'Theatre' by W. S. Maugham. Chapter 14

Task I

on one excuse and another – то под одним предлогом, то под другим
to confess to oneself – признаться себе
that was all to the good – все было к лучшему
shrewd – проницательный, хитрый, умный
vanity – тщеславие, суета
 to have an affair with sb. – крутить с кем-либо роман
sallow - болезненный
to feel compassion for sb. – сочувствовать, сострадать
 eminent persons – знаменитые люди
to lay no claims on sb. – не предъявлять притязаний на кого - либо
to use all her arts of cajolery – использовать все свое умение льстить (умасливать)
stale food – залежалая еда
to overcome one's scruples – преодолеть сомнения
to find someone a trifle dull – считать кого-то глупой безделушкой
to have no inclination – не иметь склонности
a man of the world – светский человек
she was modest about herself – быть о себе скромного мнения
a smack in the face - пощечина
sulkily - мрачно
Julia's heart was wrung – сердце Джулии сжалось
chivalrous courtesy - рыцарский
a vile disposition – гнусный нрав
alacrity – готовность, рвение, живость
wistful - задумчивый
to act with great naturalness – поступать очень естественно
to make a scene – устраивать сцену
she was in a black rage – быть вне себя от ярости
she'd get even with him – она бы ужилась даже с ним
to rack one's brains – ломать голову

Task II



1. Was Julia really in love with Tom Fennell? And he?
Julia was really in love with him. She herself could hardly believe in it. And Tom Fennel was not in love in her.

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 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.

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 17. He attended Eton. 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. The relationship between him and the parents were rather cold. As the family,they didn't spent a lot of time together. Julia only acted a good mother, but really wasn't interested in her son's brining up. 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?
Right from the begining they started to spend much time together. They were peers, that's why they easily found common language.

5. Was Julia as successful in the movies as in the theatre? Did she envy the film-stars?
She  was not successful 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?
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.

7. How did Julia revenge herself on Tom?
Julia revenged on Tom by leaving some money in the envelope.

Task III

Tom's description:
- young, fresh and ingenuous
- his body was just skin and bone
- a highly-sexed young man
-  his clothes sat on him so well
 The author uses the repetition "young man"to show that Julia admired Tom’s youth and through it she remembered her times when she was a young woman.
Yes, Julia’s opinion changed. She realized that he was a womanizer.

Task IV

Julia:
- really beautiful eyebrows
- smiled charmingl
- acted with great naturalness
- a beautiful performance
- amazing magnetism
- the best-dressed woman in London

Michael:
- smiled in his friendly way
- extraordinarily kind
- good, friendly smile
 The author underlines that they were much older experiences than their son and Tom. And also we see the juxtoposition of Michael and a young man Tom.

Task V

Julia is characterized thorough the interior monologue. In her thoughts Julia sometimes uses vulgar words, which underline that she is a real actress. ('The blasted fool, why does he talk all that rot?”, “Gosh, I’m going down like a barrel of oysters')



Task VI


Julia had understood that she fell in love with Tom Fennel. She gave him a lot of expensive presents, as he was poor. And even invited him to spend holidays with her family. While in their house, Tom got on well with Julia’s son Roger, so he spent no time with her. She was hurt and revenged on him by sending him money to pay off servants.

'Theatre' by W. S. Maugham. Chapters 11-13

Task I

Aprofound contempt – глубокое презрение
To have first nights – играть в премьере
To be exemplary – быть примерным
A pattern of conjugal fidelity – образец супружеской верности
To separate – отделяться, разделять
Be ingenuous – быть простодушным
To cry almost at will – плакать почти по желанию
Common sense – здравый смысл
To elope with sb. – сбежать с кем-то
Preposterous – нелепый, абсурдный
Curtain calls – вызовы актера
Prudish – ханжеский, не в меру стыдливый
In for a penny, in for a pound - назвался груздем - полезай в кузов
This was all a put-up job – это была чистой воды махинация
Indecent - неприличный
In a flash – в мгновение ока
To take liberties with sb. - позволять себе вольности с кем-либо (по отношению к кому-либо)
A matinee – утренняя пора
Amiably – любезность, доброжелательность
Well-chosen words – хорошо отобранный слова
To have no sequel – не иметь продолжения
To erase the episode from her memory – стереть этот эпизод из памяти
Pleasant reveries sauntered through her mind – приятные грезы блуждали по ее разуму
Hectic flush – лихорадочный румянец
To see in the flesh – увидеть вживую
To hurt one's pride – задеть чью-то гордость
To have an inkling – намек, слабое подозрение
To pawn – закладывать, отдавать в залог

Task II 

1. How did Julia and Lord Tamerly get acquainted? Was Julia his mistress? What did Julia owe to Charles Tamerly?

Julia and Lord Tamerly got acquainted at a luncheon party. No, she wasn’t, though many people were sure that she was Charles Tamerley's mistress because of their close relationships. As they had close relationships, Julia could trust him.

