feb06061

Homereading Guide To

W.Somerset Maugham's ‘The Painted Veil’

Уч ебное п особие п од ом а ш нем у ч тению

п осп ециа льности: 031201 (022600) - Теор ия и м етод ика п р еп од а ва ния иностр а нны хязы ков и культур

ВОРОН ЕЖ

2005

2

У твер жд енона уч но-м етод ич еским советом фа культета РГФ от 22 ноябр я 2005 год а , п р отокол № 8.

Н а уч . р ед .: к.ф.н. Ш иш кина Н .М . к.ф.н. Лукина С.Л.

У ч ебно-м етод ич еское п особие п од готовленона ка фед р е а нглий ской филологии

3

Preface

William Somerset Maugham was born in 1874 in Paris, where his father, a prosperous lawyer, was attached to the British Embassy, and lived there until he was ten. After the deaths of both his parents (his mother died in 1882, father - in 1884) he came to England to be brought up by his uncle. Willy undoubtedly was in great isolation and wholly depended upon the will of his uncle and aunt for his well-being. It was the bitter lesson of economic dependence that played a dominant role in his decision to make himself and start earning money.

He was educated at King's School, Canterbury, united by long tradition to the Cathedral. But Willy was not yet ready to accept a new lifestyle, so for a while his education proceeded under the supervision of his uncle and aunt, whose world was narrowly restricted and governed by astonishingly powerful taboos and conventions - a kind of microcosm of late Victorian England. At school he had very few friends and was alone most of the time. Another reason for that was his stammer. Its effect on the child prevented his speech from keeping up with a precaucious rapidity of his mind. There could not have been a stronger stimulus to turn to writing as a source of selfexpression.

After school William traditionally went to university. One of the critics said: "We may be sure that Oxford or Cambridge would have produced an impressive William Somerset Maugham, but the one who was to make a contribution to literature began to emerge at Heidelberg University in Germany". He spent a year at Heidelberg and afterwards returned to London (1897). William enrolled at St.Thomas's Hospital. "I do not know a better training for a writer, Maugham wrote in The Summing Up, "than spending a few years in a medical profession". Some of his hospital experience is reflected in his first masterpieces.

Besides being a doctor and a writer he worked for the British intelligence service in Geneva during the 1914-18 war, and then was sent to Russia in 1917 to try to prevent the Bolshevik Revolution and keep Russia in the war. His efforts did not meet with success. The world of espionage is commonly portrayed in fiction as

4

romantic and exciting: it appeared to Maugham as dull routine devoid not only of glamour but even of humanity.

His first novel, Liza of Lambeth (1897), was very successful, and he established a high reputation as a writer (being just 21). He also enjoyed great success in the theatre writing plays. The sales of his books reached forty million and in consequence he became not merely a famous writer but a very rich man. At the age of 85 he said that he had done just about everything he wanted to do, seen everything he wanted to see, and had nearly every experience a man was capable of having.

Indeed the impression, which the reader forms of Somerset Maugham from his stories, is of a man who has been everywhere and known people of all classes creeds and races; who has no illusions or prejudices; whom nothing shocks. Yet he is always focused on the strangeness of human behaviour! What an odd phenomenon is love, for example! This theme often prevails among others in his stories. On the one hand, it can make us happy and eager to perfect ourselves. However, love can cause unbearable suffering and make our life painful and lonely. Trained as a doctor, he observes clinically the sufferings of the human race, yet he prescribes no cure. He views his characters with cool objectivity: they are to change their lives by themselves.

Somerset Maugham's style is quite approachable and direct. The reader rarely pauses at a memorable or striking phrase, for it is not the effect the author seeks. He tries to create the impression of a storyteller talking naturally and easily, rather than a "great writer creating literature": hence his sentence-construction, which is not too complicated. His vocabulary is fairly conventional: he uses hackneyed phrases, colloquialisms and slang not only in the dialogue but also in the narrative prose. Since his early days he took great trouble to develop a style to suit his natural gifts. "I knew, he wrote, "that I should never write as well as I could wish, but I thought that I must aim at lucidity, simplicity and euphony. I have put these three qualities in the order of the importance I assigned to them". The result for the reader is that it is very easy to understand what he meant.

