-tips, infuse it with life. There was no one who could do what she could with a part. Sometimes she felt like God.

7. How did Julia revenge herself on Tom? Julia decided to revenge on him by turning him out bag and baggage, and getting him on the raw.

III. Make up a list of words and phrases describing Tom Fennell. Comment on the repetition of "a young man" in the text. First "he was a blushing young man" for Julia. Did her attitude change when she was better aquainted with him? Prove it by giving examples from the text.

• There was something appealing in his slightness, his body was just skin and bone, that was why his clothes sat on him so well, and something charming in his clean freshness. His shyness and his effrontery combined to make him irresistible.

• What he's got, of course, is sex appeal.

• he was so conventional

• Tom was slim and graceful in his long white trousers

• become again a sloppy little schoolboy.

Julia’s attitude to Tom changed for she decided to take revenge on him. I think that Maugham used the repetition of "a young man" in the text in order to show that Julia admired Tom’s youth and through it she remembered her times when she was a young woman.

IV. Find in the text epithets and similes which characterize Julia and Michael and say what effect the author achieves by using them.

• She read his mind like an open book. – it means she understands him perfectly

• Sometimes she felt like God. – she felt that  everything was in her powers

• she shook off the obsession of him like a bad dream from which one awoke – she fell out of love with him

• He reminded Julia of an old dog lying in the sun and gently beating his tail on the ground as he looked at a pair of puppies gambolling about him.

V. What stylistic device did Maugham employ at large to characterize Julia? Illustrate your answer with the examples from the text. Comment on the lexicon used by Julia. To what stylistic layer of the vocabulary does it belong? How does it characterize Julia?

Julia’s life and actions are reflected through 3d person narration and internal monologues of hers (“The blasted fool, why does he talk all that rot?”, “Gosh, I’m going down like a barrel of oysters.”). Julia is naturally polite to all the people but still very often she uses vulgar words in her thoughts ("Damned if I know what genius is," she said to herself; "Bloody fool, bloody fool")

VI. Give a summary of chapter 14. (in written form)

In some time, with horror she understands that she has desperately fallen in love.Without showing her feelings to Tom, she tries to bind him to herself. The actress knows he is a snob, so she lets him enter the high society. Tom is really poor, that’s why she showers him with expensive gifts and pays off his debts. Julia forgets about her age, but on vacation Tom so obviously and naturally prefers to spend his time with her son, Roger, that it really hurts her. Julia has an argument with Tom, but she is so afraid to lose him that finally she does everything to make it up.

W.S. Maugham "Theater"

TASKS for Chapters 11-13

I. Find the following words and phrases in the text and translate them into Russian:

a profound contempt – глубокое презрение, to have first nights - премьеры, to be exemplary – быть достойным подражания, a pattern of conjugal fidelity – образец супружеской верности, to separate - разделять, be ingenuous – быть искренним, to cry almost at will –плакать по собственному желанию, common sense – здравый смысл, to elope with sb. – сбежать (с любовником), preposterous - несообразный, curtain calls - поклоны, prudish – излишне скромный, in for a penny, in for a pound – назвался груздем-полезай в кузов, this was all a put-up job – сфабрикованное дело, indecent - недостойный, in a flash - мгновенно, to take liberties with sb. – распускать руки, a matinee – дневной спектакль, amiably - приветливо, well-chosen words – хорошо-подобранные слова, to have no sequel – не иметь продолжения, to erase the episode from her memory – стирать эпизод из памяти, pleasant reveries sauntered through her mind – приятные воспоминания проскальзывали в ее мыслях, hectic flush – лихорадочный румянец, to hurt one's pride – задеть самолюбие, to have an inkling – осторожный намек, to pawn - заложить.

II. Answer the following questions:

1. How did Julia and Lord Tamerly get acquainted? Was Julia his mistress? What did Julia owe to Charles Tamerly? They got acquainted at a luncheon party. It was indeed Lady Charles who had first brought Julia and Charles together.  Though Charles was madly in love with Julia, she was not his mistress.

2. Describe Julia's acting when Lord Tamerly declared his love to her. How can you prove that it was only make-believe? She sat down and for a minute looked silently at the miniature. Timing it perfectly, she raised her eyes till they met Charles's. She could cry almost at will, it was one of her most telling accomplishments, and now without a sound, without a sob, the tears poured down her cheeks. With her mouth slightly open, with the look in her eyes of a child that has been deeply hurt and does not know why, the effect was unbearably pathetic. Then she just cried and nodded.

3. Why do you think Julia agreed to have tea with the young man? What was his name? Did Julia know it or not? I think she agreed to have tea with them out of curiosity. His name was Tom Fennel. She did not know it.

4. Was the young man as shy as he seemed to be? No, for he started to take liberties with Julia. 5. How did he show his admiration for Julia? He had seen her in every play she had acted in since he was twelve years old. He told her that once when he was fourteen he had stood outside the stage door after a matinee and when she came out had asked her to sign her name in his autograph-book.

6. What feelings did Julia experience after the date with the young man? How did she act after that? How old was Julia at that time? What's your opinion of Julia's behaviour? She thought it was too absurd, of course she had no intention of seeing him again, it was stupid of her to have let him behave like that, but it was just as well to temporize. But at the same time she felt like a two-year old, though she was 40.

 7. Describe the episode of Julia's adventure on the train to Cannes. What was Julia's attitude towards this accident? Give quotations from the text and comment on them. What do you think of this adventure? On her way to Cannes she met the attache at the Spanish Embassy in Paris who was going down to Cannes for Easter. He gave her his place in the sleeper, for there were no free ones. They spent the night together, and after a while it turned out that he had a family. But as time passed Julia's indignation was mitigated, and she had often thought of the adventure since with a good deal of pleasure. After all it had been fun. Sometimes she allowed her reveries to run away with her and she went over in her fancy the incidents of that singular night. He had been a most agreeable lover. It would be something to look back on when she was an old woman. He remained in her recollection, and in her bones, without a name.

