The Early 20th century English Literature

In the early 20th century the traditions of critical realism that had developed in the late 19th century were continued and developed. Three names were prominent among the writers who continued the traditions of critical realism. They were George Bernard Shaw, John Galsworthy and Herbert George Wells.

All three possessed remarkable individual talent and developed the trend of critical realism along their own individual lines.

They sought for new ways and means of revealing the truth of life in their works, and their criticism of the bourgeois world reaches considerable depth. The narrow-mindedness, hypocrisy and stupidity are mercilessly criticized in the works of George Bernard Shaw.

John Galsworthy excells in revealing the characters from a psychological point of view.

Of great interest are the works of Herbert George Wells. He is a new type of writer who thinks about the future of mankind. The leading genre of the above mentioned period of time was the novel.

Vocabulary

excel [ik'sel] v отличаться seek [si:k] v (sought) искать

mercilessly ['imisihsli] adv жестоко sought [so:t] past и р. р. от seek

prominent ['prommant] а известный stupidity [stjui'piditi] n глупость

psychological [^saika'tocfeikd] а психо­логический

Questions and Tasks

1. What writers continued to develop the traditions of critical realism at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries?

2. What can you say about these three prominent writers?

3. Comment on the works of George Bernard Shaw, John Galsworthy and Herbert George Wells.

4. What was the leading genre of the above mentioned period of time?

Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)

George Bernard Shaw

George Bernard Shaw, novelist and playwright, was born in Dublin in an impoverished middle-class family. As a boy he seldom saw his parents. His father was occupied in a business which was almost bankrupt, and his mother devoted all her time to musical interests. She had a beautiful voice; Bernard himself and his sister could sing well enough and there were, besides the piano, many other musical instruments. Music came to play an important edu­cative part in young Shaw's life.

Shaw had a well-educated uncle, a clergyman with whom he read the classics. So when he entered school at the age of ten, he was much advanced and did better than all the other pupils in English composition. He didn't like school, because the school

 

course of studies was dull for him. He left one school for another, and then another, but everywhere the dull textbooks were the same, and they could not rouse the boy's interest. He educated himself by reading, and by studying foreign languages. At the age of fifteen Shaw went to work as a clerk. The monotonous daily routine, the endless figures, the feeling that he had become an insignificant part of a machine, all that alarmed the youth. In many things he was better informed than the most of his fellow clerks.

Shakespeare, Byron, Shelley and many other great poets and writers had been read and reread by him. He could discuss art, for he had studied the best works at the National Gallery in Dublin. At his job he had mastered the problems of his work without any difficulty. Yet he was far from being happy.

Bernard Shaw felt that he had to leave and so in 1876 he said good-bye to Ireland and went to London, where his mother had been making a living by giving music lessons. In London he devoted much time to self-education and made his first attempt at literature. He became ajournalist and wrote music and dramatic critiques for various periodicals.

Bernard Shaw set out to become a novelist. Between 1879 and 1883 he wrote five long novels, which were rejected by all publishers. Thus he gave up writing novels.

He became a socialist in 1882 and took an active part in the socialist movement. At the British Museum reading room he read Karl Marx in a French version. Though he admired their great influence on him, he failed to understand the necessity of a revolutionary reconstruction of the world.

In 1884 Bernhard Shaw joined the Fabian Society, an orga­nization of petty bourgeois intellectuals. It was a reformist organization. They were afraid of any revolutionary changes and preached gradual transition from capitalism to socialism by means of reforms. On the eve of World War I Shaw experienced a deep ideological crisis. His faith in Fabian illusions was shattered considerably. His point of disagreement with the Fabians was their attitude to the war. Shaw set himself resolutely against the militarists and the military points of view.

Shaw gave up writing novels and turned to dramatic writing. He wrote his first play Widower's Houses in 1892. It was the first of the three plays published in his first volume called Plays Unpleasant. The other two were The Philanderer (1893) and Mrs Warren's Profession (1894). In the preface to his volume Shaw explained why he called them Plays Unpleasant. They discussed social problems of tremendous importance: the source of earning money by the "respectable bourgeoisie", the miseries of the poor. Their dramatic power is used to make the audience face unpleasant facts. The first performance of Bernard Shaw's play Widower's Houses was quite a sensation. He was attacked both by the public and the critics.

George Bernard Shaw was a reformer of the theatre. The English Theatre of the 19th century was a theatre of primitive melodrama. Shaw opened the way for a new drama: a critical and realistic one. Shaw's plays were serious plays, which he called problem plays, full of topical problems of the day.

Shaw was the leader of the revolution against the theory of "art for art's sake". He maintained that art should serve social purposes. He believed that the artist's function was to teach and he saw the theatre as a means of correction of public morals. With his plays Shaw tried to change the world while he entertained it. In 1895 he published some of his plays under the title of Plays Pleasant — they include Arms and the Man (1894), The Man of Destiny (1895) and Candida (1894). The title of the plays is rather ironical: through the amusing situations and witty scenes with sparkling dialogues Bernard Shaw continued his criticism of bourgeois morals and ideals. He attacked militarism and war (Arms and the Man), showing their senselessness and cruelty, and dethroned Napoleon (The Man of Destiny).

The third volume of Shaw's plays was called Three Plays for Puritans; these were Caesar and Cleopatra [ 'si:za and klea 'pcutra] (1898), The Devil's Disciple (1897) and Captain Brassbound's Conversion (1899). The title of the third cycle has a double meaning: on the one hand the plays turn against English puritanism and hypocrisy, on the other hand they are directed against the decadent drama.

 

joking or serious. He makes a sort of game out of his jokes and witty words. Shaw called himself the "jester" of English society. A jester can say whatever he likes, no one can be offended with a jester's jokes. So as a professional "joker" Shaw told English society some bitter truths which no one would have allowed him to say if he had not been England's jester. Bernard Shaw chose satire as a weapon to fight for his ideals, and thus he carried on and developed the best traditions of critical realism in English literature. He died on November 2, 1950 at the age of 94. Bernard Shaw's best plays are highly appreciated in this country. They are staged in almost all the theatres and are always a suc­cess.

