THEATRE by W. S. Maugham (Chapters 11-13)

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

a profound contempt – глубочайшее презрение, to have first nights – премьеры, to be exemplary – примерный, a pattern of conjugal fidelity – образец супружеской верности, to separate - разлучать, be ingenuous – искренний (прямой), to cry almost at will – вызвать слезы по собственному желанию, common sense – здравый смысл, to elope with sb. – сбежать с кем-то, preposterous – абсурдный, curtain calls – выход на поклон, prudish – строгий, in for a penny in for a pound – назвался груздем – полезай в кузов, this was all a put-up job – подстроить что-то специально, indecent – неприличный, in a flash – в мгновение ока, to take liberties with sb. – быть чересчур фамильярным с кем-то, a matinee – дневной спектакль, amiably – любезно, дружелюбно, well-chosen words – меткие слова, to have no sequel – продолжения не будет, to erase the episode from her memory – вспоминать, pleasant reveries sauntered through her mind – приятные полумечты-полувоспоминания неторопливо проходили у нее в уме, hectic flush – лихорадочный румянец, to see in the flesh – увидеть в живую, to hurt one's pride – задеть чью-то гордость, to have an inkling – заподозрить что-то, to pawn – гарантировать, ручаться.

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?

It was Lady Charles who had first brought Julia and Charles together. They happened, all three, to be lunching at Dolly de Vries's when Julia, a young actress, had made her first great success in London.

Many people in that particular set were convinced that Julia was Charles Tamerley's mistress. It was an affair that was supposed to have been going on so long that it had acquired respectability, and tolerant hostesses when they were asked to the same house for a week-end gave them adjoining rooms. The only foundation for it was that Charles had been madly in love with her for twenty years.

2. Describe Julia's acting when Lord Tamerly declared his love to her. How can you prove that it was only make-believe?

Julia knew that Lord Tamerly had fallen in love with her some time before he knew it himself. She found it rather comic. From her standpoint he was a middle-aged man, and she thought of him as a nice old thing, she didn’t love him.

Some time later Charles gave her a portrait of Clairon, as a parting present. And that moment Julia did a disgraceful thing. 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 (that’s why her reaction was just make-believe), and now without a sound, without a sob, the tears poured down her cheeks.

3. Why do you think Julia agreed to have tea with the young man? What was his name? Did Julia know it or not?

Julia wrote a thank you note to the young man, because she was naturally polite and, besides, it was a principle with her to answer all fan letters. That was how she kept in touch with her public. But she didn’t know his name.

4. Was the young man as shy as he seemed to be?

The young man seemed shy, much shyer than he had seemed over the telephone. But he only seemed to be so, as later the woman was a bit confused by his actions: one moment he put his arm round her waist and kissed her full on the lips, and that time the young man wasn’t so shy.

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?

Julia found herself totally enamored with a young man. Despite the difference in their ages, his attention was flattering and their love was so passionate that Julia found herself looking and feeling 20 years younger (though that time she was fourty). Everyone in the theatre noticed how she had changed, and how she acted with such a passion and emotions. But I don’t appreciate the woman’s behavior, because I think the woman shouldn’t get out of line. But as she was an actress and used to such attention, then it seemed a bit usual to her, I think.

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?

That time Julia had been acting for a long time without a rest and she badly needed one. That’s why her husband sent her to Cannes, where Dolly had rented a house for the season. The problem was that she had not been able to get a sleeper. And only one man, the Spaniard, gave his compartment to her, in place of one night with her. The next day after Julia’s coming, she was to meet their hosts at one of the bars on the Croisette to have cocktails. There suddenly her heart gave a great jump, for there was the Spaniard walking towards her, with a woman on one side of him clinging to his arm and on the other a little girl whose hand he held. In a flash Julia understood that he was just as little anxious to see her as she was to see him. At first the woman felt very angry about his actions, 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.

8. When did Julia see Tom Fennell again? Under what circumstances?

Several days later while Julia was lying in bed reading a play, they rang through from the basement to ask if she would speak to Mr. Fennell. She didn’t remember that name, but later she got to know that it was that young man. He wanted to see her again, and Julia tried to refuse him, but couldn’t and agreed to meet with Tom in her dressing-room.

9. What do you think attracted Julia to Tom? How old was he?

I think, his youth attracted Julia to Tom (that time he was twenty-four): his lips were soft and there was a perfume of youth about him which was really rather delightful; blue eyes were so charmingly boyish; there was charm in his clean freshness; he had the high spirits of youth but he wasn’t amusing.

10. Why do you think Tom was interested in grand people?

In the evenings, when the two attended receptions, people recognized Julia, and she was conscious that Tom enjoyed the reflected glory of their glances. The young man didn’t waste his time, as he wanted to be known within the society, as he was able to save people money. It can be said that the man used Julia for his reasons.

