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 кому-либо

that was all to the good – все, что не делается - все к лучшему

shrewd – проницательный

vanity – тщеславие

to have an affair with sb. – иметь с кем-либо интрижку

sallow – болезненный

to feel compassion for sb. – чувствовать сострадание к кому-либо

eminent persons – выдающиеся люди

to lay no claims on sb. – ничего не предъявлять

to use all her arts of cajolery – использовать все ее умение льстить

stale food – несвежая еда

to overcome one's scruples – преодолеть сомнения

to find someone a trifle dull – находить кого-либо немного скучным

to have no inclination – не иметь склонностей

a man of the world – человек с опытом

she was modest about herself – она была скромного мнения о себе

a smack in the face – пощечина

sulkily – сердито

Julia's heart was wrung – сердце Джулии екнуло

chivalrous courtesy – рыцарская учтивость

a vile disposition – отвратительный нрав

alacrity – готовность

wistful – тоскливый

to act with great naturalness – играть очень естественно

to make a scene – закатывать сцену

she was in a black rage – она была в праведном гневе

she'd get even with him – расплатиться с ним

to rack one's brains – думать над чем-либо

II. Answer the following questions:

1. Was Julia really in love with Tom Fennell? And he?

I think that she was in love with the man, she felt passion and desire to be with him anytime. But Julia did not confess in her feelings even herself until he realized she could hide and overcome it. As for Tom, I don’t think he loved Julia because he was too young and she too old for him. He was interested in her, not more.

 2. How old was Tom? What did he do? Why was he a success with women?
Tom was only 22 years old. He was a highly-sexed young man and enjoyed sexual exercise. From hints, from stories that she had dragged out of him, she 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 and changing expression nor his father's beauty of feature. Julia was somewhat disappointed in him. As a child when she had been so constantly photographed with him he was lovely. He was rather stolid and he had a serious look. His only good features were his teeth and his hair, while his figure was rather lumpy. Roger led his own life. Thus once he told Julia that he desired to leave Eton at Christmas, he thought he had got everything out of it that he could, and he wanted to go to Vienna for a few months and learn German before going up to Cambridge. And speaking about his future, the young man didn’t know what he wanted to be but he for sure didn’t want to go on the stage.

4. How did Tom and Roger get on together?

They were almost at the same age and spent all the time together. They had 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 not the world-wide notoriety of the film-stars; she had tried her luck on the pictures, but had achieved no success; 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?
Julia 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.

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.

• sweet with his blue eyes and pale brown hair
• What he's got, of course, is sex appeal
• Lips were soft and there was a perfume of youth about him which was really rather delightful
• There was something charming in his clean freshness
• Young, fresh and ingenuous

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

Sometimes she felt like God – Julia realize how powerful and important she was
She read his mind like an open book –There was no unpredictable in his mind and behavior.

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?

The author uses metaphors like poor lamb, sweet little thing, poor little thing, silly little fool to show Julia’s attitude to the man she was thinking about (Tom).
There is inner speech like “Gosh, I’m going down like a barrel of oysters.” "Bloody fool, bloody fool" by means of which we can understand Julia’s true feelings and reactions.

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

How strongly Julia did not try, she could not overcome her feeling to the young man Tom, the relationship with whom was in progress. The time of vacation Julia supposed to spend in a good company of Tom but the man preferred her seventeen years old son Roger to Julia. They were almost at the same age and had a lot in common. That was the reason why the men spent all the vacation together. Julia was not glade about this fact; moreover, she was jealous Tom but did not show that. However, she decided to revenge on him by turning him out bag and baggage. He returned her money and she realized he was aggrieved. Being afraid she can lose him Julia made her best to repair their relations.

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 – премьерные показы

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. 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 him because it was something new and interesting for her. His name was Tom Fennel but Julia did not know the name.

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. I think she behaved that way because she didn’t love Michael anymore.

 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?

He called her after several days and she invited him to come to her dressing-room for a tea.

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

He was very young, no more than 20. I think that his youth attracted her. 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 disapprove of her love affair. The man was too young for 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.

The author used his phrase to show Julia’s attitude to Thomas Fennel. She realized that she fall in love with him bur at the same tome she thought it to be wrong.

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)

The flowers and letter which Julia receives from the young Tom Fennel did not impress her, however, the man called her and invited to his house. Julia came and remained the time her youth. Thomas suddenly kissed her and she did not resist despite she even did not remember his name. Lately the adventure on the train to Cannes  happened with Julia, she spent the night the man who just met. Then her relationship with Tom continued and they went to an expensive restaurant and to pay for the meal the man pawned his watch. After the dinner they went to his home again.