In 1912 Shaw wrote his most popular play Pygmalion, which scandalized the "respectable" public by using dialect words which English usage considered vulgar.

By 1900 Shaw had established his reputation as a playwright. He wrote one play after another as well as books of criticism and pamphlets. Shaw's plays deal with various problems: politics, science, religion, education and economics.

During World War I Shaw wrote long and daring articles, pro­testing against the imperialist governments and their war po­licy.

After the war Shaw's political and social views underwent a gradual revolution. He reconsidered the idea of reforms and came to realize the role of the proletariat. His visit to the Soviet Union in 1931 impressed him greatly.

Shaw was greatly interested in Russian culture. He highly appreciated and admired Leo Tolstoy, with whom he corresponded, and also Chekhov and Gorky.

Bernard Shaw was at the peak of his fame (1925) when he received the International Nobel Prize for Literature.

Shaw's plays of the second period become still more complex, for the problems Shaw deals with are now more complicated and significant. The most powerfufamong the plays are The Apple Cart (1929) and Too True to Be Good (1931).

In his play The Apple Cart Shaw touches upon the theme of rivalry between the USA and England in the political arena.

In his play Too True to Be Good Shaw dwells on the decay of the bourgeois system. Besides he depicts the birth and growth of new progressive forces in the world. Shaw's plays are discussion plays full of witty paradoxes and brilliant dialogues. He regards the speeches of his personages not only as means to characterize them but also as a means of expressing his own point of view on this or that problem. Shaw mocks at bourgeois charity, satirizes business­men and aristocrats. Each play is a response to current events, a discussion of burning questions.

Shaw's way of writing is very peculiar, grotesque. He says true things in such a way that at first one is not sure whether he is

Vocabulary

admit [sd'mit] v признавать advanced [ad'vcrast) а продвинутый appreciate [a'piifieit] v ценить charity ['tfaenti] n милосердие complicated ['komphkeitid] а сложный considerably [kgn'sidarabli] adv значи­тельно critique [kn'ti:k] n рецензия daring t'desnrj] а смелый decay [di'kei] n упадок dethrone [di'Greun] v свергнуть с пре­стола figure [Tiga] n цифра gradual ['grsedjusl] а постепенный grotesque [greu'tesk] а гротескный illusion [f 1и:зэп] п иллюзия impoverished [im'prjvanjt] а бедный jester ['djesta] n шут maintain [men'tem] уутверждать, наста­ивать misery ['ткэп] п страдание; pi несчастья monotonous [ma'nDtanas] а однооб­разный

offend [s'fend] v обижать peculiar [pi'kju:lja] а особый petty t'peti] а мелкий preach [pri:tf] у проповедовать; высту­пать в защиту resolutely ['rezalutli] adv решительно response [n'sptms] n ответ rivalry ['rarvsln] n соперничество rouse [rauz] v поднимать; возбуждать routine [ru:'ti:n] n режим scandalize ['skaenalaiz] v возмущать senselessness [ 'senshsnis] n бесчув­ственность shatter ['Jaets] _v поколебать source [so:s] n источник transition [traen'si33n] n переход tremendous [trs'mendas] а огромный undergo [ 'Andsgau] v (underwent;

undergone) подвергаться version [ 'v3:Jbn] n вариант

 

Pygmalion

Pygmalion is one of Bernard Shaw's
most popular and successful plays. It is a
deep and amusing comedy. Like any of
Shaw's plays, Pygmalion is full of criti­
cism of contemporary life. The criticism
in this case is directed against social bar­
riers and distinctions. The idea of the
play, expressed in the title, originates
from an antique myth. Pygmalion, an an­
cient sculptor, while creating a statue of
beautiful girl Galatea [ 'gseb 'to], by
name, fell in love with his creation. His Andrey Mepburn

love was so great that he began to pray ^{as Eliza Doolittle}

to Aphrodite [, aeftV daiti], the goddess of love, to breathe life into his statue. The goddess made the statue alive, and Pygmalion married Galatea.

Pygmalion in Shaw's play is Mr Higgins, a professor of phonetics.
Galatea is Eliza Doolittle, a street flower seller, and the play itself is
the story of Mr Higgins's attempt to make a duchess out of the flower
seller. *

Professor Higgins meets Eliza one stormy night selling flowers to a crowd under the portico of St Paul's Cathedral. The profes­sor, struck by her remarkably pure Cockney pronunciation, is making notes of her words with a view of studying them at home. A gentleman seems particularly interested in Higgins, and the conversation, which springs up between them reveals that he is Colonel Pickering, a student of Indian dialects.

He and Higgins, it appears, have been interested in each other's work for years. Higgins points out that he can perfect the girl's shock­ing pronunciation which keeps her selling flowers in the street and prevents her from getting a respectable position as a saleslady in a flower shop.

The remark has made a deep impression on Eliza and the very next day she visits the professor to take lessons in pronunciation, at a price she considers fully sufficient of one shilling an hour.

Finding Eliza's offer very interesting Professor Higgins and Colonel Pickering make a bet, that in six months Higgins will teach Eliza the language of "Shakespeare and Milton" and pass her off as a duchess at an ambassador's party. If Higgins suc­ceeds Pickering will pay the expenses of the experiment.

Eliza is taken into Higgins's house where for several months she is being taught to speak correct English. While staying at Higgins's home Eliza gets accustomed to Professor Higgins and Colonel Pickering. Higgins is not married and lives alone with his servants and his elderly housekeeper. He often finds Eliza amusing and Eliza, grateful for the education he is giving her, makes herself useful to him wherever she can.

In order to prove his experiment Higgins dresses Eliza in beautiful clothes and takes her to the Ambassador's Garden Party where she meets the "cream" of society. Everybody takes her for a grand lady.

Higgins wins his bet. But he has forgotten that a flower girl is a human being with a mind and a heart. He looks upon her only as a thing. He does not care what is to become of her when he has finished his instruction. He says, "When I've done with her, we can throw her back into the gutter, and then it will be her own business again".

Higgins is not unkind by nature and perhaps he has even grown fond of Eliza without knowing it; but what is an ignorant flower girl to a gentleman of means and wide education... Eliza teaches him how wrong he is, giving him a lesson in feeling. The lesson costs her some pain because not only has she got accustomed to Higgins, but she has also begun to love him.