11. Do you approve or disapprove of Julia's love affair with Tom Fennell?

I disapprove of Julia’s love affair with Tom, as I think the woman shouldn’t get out of line. But as she was an actress and used to such attention, then it seemed a bit usual to her, I think.

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.

Thus the matter was that there was no love between Julia and Michael, as after the war everything that had attracted her to him, at that time annoyed her. And then Julia found herself totally enamored with a young man, Tom. Despite the difference in their ages, his attention was flattering and their love was so passionate that Julia found herself looking and feeling 20 years younger (the author makes hints about it using the young man: his blue eyes were so charmingly boyish).

To make the reader see Julia’s attitude towards Tom, Maugham used the following techniques:

Julia used metaphors (like poor lamb, a sweet little thing, a silly little thing, a simple fool). So these metaphors are employed to convey the woman’s feelings to the man: sympathy and pity (at the beginning of their relationships). Besides, the author uses a great number of epithets, while describing the young man: a pleasant voice, sweet with his blue eyes and pale brown hair (such a color – blue – usually symbolizes beauty and happiness that she associates with the white, middle-class world); he had a white skin and rather a high colour; looked incredibly clean; his lips were soft and there was a perfume of youth about him which was really rather delightful. Moreover, Julia understood that he could just use her to become more successful within the higher society: he was proud to be Julia’s lover, it gave him confidence in himself.

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).

- Ellen Terry was an English actress who became one of the most popular stage performers in both Great Britain and North America. For 24 years (1878–1902) she worked as the leading lady of Sir Henry Irving in one of the most famous partnerships in the theatre. In the 1890s she began her famous “paper courtship” with George Bernard Shaw, one of the most brilliant correspondences in the history of English letter writing.

- Marcel Proust was a French novelist, author of À la recherche du temps perdu (In Search of Lost Time), a seven-volume novel based on Proust’s life told psychologically and allegorically.

- Paul Cézanne was a French painter, one of the greatest of the Post-Impressionists, whose works and ideas were influential in the aesthetic development of many 20th-century artists and art movements, especially Cubism. Cézanne’s art, misunderstood and discredited by the public during most of his life, grew out of Impressionism and eventually challenged all the conventional values of painting in the 19th century because of his insistence on personal expression and on the integrity of the painting itself, regardless of subject matter.

- Mlle Clairon was a leading actress of the Comédie-Française who created many parts in the plays of Voltaire, Jean-François Marmontel, Bernard-Joseph Saurin, and others.

- George Farquhar was an Irish playwright of real comic power who wrote for the English stage at the beginning of the 18th century. He stood out from his contemporaries for originality of dialogue and a stage sense that doubtless stemmed from his experience as an actor.

- Oliver Goldsmith was an Anglo-Irish essayist, poet, novelist, dramatist, and eccentric, made famous by such works as the series of essays The Citizen of the World, or, Letters from a Chinese Philosopher (1762), the poem The Deserted Village (1770), the novel The Vicar of Wakefield (1766), and the play She Stoops to Conquer (1773).

- Madame de Récamier was a French hostess of great charm and wit whose salon attracted most of the important political and literary figures of early 19th-century Paris.

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.

It’s the name of one of Botticelli’s paintings “The Birth of Venus”. Perhaps the author used such a comparison (and allusion) to stress the main character’s – Julia – state of mind that moment, as with Tom she found herself looking and feeling 20 years younger.

The Birth of Venus is a 1486 painting by Sandro Botticelli. Botticelli was commissioned to paint the work by the Medici family of Florence, specifically Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de' Medici under the influence of his cousin Lorenzo de' Medici, close friend to Botticelli. 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).

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

That time the matter was that there was no love between Julia and Michael, as after the war everything that had attracted her to him, at that time annoyed her. And then Julia found herself totally enamored with a young man, Tom Fennell. Despite the difference in their ages, his attention was flattering and their love was so passionate that Julia found herself looking and feeling 20 years younger. After one of the plays the woman recollected the time when she had been acting for a long time without a rest and she badly needed one. That’s why her husband sent her to Cannes, where Dolly had rented a house for the season. The problem was that she had not been able to get a sleeper. And only one man, the Spaniard, gave his compartment to her, in place of one night with her. The next day after Julia’s coming, she was to meet their hosts at one of the bars on the Croisette to have cocktails. There suddenly her heart gave a great jump, for there was the Spaniard walking towards her, with a woman on one side of him clinging to his arm and on the other a little girl whose hand he held. In a flash Julia understood that he was just as little anxious to see her as she was to see him. It was an odd coincidence that she didn't know the name either of the young man who had that afternoon behaved in so unexpected a manner.