8. When did Julia see Tom Fennell again? Under what circumstances? Some days passed and he called her and they agreed that he would come to her dressing-room for a tea.

 9. What do you think attracted Julia to Tom? How old was he? He was no more than 20. What attracted Julia most in him- was his youth. Though he was of no more than average height his slimness made him look tall.

10. Why do you think Tom was interested in grand people? I think, he wanted to become rich and famous just like them.

11. Do you approve or disapprove of Julia's love affair with Tom Fennell? I think it was rather heedlessly from her side to do that. He was much younger than she, and might be interested only in her money and fame, and all that it might gave him.

III. Make up a list of words and phrases which the author uses to show Julia's attitude towards Tom Fennell. Comment on their semantics and stylistic value.

• when she saw him, so slight, with his hectic flush and his blue eyes, so charmingly boyish, she felt a sudden pang.

• Oh, my good resolutions. My God, I can't have fallen in love with him.

• What the devil's the matter with me? God, I can hardly breathe

• She had been as excited all the evening as a girl going to her first ball. She could not help thinking how absurd she was.

• They danced and he did not dance very well, but she found his slight awkwardness rather charming. People recognized her, and she was conscious that he enjoyed the reflected glory of their glances.

• She could have taken him in her arms then and there and kissed his blue eyes. She adored him.

All these words and phrases reflect Julia’s attitude to Thomas. Though in her mind she realized that she was doing wrong dating him, but in her heart she felt she wanted it.

IV. The author uses a number of theatrical allusions. Find them in the text and say what you know about them. (Consult the Oxford Guide to British and American Culture or any other culture dictionary).

• Dame Ellen Terry was an English stage actress who became the leading Shakespearean actress in Britain. Born into a family of actors, Terry began acting as a child in Shakespeare plays and continued as a teen, in London and on tour. At 16 she married the much-older artist George Frederic Watts, but they separated within a year. She was soon acting again but began a relationship with the architect Edward William Godwin and retired from the stage for six years. She returned to acting in 1874 and was immediately acclaimed for her portrayal of roles in Shakespeare and other classics. In 1878 she joined Henry Irving's company as his leading lady, and for more than the next two decades she was considered the leading Shakespearean and comic actress in Britain. Two of her most famous roles were Portia in The Merchant of Venice and Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing. She and Irving also toured with great success in America and Britain. In 1903 Terry took over management of London's Imperial Theatre, focusing on the plays of George Bernard Shaw and Henrik Ibsen. The venture was a financial failure, and Terry turned to touring and lecturing. She continued to find acting success until 1920, while also appearing in films until 1922. Her career lasted nearly seven decades.

• The Way of the World is a play written by English playwright William Congreve. It premiered in 1700 in the theatre in Lincoln's Inn Fields in London. It is widely regarded as one of the best Restoration comedies and is still occasionally performed. The play is based around the two lovers, Mirabell and Millamant (originally played by John Verbruggen and Anne Bracegirdle). In order for the two to get married and receive Millamant's full dowry, Mirabell must receive the blessing of Millamant's aunt, Lady Wishfort. Unfortunately, she is a very bitter lady, who despises Mirabell and wants her own nephew, Sir Wilfull, to wed Millamant.

• George Farquhar (1677– 29 April 1707) was an Irish dramatist. He is noted for his contributions to late Restoration comedy, particularly for his plays The Recruiting Officer (1706) and The Beaux' Stratagem (1707).

• Oliver Goldsmith (10 November 1730 – 4 April 1774) was an Irish novelist, playwright and poet, who is best known for his novel The Vicar of Wakefield (1766), his pastoral poem The Deserted Village (1770), and his plays The Good-Natur'd Man (1768) and She Stoops to Conquer (1771, first performed in 1773). He also wrote An History of the Earth and Animated Nature. He is thought to have written the classic children's tale The History of Little Goody Two-Shoes, the source of the phrase "goody two-shoes".

• Alfred Louis Charles de Musset-Pathay ; 11 December 1810 – 2 May 1857) was a French dramatist, poet, and novelist. Along with his poetry, he is known for writing La Confession d'un enfant du siècle (The Confession of a Child of the Century, autobiographical) from 1836.

V. In chapter 11 you can find the following phrase: "... like Venus rising from the waves." What is the source of this allusion? Comment on it and its stylistic effect.

:"... like Venus rising from the waves” is an artistic allusion. It is related to the 1486 painting by Sandro Botticelli “The Birth of Venus”. It depicts the goddess Venus, having emerged from the sea as a fully grown woman, arriving at the sea-shore (which is related to the Venus Anadyomene motif). The painting is on display at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy.

VI. Give a summary of chapters 11-13. (in written form)

In the evening at the theater to Tom sends flowers and an invitation to Julia, but she just mechanically write a thankful note and  immediately forgets about it. However next morning Thomas Fennel calls her and invites to have a cup of tea. Julia condescendenly agrees to visit him in order to make the clerk happier. His poor apartment remindes Julia the times when she was in the beginning of her carrier, the times of her youth... Suddenly the young man kisses her ardently, and Julia, being surprised, concedes. In the beginning she doesn't take it seriously. But this love affair makes her feel younger and gives her inspiration. They go to an expensive restaurant, where Tom pays for them both.  She notices he pawned his watch in order to take her out to supper. A lump came into her throat. She could have taken him in her arms then and there and kissed his blue eyes. She adored him. After that they drive back to his bed-sitting room in Tavistock Square.