Higgins and Eliza remain friends, but the play is without an ending. The dramatist thought it best not to go on with the story. Had he given the usual happy ending, the play would have become an ordinary fairy-tale story.

Bernard Shaw's play Pygmalion is a satire on higher society. Here, aristocrats are opposed to a simple girl. In the play Shaw shows his deep feelings for the common people, their humanism, the beauty of their inner qualities. He shows that good language and correct pronunciation are not only the attributes of people of high social, cultural and moral standing.

Professor Higgins believes that he can create a new Eliza by teaching her good language and manners. However, the paradox lies in the fact that Higgins only gives an outer polish to Eliza, whose inner qualities have always been greater than the Professor's. Her individuality remains the same, but she is the one who awakens human feelings in the Professor's heart. Language can be learned; the inner qualities of a person do not depend on it.

1. Relate the main facts of Bernhard Shaw's life. 2. What did he begin writing first? 3. Why did he give up writing novels? 4. What organization did he join in 1884? 5. What did the members of the Fabian Society preach? 6. What was Shaw's point of disagreement with the Fabians? 7. What was Bernard Shaw's first play? 8. How did he call the first volume of plays?

Vocabulary

accustomed [a'kAStamd] a привычный

to get accustomed привыкнуть ambassador [jem'baesgda] л посол antique [sen'ti:k] о античный appear [э'рю] v оказываться attribute ['aetnbju:t] n отличительная

черта barrier ['Ьаепэ] л барьер bet [bet] л пари

to make a bet держать пари cockney ['kokni] n кокни (лондонское

просторечие) colonel ['кз:п1] л полковник cream [kri:m] n сливки; самое лучшее,

цвет (чего-л.) creation [kii'eijbn] n творение distinction [dis'tinkjbn] л различие duchess f'dAtfis] л герцогиня grateful ['greitful] а благодарный

Questions and tasks

gutter ['gAta] л трущобы means [mi:nz] л средства, состояние oppose [э'рэиг] v противопоставлять originate [э 'ndjineit] v происходить,

брать начало outer f'auta] а внешний perfect [pa'fekt] v совершенствовать,

улучшать polish ['prjhj] л изысканность pray [prei] v молиться respectable [ns'pektabl] о приличный remark [n'ma:k] л высказывание saleslady ['seilzleidi] л продавщица shocking ['Jokirj] о ужасный spring [sprirj] v (sprang; sprung) проис­ходить standing ['stasndirj] л положение succeed [sak'si:d] v суметь сделать sufficient [sa'fijsnt] а достаточный

9. Explain why he named these plays in such a way.

10. What changes did Bernard Shaw introduce into the theatre of England?

11. What plays did he publish under the title of Plays Pleasant?

12. Comment on the third volume of Shaw's plays.

13. What is his most popular play?

14. What problems do Shaw's plays deal with?

15. Characterize the second period of his literary work.

16. Describe Shaw's way of writing.

17. What is the main idea of the play Pygmalion?

18. What is the origin of the plot?

19. Give a brief summary of the contents of Pygmalion.

20. Against what is the criticism of the play directed?

Herbert Wells (1866-1946)

Herbert George Wells is often called the great English writer who looked into the future.

He was bom in the small town of Brom­ley into a middle-class family. He was the second son in a family of three boys. His father was a shopkeeper and at the same time he was a professional player of the national English game — cricket. His mother was a housekeeper in a large country house.

Wells combined his studies at Mid-
hurst Grammar School by working as
a draper's then a chemist's apprentice. ^{Herbert Geor}9^{e Wells}

By means of a scholarship he had won he was able to study at the Royal College of Science in London.

In 1886 he took his B. Sc. (Bachelor of Science) degree with honours at London University. Then he took to teaching mostly as a private schoolmaster in biology. In 1893 he turned to journalism and literature.

Scores of novels, histories, philosophical books and scientific works followed. The end of the century made him famous as a writer.

 

The First World War brought a crisis in the outlook of the great writer. At the beginning he believed that the war would teach all nations to live in peace and that the peoples of the world would want to build up a new society. He expressed his ideas in a series of articles. They were later collected in the book called The War That Will End War (1914). But the book was not popular.

The October Socialist Revolution of 1917 shook Wells. He was greatly interested in the events going on in Russia. In 1920 he visited the Soviet Union. On his return to England he published his book Russia in the Shadows where he described the Soviet country ruined by the Civil War and foreign intervention.

During the Second World War Wells wrote against fascism. He lived to be nearly 80 years old. He died on the 13th of August, 1946.

Herbert Wells devoted more than fifty years of his life to literary work. He was the author of more than forty novels and many short stories, articles and social tracts. His novels are of three types: sci­ence fiction, realistic novels on contemporary problems and social tracts in the form of novels.

Wells belonged to the world of science. Science played an im­portant part in his best works, but the principal theme, even in these works is not science but the social problems of the day. His creative work is divided into two periods. The first period begins in 1895 and lasts up to the outbreak of the Word War I. His famous works are: The Time Machine (1895), The Invisible Man (1897), The War of the Worlds (1897), The First Men in the Moon (1901) and others.

The second period comprises works written from 1914 up to the end of World War II. His most important works are: The War That Will End War (1914), Russia in the Shadows (1920), The World of William Clissold (1926), MrBlettsworthy onRampoleIsland (1928), Experiment in Autobiography (1934) and many others.

Being greatly influenced by the outstanding achievements of the famous scientists of his day as Faraday, Darwin, Wells begins to explore in his works the new world opened up by modern science.

His books show not only the ability to make science the matter of a story, but a rare gift of scientific imagination. Wells's science-fic­tion novels are always built on a scientific basis. All of them are based on real scientific discoveries. The discovery of x-rays prompted Wells

to write The Invisible Man. Wells tried Ms best to make his fantasies convincing. For this reason he would give accurate description of non-existing machines, cite fictitious newspaper articles and scien­tific reports.