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

Julia burst out crying, as she could cry at will, it was one of her most telling accomplishments. Timing it perfectly, she raised her eyes till they met Charles's. With her mouth slightly open, with the look in her eyes of a child that had been deeply hurt the effect was unbearably pathetic. There is no doubt that it was only make-believe because she had already prepared her course of conduct for the declaration which she felt he would sooner or later bring himself to make. And before that converation Julia thought over possible ways of acting.

3. Why do you think Julia agreed to have tea with the young man? What was his name? Did Julia know it or not?
She agreed to have tea with the young man because it was something new and interesting in her daily routine. His name was Tom Fennel, but Julia did not know the name.

4. Was the young man as shy as he seemed to be?
At first, his behavior was predictable for her, but then, he turned out to be a very determined man, not shy at all.

5. How did he show his admiration for Julia? 
Tom told Juia that he had seen her in every play she had acted in since he was twelve years old. Also before their meeting he sent her flowers and invited to the diner. He pawned his watches to pay for her at the restaurant.

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?
It was strange but at the same time funny for her. It was not the first time Julia was unfaithful to her husband, but Tom’s impudence and insistence which caused their intimacy, was undoubtedly new experience to Julia although she was already 46, but she felt as 26. I can't judge her, because I wasn't in her shoes.

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?
During her trip to Cannes which she made by train, she her acquainted with the man who told her that he was an attaché at the Spanish Embassy in Paris and was going down to Cannes for
Easter. After long conversation, there was intimacy between them. Next morning she couldn’t believe that it had happened with her, however she did care more about the safety of her jewelry rather than about the moral aspect of this night. Julia liked to remember this accident, because she considered it a bit funny and romantic. This is proved by the lines “It was an odd little adventure and Julia was enjoying It.” “But as time passed Julia's indignation was mitigated, and she had often thought of the adventure since with a good deal of pleasure.” To my mind, this is awful and disgusting to sleep with an unknown man and consider it to be amusing.

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 tea.

9. What do you think attracted Julia to Tom? How old was he?
He was about  25. I think that his modesty, true feelings, youth and his inexperience attracted Julia.

10. Why do you think Tom was interested in grand people?
Because such life was too far and differed much from this he lived. And Julia was his idol.

11. Do you approve or disapprove of Julia's love affair with Tom Fennell?
I  disapprove Julia's love affair with Tom Fennell because she was unfaithful to her husband, she had a son, and what a model to follow could she be to him?

 

Task III

 

- But when she saw him, so slight, with his hectic flush and his blue eyes, so charmingly boyish, she felt a sudden pang
- She could have taken him in her arms then and there and kissed his blue eyes. She adored him.
- She found his slight awkwardness rather charming
- 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.
All these phrases shows that Julia liked this boy, she even thought that she fell in love with him.

 

Task IV

 

 Dame Ellen Terry (27 February 1847 – 21 July 1928) was an English stage actress who became the leading Shakespearean actress in Britain.

 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.

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).

 

Task V

The source of this allusion is Botticelli’s picture “Venus Rising from the Sea”. On this canvas the artist represented the Neoplatonic idea of divine love in the form of a nude Venus. So, it underlines the birth of Julia’s love to Tom.

Task VI

 
When Julia got flowers from the young man, she recollected how Charles Tamerly fell in love with her, and how then they became close friends. Soon Julia was invited for tea with a young boy, Thomas Fennell, who had lunched with her and her husband. When she came to him, they made love and she fell in love with him. Then she remembered another episode of her unfaithfulness in the train, when she slept with a Spanish attaché. After that Tom came to her makeup room and they made love again. Then he invited her to a very expensive restaurant,where he paid for her but befire it he had to pawn his watch.