The Early 20th century English Literature 2 страница

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.

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