Some of his works show his scientific foresight. For instance in the novel The War in the Air (1908) Wells describes war planes which were first used during World War I. In the novel When the Sleeper Wakes (1899) Wells writes about A-bombs and their radio-active effect 30 years before their invention. These predictions show the author's imagination and profound scientific knowledge. The main trait of Wells's creative works is his concern for the fate of mankind.

The originality of Wells's science-fiction novels lies in their social problems.

Thus in 77ie Time Machine (1895) the theme of an unusual scientific invention — a machine capable of travelling through time — is connected with the theme of class struggle, class antagonism leading to the degeneration of mankind. The author describes a fantastic machine made of nickel, ivory and crystal and with great artistic mastery depicts the flight through time when days and nights seem like the flapping of a black wing and the sun and the moon become streaks of fire in the sky. However, it is not the main theme in the story. The principal idea of the book is the contrast of the two degenerated races — the Eloi and the Morlocks into which mankind has been divided. Having reached the year 802701, the Time Traveller meets the Eloi — beautiful and graceful, but quite helpless creatures who live in old buildings. They are the descendants of the ruling classes, the product of luxurious life and aversion for work. The other race, the horrible and pale Morlocks are the descendants of workers who had lived in the dark underground factories many years before. They continue working for the Eloi, they provide them with clothes and food, but hunt the Eloi at night and feed on their meat.

The more remote future visited by the Time Traveller is even worse. He sees a desert land of monster crabs creeping out of the sea.

In The Time Machine one can feel Wells's pessimism. The writer does not see any ways of saving mankind from war and moral degradation. Wells thought the working class was too

 

despite [dis'pait] prep несмотря на draper ['dreipa] n торговец мануфак­турными товарами fictitious [fik'tifas] а выдуманный flap [fla;p] v махать foresight ['fo:sait] n предвидение graceful ['greisful] о изящный ignorant ['ignarent] а невежественный

ignorant to fight for its happiness. This idea gave birth to the horrible figures of the Morlocks. Despite his pessimism Wells hoped that mankind would be able to escape degeneration and build life on more rational basis. The dreadful scenes depicted by the author serve as a warning to mankind.

The Invisible Man deals with another theme — the loneliness of the scientists in the bourgeois world and the danger of science in the hands of individualists.

The action is set in a small town in the south of England. The talented physicist Griffin who becomes invisible having discovered the secret of the colouring of tissue perishes. He turns into a savage and commits horrible crimes. A great scientist becomes a dangerous maniac and murderer.

Thus, Wells showed how tragic the achievements in science could be if they were used with destructive intentions.

He saw very clearly the contradictions that surrounded him but he did not see the way out.

Wells's contribution to literature becomes quite clear when we view him as a scientist. He is not a pure scientist, who works for the experiment only. He is much more interested in the fate of humanity than in science as such.

Wells's aim was to show* today through what might happen tomorrow. Man should realize that the future depends on what he is doing today.

One must admire his courage and his faith in written word. "We are going to write about the whole of life", he announced, and so he did.

Vocabulary

bachelor ['bagtfata] n бакалавр cite [salt] v ссылаться; цитировать comprise [ksm'praiz] v охватывать concern [k9n's3:n] n тревога creep [kri:p] v (crept) ползать crystal [knstl] n хрусталь degeneration [di^djens'reijan] n вы­рождение

 

remote [n'msut] о отдаленный savage ['ssvicb;] n жестокий человек score [ska:] n pi много streak [stri:k] л полоска tissue ['tisju:] n ткань tract [trsekt] n трактат, памфлет x-ray ['eks'rei] n рентгеновский снимок

ivory ['aivan] n слоновая кость luxurious [kg'zjuangs] а роскошный originality [э,пазГп8е1Ш] п оригиналь­ность outbreak ['autbreik] n начало outlook ['autluk] л взгляд на жизнь prediction [pn'dikjbn] n предсказание

Questions and Tasks

1. Relate the main facts of Wells's life.

2. Name Wells's different kinds of literary works.

3. What are the three types of his novels?

4. What themes did Wells touch upon in his works?

5. Name the two periods of his creative activity.

6. What is the peculiarity of Wells's science fiction?

7. Give a brief summary of the contents of The Time Machine.

8. Comment on the novel The Invisible Man.

9. What is the contribution of Wells to world literature?

10. Why is Herbert George Wells called the great English writer who looked
into the future?

John Galsworthy (1867-1933)

Among the English authors of the close of the last century and the beginning of the 20th century John Galsworthy f go:lzw3:6i] is one of the outstanding representatives.

He was a novelist, dramatist, short-story writer and essayist. He created brilliant realistic pictures of life and typical characters.

John Galsworthy

John Galsworthy was born in a well-to-do family in Surrey¹. His father was a rich lawyer, and he wanted his son to follow the career. John Galsworthy got his first edu-

Surrey ['sAn] — графство Суррей (Англия)

 

cation at home. At age of fourteen he was sent to Harrow School, a very old and famous public school for boys. At Harrow Galsworthy distinguished himself as an excellent student. After Harrow he stud­ied at Oxford; but he did not find his studies in law exciting.

He received an honours degree in law in 1889 and was admitted to the Bar¹. But very soon he gave up law for literature and went travelling all over the world.

In 1891 Galsworthy came to the Crimea. His stay in Russia produced a deep impression on him and awakened his interest in the country, its people and literature.

In 1899 Galsworthy published his first novel Jocelyn and then Villa Rubein (1900) appeared under the pseudonym John Sinjohn. Afterwards, at frequent intervals he wrote plays, novels and essays.

His first notable work was The Island of Pharisees [ faensi:z] (1904) (Pharisees were people of the ancient Hebrew sect distinguished for their strict observance of religious laws under which they pretended to be superior to other people). Galsworthy gave this name to the English privileged classes. This word is used speaking about self-righteous hypocritical persons. In the five works entitled The Country House (1907), Fraternity (1909), The Patrician [рэ 'tnfan] (1911), The Dark Flower (1913) and The Freelands (1915) Galsworthy criticizes country squires, the»aristocracy and artists and shows his deep sympathy for strong passions, sincerity, true love.

However he gained popularity only after the publication of The Man of Property — the first part of The Forsyte Saga. It con­sists of three novels and two interludes, as the author calls them:

The Man of Property (1906);

In Chancery (1920);

To Let (1921);

Awakening (interlude);

Indian Summer of a Forsyte (interlude).

The Forsyte Saga is followed by A Modern Comedy, also a trilogy, consisting of three novels and two interludes:

The White Monkey (1924);

The Silver Spoon (1926);

' the Ваг — коллегия адвокатов (Англия)

The Swan Song (1928);

A Silent Wooing (interlude);

Passers-by (interlude).

The trilogy called End of the Chapter, written at a later period, consists of three novels:

Maid in Waiting (1931);

Flowering Wilderness (1932);

Over the River (1933).

The Forsyte Saga is a great panorama of English life, covering nearly fifty years. It is a family chronicle. Galsworthy presents the story of the Forsyte family. His most interesting character is "the man of property", Soames Forsyte, the typical bourgeois to whom everything is a matter of proprietorship not only money, and houses, and position, but also works of art, and human hearts and feelings.

The second trilogy is dedicated to the younger generation of the Forsytes. They are depicted against the background of post-war England. The action is centred round Soames' daughter Fleur.

In the End of the Chapter, written after World War I, Galsworthy's criticism becomes less sharp. The old generation of the Forsytes does not seem so bad to the author, compared to the new one. During his progress through six novels and four interludes Soames Forsyte becomes almost a positive character, in spite of the author's critical attitude forwards him at the beginning of the Saga.

It took Galsworthy 22 years to accomplish this monumental work. For The Forsyte Saga John Galsworthy was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1932.

Galsworthy was also a great playwright of his time. From 1909 he produced in turn plays and novels. His plays deal with the burning problems of contemporary life. The author describes the hard life of the workers in Strife (1909), attacks the cruel regime in English prisons injustice (1910), expresses his indignation towards wars The Mob (1914), rejects the colonial policy of England "The Forest". Galsworthy's plays were very popular, yet it is not his dramatic works, but his novels and The Forsyte Saga in particular, that made him one of the greatest figures in world literature.

Galsworthy is not only a novelist and a dramatist, but also a short-story writer and an essayist. His short stories give a most complete

 

interlude ['mtakr.d] n интерлюдия nevertheless [^nevads'les] conj несмот­ря на observance [9b'z3:vsns] n соблюдение owing to ['suirjtu:] prep благодаря propertied ['propatid] о имущий proprietorship [pra'praitsjip] n собствен­ность regime [геГзшп] п режим sect [sekt] n секта self-righteous ['self'raitfss] а самодо­вольный sincerity [sm'senti] n искренность strict [stnkt] а строгий swear [swea] v молиться

and critical picture of English bourgeois society in the first part of the 20th century. It is in his short stories that Galsworthy touches upon the most vital problems of the day — he condemns the war, exposes the propertied classes that bring suffering and unemployment to the people, showing his sympathy for the so-called "little man".

Galsworthy's mastery lies in his realistic depiction of life and characters and exciting plots. Though Galsworthy's criticism is not so sharp as that of Dickens and Thackeray, he is justly considered to be one of the greatest realists of his time.

A bourgeois himself, Galsworthy nevertheless clearly sees the decline of his class and truthfully portrays this in his works.

Galsworthy gave a comprehensive and vivid picture of contem­porary England.

His art was greatly influenced by Russian and French literature. Turgenev and Maupassant [ 'тэирэ 'sa] were the first writers who gave him "real aesthetic excitement".

"The men we swear by", he used to say, "are Tolstoy, Turgenev, Chekhov, Maupassant, Flaubert [fbu 'Ьеэ], Anatole France".

"Turgenev is the man of all others I should like to have known", wrote Galsworthy to a friend in 1920. Galsworthy was affected by Turgenev's lyrical manner of representation of characters and description of nature. ■»

Vocabulary

accomplish [э'котрЩ] v завершать admit [ad'mit] v принять affect [s'fekt] v влиять chronicle ['kronikl] n хроника comprehensive Lkomprfhensrv] о пол­ный condemn [kan'dem] v осуждать decline [di'klam] n упадок distinguish oneself [dis'tirjwif] v отли­чаться essayist feseiist] n эссеист, автор эссе frequent ffrxkwant] о частный Hebrew ['hibru:] а древнееврейский hypocritical {, hips'kntiksl] о лицемерный indignation Lmdig'neijbn] n негодование

The Man of Property

At the beginning of the novel we see the Forsyte family in full plumage. All the Forsytes gather at the house of old Jolyon to celebrate the engagement of Miss June Forsyte, old Jolyon's granddaughter, to Mr Philip Bossiney. Old Jolyon is the head of the family. Eighty years of age with his white hair, his domelike forehead and an immense white moustache, he holds himself very straight and seems master of perennial youth. He and his five brothers and four sisters represent the first generation of the Forsytes. All of them are rich businessmen, heads of various firms and companies. With distrust and uneasiness they watch June's fiance — a young architect without any fortune. In their opinion Jolyon ought never to have allowed the engagement. Bosinney seems to be an impractical fellow with no sense of property, while the Forsytes consider property to be a sacred thing, an object of worship and respect.

The most typical Man of Property is Soames Forsyte, a repre­sentative of the second generation of the Forsytes. Soames' sacred sense of property even extends to works of art, human feelings and family relations.

Having married Irene [ai' ri:ru], a woman who never loved him, Soames treats her as though she were his property. Wishing to get his beautiful wife out of London, away from opportunities of meeting people, Soames decides to build a house in the country. He asks Bosinney to design the house, because he thinks that Bosinney will be easy to deal with in money matters.

Irene falls in love with the young architect and Soames, driven by jealousy, brings a suit against Bosinney for having exceeded the sum of money which had been fixed for the construction of the house. On the day of the trial Bosinney meets with a tragic death. Being passionately in love with Irene and depressed by his hopeless state of affairs, he wanders aimlessly in the foggy streets of London and is run over by an omnibus.

Irene leaves Soames. But she is forced to return to him though not for a long. The new house remains empty and deserted.

 

The Man of Property represents a typical bourgeois who is the slave of property, which is to him not only money, houses and land, but also his wife, the works of art and the talent of artists whose works he buys.

Soames believes that the souls and thoughts, ideas and love, the kindness and sympathy of a warm heart are all to be bought at their face-value.

Every Forsyte feels great pleasure speaking about money matters. If he sees anything, he immediately states the value of it.

The Forsytes estimate people in the same way as they estimate things. A man who can make a great deal of money is a person of importance, deeply respected by the Forsytes; one who cannot, is despised by them. No matter how honourable this or that profession may be, it is not considered of by the Forsytes unless it can bring in money.

There are some characters in the novel who are created as a contrast to the Forsytes with all their prejudices and negative features. These are the characters of Irene and Bosinney and old Jolyon, young Jolyon and his daughter June. These characters have the sympathy of the author and the reader. The characters of Irene and Bosinney are not so vivid as those of the Forsytes.

Though old Jolyon and young Jolyon belong to the Forsytes, the possessive instincts of both Jolyons are not so strong as those of the other members. Old Jolyon is one of the most attractive personages of the novel. At the beginning of the book he is a typical Forsyte. His son's marriage to a governess caused his indignation. He disinherited young Jolyon and did not want to see him. Later he was sorry and did all he could to help his son's second family.

At the close of his life old Jolyon came to realize that there was something more precious in life than property.

Egoism, snobbery, contempt for everything "foreign", a sense of property and money-worship — these are the most characteristic features of the Forsytes.

The collision between the sense of property and money-worship, on the one hand, and true love and a keen sense of beauty, on the other, is the main theme of the novel.

Galsworthy's realism, his sincerity, his objective portrayal of contemporary life and his keen sense of beauty link him with the best writers of world literature.

Vocabulary

governess ['gAvanis] n гувернантка immense [i'mens] о огромный jealousy ['djebsi] n ревность objective [sb'cjjektrv] а объективный perennial [рэ'гегуэ1] а неувядаемый plumage Гр1шшф] п наряд possessive [pa'zesrv] а собственнический precious ['prejbs] а ценный prejudice ['precfeudis] n предрассудок sacred ['seiknd] а святой suit [sju:t] л судебное дело to bring a suit against smb предъяв­лять иск кому-л. trial [traisl] n суд uneasiness [An'i:zinis] n тревога

collision [ks'lrpn] n столкновение contempt [ksn'tempt] n презрение distrust [dis'trASt] n недоверие dome [daum] n что-л. куполообразное domelike forehead высокий выпук­лый лоб engagement [m'деМзтэпХ] п обруче­ние, помолвка estimate ['estimeit] v оценивать exceed [ik'si:d] v превышать extend [iks'tend] v распространять face-value ['feis^vaelju:] n номинальная

стоимость feature ['fi:tf3] n черта fiance [fi'ainsei] n жених

Questions and Tasks

1. Relate the main facts of John Galsworthy's life.

2. Give a brief account of the beginning of Galsworthy's literary work. ' 3. What novel brought him fame?

 

4. Describe the composition of The Forsyte Saga.

5. What themes does the author touch upon in the novel?

6. Name his chief plays and the problems they deal with.

7. What can you say about Galsworthy's short stories?

8. What are the chief characteristics of Galsworthy's works?

9. Comment on the influence of Russian and French literature on Galsworthy's literary activity.

 

10. Give a brief summary of the contents of The Man of Property.

11. Comment on the most typical features of the Forsyte family.

12. Which of the Forsytes is the most representative man of property?

13. Compare the characters of Philip Bosinney and Irene with those of the Forsytes.

14. What is the author's opinion of such characters as old Jolyon, young Jolyon and June?

15. What is the main theme of the novel The Man of Property?

16. Explain what makes it possible to link Galsworthy with the best writers of world literature.

 

Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874-1936)

Gilbert Keith Chesterton [ 'gilbat 'ki:0 'tfeststan] is known as critic, author of verses, essays, novels and short stories. He was born on May 29,1874 in London.

Chesterton was educated at St Paul's School and later studied art at the Slade School and literature at University College, London.

He began his career as a literary journalist, and it is in this genre that his most successful work was done. His first book of poems was The Wild

rs ■ 1_^ ллллч ТТ- -i- «л< л> Gilbert Keith Chesterton

Knight (1900). His writings to 1910

were concerned with three main areas. First, his social criticism was expressed in his works The Defendant (1901), Twelve Types (1902), and Heretics (1905).

Second, his works of literary criticism, which include Robert Browning¹ (1903), an excellent guide, Charles Dickens (1906), an enthusiastic study, George Bernard Shaw (1909), William Blake (1910) and Robert Louis Stevenson (1927). These works of Chesterton are among the finest contribution to criticism.

Chesterton's third main concern was theology and religious argument.

Many readers value Chesterton's fiction most highly. He wrote several novels such as The Napoleon of Netting Hill (1904), The Club of Queer Trades (1905), The Man Who Was Thursday (1908) and others.

Chesterton wrote a number of detective stories in which the detective is the Catholic priest Father Brown.

The first volume of these was The Innocence of Father Brown (1911), then The Wisdom (1914), The Incredulity [1926), The Se­cret (1927), The Scandal of Father Brown (1935) and others. Ches­terton's detective stories are excellent light entertainment. They

¹ Robert Browning (1812— 1889) Роберт Браунинг, англ. поэт

show Chesterton's favourite ideas about life, ordinary men, hap­piness and the wisdom of the heart. Chesterton's published works run to over 100 volumes.

Vocabulary

concern [kan's3:n] v касаться entertainment [,enta 'temmant] n раз-

contribution LkDntn'bju:Jbn] n вклад влечение

wisdom ['wizdom] n мудрость

Questions and Tasks

1. Where was Chesterton born?

2. Where was he educated?

3. How did he begin his literary career?

4. What were the three main areas of his writings?

5. Comment on them.

6. What do readers value most highly in his work?

7. Speak on his novels and detective stories.

8. Prove that Chesterton was a prolific writer.

9. What is his contribution to English literature?

Somerset Maugham (1874-1965)

William Somerset Maugham [mo:m] is one of the best known writers of the present day. He was not only a novelist of considerable rank, but also one of the most successful dramatists and short-story writer.

William Somerset Maugham was born in Paris in 1874. His father was a solicitor for the British Embassy. His mother died when he was eight. Two years later his father fol­lowed, and the orphan child was sent to his uncle, a clergyman in Whiteable, Kent. At thirteen he was sent to Kings School, Can-,„....

³ William Somerset Maugham

 

terbury, with an intention that he should go to Oxford and prepare to enter the church.

But he had always wanted to write, and in 1890 he went abroad and studied at the University of Heidelberg, from which he re­turned in 1892. According to his uncle's will he had to choose a profession and he chose medicine, thus entering St Tomas Hos­pital in London. In 1898 he got his medical degree, but he never practised, except for a year in the Lambeth slums.

Of this period of his life he writes: "All this was a valuable ex­perience to me. I do not know a better training for a writer than to spend some years in the medical profession.

In those six years I must have witnessed pretty well every emo­tion of which man is capable. It appealed to my dramatic instinct. It excited the novelist in me. I saw how men died. I saw how they bore pain. I saw what hope looked like, fear and relief. I saw dark lines that despair drew on a face".

His experience in treating the sick in the slums gave Maugham material for his first work, Liza of Lambeth (1897), a realistic novel characterized by a powerful photographic por­traiture of life. After that he decided to devote his life to litera­ture. Soon after the publication of his first novel Maugham went to Spain and then travelled to all parts of the world. He visited Russia, America, Asia and the Polyneisian Islands, and wherever he was, he always sought material for his books. He was a keen observer of life and individuals.

During World War I he enlisted with a Red Ambulance Unit. Later he was transferred to the Intelligence Service (Secret Service). Early in the 1930's Maugham settled down near Paris. At the outbreak of World War II he was appointed to special work at the British Min­istry of Information in Paris. The Nazi advance overtook him there; he managed, however, to reach England, leaving behind him all his belongings and many of his unfinished manuscripts. In the years following he settled down in England.

The most mature period of Maugham's literary career began in 1915, when he published one of his most popular novels Of Human Bondage. It was started in 1905, abandoned for a time and then taken up again. The book is considered to be his masterpiece.

Cakes and Ale (1930) was named by Maugham himself to be best of his books. It represents the backstage life of literary pro­fession.

The revolt of the individual against the accepted customs of society is a theme which has always fascinated Somerset Maugham. It inspired his novel The Moon and Sixpence (1919).

The novel which has rather an unusual plot is partly based on the life story of the famous French painter Gauguin, [дэг/gaen] who was an innovator and rebel in art.

The hero of the novel, Charles Strickland, is a prosperous stock­broker. At the age of forty he leaves his wife and children and goes to Paris, where he devotes himself to painting. Strickland is aware of all the hardships in store for him¹, but his desire to paint is so strong that no arguments can convince him'to change his decision to devote his life to art.

Strickland's life in Paris is "a bitter struggle against every sort of difficulty". But the hardships do not affect him. He is indifferent to comfort. Canvas and paint are the only things he needs.

Strickland does not care for fame. Nor does he care for wealth. He does not sell his pictures and he is almost starving. His only aim in life is to create beauty. The only person who understands Strickland's creative genius is the painter Dirk Stroeve ['straw]. Trying to save Strickland from a terrible disease and starvation, Dirk Stroeve brings him home where he sacrifices his time, his comfort and his money for Strickland. But instead of gratitude Strickland shows his inhumanity towards Dirk Stroeve. He seduces Stroeve's wife Blanche who falls in love with him. When Strickland takes no more interest in her, she commits suicide. These two men with their sharply contrasting characters are equally responsible for Blanche Stroeve's tragic death, which is caused both by her husband's kindness and by Strickland's cruelty.

Thus after years of resultless struggle in Paris Strickland moves to Marseilles [ma: 'seilz]. He spends about four months at Mar-

¹ in store for him — которые ждут его впереди

 

Other most prominent works by Somerset Maugham are the novels: Theatre (1937) and the Razor's Edge (1944). He has written nineteen novels, twenty-four plays and a large number of short stories, in addition to travel works and an autobiography. Few of his plays have stood the test of time. He is primarily a short-story writer and a novelist. The most popular stories are Rain, The Unconquered, Gigolo and Gigolette, The Man with the Scar, The Luncheon. A realistic portrayal of life, keen character observation, interesting plots, beautiful, expressive language and a simple style, all place Somer­set Maugham on a level with the greatest English writers of the 20th century.

seilles where he finds it impossible to earn the small sum he needs to keep body and soul together. His imagination being haunted for a long time by "an island all green and sunny, encircled by sea more blue than is found in the Northern latitude", he de­cides to go to the South Seas. By a chance of luck he boards a ship bound for Australia, where he works as a stoker thus get­ting to Tahiti [ta 'hitlj. There he marries a Polynesian woman Ata and devotes the rest of his life to painting. Strickland dies of leprosy.

According to his will his wife burns their house the walls of which had been covered from ceiling to floor with compositions by Strickland. Only on discovering some canvases Strickland had once put aside during his years of unrewarded work, the world art realizes it has lost a genius. Strickland is concentrated on his art. He is indifferent to love, friendship and kindness. He ruins the life of Dirk Stroeve and is wife who nursed him when he was dangerously ill. He does not care for his own wife and children and brings misfortune to all the people who come in touch with him. But on the other hand we cannot deny his talent as an artist, a creator of beauty. Strickland cannot care for anything else but art as art is the only means for him to express himself.

Society, however, is hardly ever patient with geniuses. Most often a genius has to die before he is acknowledged.

Maugham shows how blind the bourgeois public is to real beauty. Later Strickland's works are bought by the public because it is fashionable to have them in one's flat.

Another important character of the novel, Dirk Stroeve, is a very kind man, but a bad artist, though he possesses a keen sense of beauty and is the first to appreciate Strickland's talent. Stroeve paints easily and is able to satisfy the vulgar tastes of the public.

The author shows that the public lacks imagination, therefore real art is as far for the rich as the moon is. The title serves to Maugham as a symbol for two opposing worlds — the material world which is left by Strickland, where everything is thought of in terms of money and the world of art.

Vocabulary

abandon [a'baendan] v оставлять

acknowledge [sk'nohcfc] v признавать

affect jVfekt] v влиять

ambulance ['aembjubns] л врачебный пункт

appeal [э'рй] v привлекать

aware [s'wes] а знающий to be aware сознавать

backstage ['baek'steicfc] а закулисный

bear [Ьеэ] v(bore; born) переносить

bore [bo:] past от bear

considerable [ksn'sidarebl] а большой

despair [dis'pea] n отчаяние

emotion [I'maufan] п чувство

enlist [m'hst] v зачислять

fascinate ['faesmeit] v приводить в вос­хищение

haunt [ho:nt] v не давать покоя; пре­следовать

innovator ['mauveita] n новатор

lack [lsek] v не хватать

latitude ['lsetitju:d] n широта

leprosy ['lepresi] n проказа

mature [ma'tjua] а зрелый Nazi [na:tsi] а нацистский opposing [э 'pauzirj] а противостоя­щий outbreak ['autbreik] n начало portraiture ['po:tntfa] n портрет primarily [ 'praimanli] adv первона­чально rank [rserjk] n ранг rebel [n'bel] n бунтарь revolt [гГvault] n бунт seduce [sa'dju:s] v соблазнять seek [si:k] v (sought) искать slum [skm] n p/трущобы solicitor [sa'hsita] n юрисконсульт sought [so:t] post и р. р. от seek stockbroker [„stok'breuka] n биржевой

маклер stoker ['stauka] n кочегар transfer [trsens'f3:] v переводить treat [tri:t] v лечить

unrewarded [Ann'wo:did] а невознаг­ражденный

 

Questions and Tasks

1. Say a few words about Somerset Maugham's life.

2. What was his first work?

3. When did the most mature period of Maugham's literary career begin?

4. What is the main theme of the novel The Moon and Sixpence?

5. Give a brief summary of the contents of The Moon and Sixpence.

6. Discuss the main character of the novel Charles Strickland.

7. In what way did Strickland fulfil the purpose of his life?

8. Which character is shown as an antipode to Charles Strickland?

9. What idea does Maugham deal with in the novel?

 

10. What can you say about the title of the book?

11. Name some other prominent works by Somerset Maugham.

12. What stories by Somerset Maugham are the most popular?

13. Speak on Somerset Maugham's place in English literature.

Edward Morgan Forster (1879-1970)

Edward Morgan Forster belongs to the elder generation of the 20th century writers. He was educated at Tonbridge School and King's College, Cambridge. Forster gradually became interested in literature, and wrote a novel at twenty, but it was never completed. After his graduation he began to write short sto­ries, some of which appeared in print.

When he had left Cambridge he lived for a time in Italy writing there two novels: Where Angels Fear to Tread (1905) _{Edward Morgan Forster} and A Room with a View (1908). These

novels had an Italian background, but The Longest Journey (1907) dealt with Tonbridge and Cambridge. Forster returned to Eng­land in 1907, delivered lectures at the Working Men's College,

and finished off A Room With a View, which was soon followed by Howards End (1910), his most mature novel thus far¹.

In 1911 Forster was engaged in literary journalism. He wrote a play The Heart of Bosnia, which never saw the stage. Then he went to India, where he collected material for what was to be his novel. During World War I he was in Alexandria faelig'zaendna], doing civilian war work. While there he contributed to the Egyptian [i' cfeipjan] Mail a number of studies and wrote Alexandria: a History and Guide (1922).

After the war Forster returned to London and did a great deal reviewing several daily papers, acting for a short time as literary editor of the Labour Daily Herald.

He went to India again in 1921 and in 1924 brought out A Pas­sage to India, which is considered his best work. It is a brilliant study of the difficulties experienced by an Indian and some Eng­lish people; and it won prizes in 1925.

In 1927 Forster was invited to Cambridge to deliver lectures on his Aspects of the Novel (the book appeared in the same year).

In 1928 he published The Eternal Moment, a collection of short stories. Another production of the twenties Abinger Harvest (1926) consists of some reprints of reviews and articles out of various jour­nals. He has also written essays collected in Two Cheers for Demo­cracy (1951).

Forster's power of characterization, his wit, and irony, and the peculiarity of his style places the author on a level with the greatest writers of his time.

Vocabulary

civilian [si'viljan] a гражданский contribute [kan'tnbju:t] уделать вклад; сотрудничать peculiarity [pi^ku:lfaenti] n особенность

reprint ['ri:'print] n новое неизменен­ное издание review [n'vju:] n обзор

¹ thus far — до сих пор

A Passage to India

In 1911 Forster had the opportunity to live in India, and it meant a great deal to him as a novelist. A Passage to India arose from his own experience. It is a novel about the relations of Englishmen living in India as representatives of the British Empire on the one hand and the natives of India on the other hand.

The novel is divided in 3 sections: Mosque frrrosk], Caves and Temple, and each depicts different scenes from Anglo-Indian life. The novel begins with Mrs Moore's and Miss Quested's arrival in India with a view to visit Mrs Moore's son Ronny, a government official in the colonial country.

The general meaning of the first part of the novel is best ex­pressed in the scene between Mrs Moore and Aziz, a young Indian doctor whom she meets in a mosque. In a dialogue they reach a surprisingly friendly relationship and mutual sympathy. From this scene and from similar episodes the reader comes to the conclu­sion that the communication between Britons and Indians is pos­sible.

Adela Quested feels real sympathy towards the native inha­bitants of the country, and wants to get closely acquainted with their way of life. Thus when Aziz proposes a trip to the Marabar Caves, it seems that the expedition will be a triumph of Anglo-Indian friendship.

But Ronny, the official representative of the English govern­ment, interprets the episode as a native insolence.

Adela and Ronny quarrel rather bitterly over Aziz's invitation. Seing Ronny's arrogance, Adela suddenly realizes that she has left out love in deciding to marry him. The connection between the caves and the unsatisfactoriness of marriage is made at various points in the narrative of Adela's and Ronny's engagement.

But after the tour to the Marabar Caves had taken place, the caves symbolized the failure of all com