5

This guide is concerned with one of his well-known novels called "The Painted Veil" (1925). W.S Maugham wrote: "I think this is the only novel I have written in which I started from a story rather than from a character. It is difficult to explain the relation between character and plot. You cannot very well think of a character in the void; the moment you think of him, you think of him in some situation, doing something; so that the character and at least his principal action seem to be the result of a simultaneous act of the imagination. But in this case the characters were chosen to fit the story I gradually evolved; they were constructed from persons I had long known in different circumstances".

So what does it tell us about? It mirrors life of top people of that time, highlighting their vulgarity, snobbery and cynicism. Their life was a stage where they were playing the right roles and wearing the right masks. Right with a capital R, too. We meet Charlie Townsend, the Assistant Colonial Secretary at Hong Kong, and his wife, Dorothy. They were a "beautiful couple". The Right couple. Whatever happens, they will not show emotion. No one should even guess the problem they have. For the sake of public opinion they will ruin other people's lives. Take for example, Kitty Fane's one, the wife of a colonial bacteriologist. Charlie had an affair with her that resulted in an unplanned pregnancy. Being absolutely sure in his support and love she is ready to sacrifice everything she has for this man. As it turns out, the only treasure she has is her husband - Walter Fane.

The nagging question of all times "What do we live for?" arises in this novel as well. W. S. Maugham suggests his answer - to justify ourselves we have to work hard to be useful for other people and perform good deeds simply to make the world beautiful. Walter Fane is all of that: honest, intelligent, a real gentleman, he would prefer to look silly himself rather than make somebody feel uneasy. This man has lived a beautiful life which can be called the Art of Life.

This story is about his obsession with his wife Kitty, about a struggle with himself and an attempt to overcome it. There is a turning point when Walter discovers the

6

affair and insists on Kitty's accompanying him upon a dangerous mission to a small Chinese town. They are both in grave danger as the place is cholera stricken. Since then we observe the way Kitty changes; she comes to understand Charlie Townsend's real nature and feels ashamed of having been so blind. At last she is able to see the "real beauty" of a person and learns the difference between illusion and reality.

All in all, in this powerful novel William Somerset Maugham depicts again the dilemmas and predicaments of men and women who confuse love with passion.

By Pivovarova L.

7

Introductory Unit

Answer the questions of the Quiz:

1) ...… … … … … … … .. was a famous novelist and a talented storyteller.

a) W.Sunset Mougham; b) W.Somerset Maugham; c) W.Summer Mauhgam;

12) At the end of this quiz you are in a good mood and ready to ................ .

a) work hard this lesson; b) follow all the tasks in the guide; c) promise yourself to love W.S. Maugham. (more than one answer is possible!)

8

Unit 1 Chapters I-V

COMPREHENSION CHECK

1.Give an account of the course of events in ch. I-V.

2.Introduce the main characters: Walter and Kitty Fane, Charles and Dorothy Townsend.

VOCABULARY WORK

1.Find words and phrases describing emotions (ch.1).

2.Find words related to the place and time which give the narration its colonial colouring.

3.Find sentences where ‘feet and shoe’ terms are used; a shoe horn, to be on the tight side, to go in one’s bare feet, to lace a shoe.

4.Find in the text and translate the following into Russian:

pull yourself together you’ll get round him be off with you

to get you out of it ingratiating smile

how unfortunate to be called Dorothy it dated you

be treated like dirt

to put up the back of the Assistant Secretary to sit tight

5.Translate the following into English and/or find in the text:

п од нять ш ум (2) собер ись/усп окой ся уход иш ь?

у м еня есть голова на п леч а х этотогостоило она на вод ила на негосм ер тельную скуку

на п уска ть на себя ва жность см ир иться с фа ктом бр осить п р а вд у в лицо

9

CHALLENGING VOCABULARY

to take to dinner - to lead a lady to a dinner table

to be/come in for something - to be exposed for something unpleasant to put/set somebody's back up - to annoy someone

DISCUSSION

1.Comment on a quotation from Percy B. Shelly's sonnet used as an epigraph ' … the painted veil which those who live call life.' and discuss the contrast between the solemn grandeur of the epigraph and the comical scene of a trivial adultery which opens the book.

Is adultery time, place or culture-dependent?

2.'From a social standpoint the man of science doesn't exist' ( Ch.IV) Do you agree? Has the attitude to science changed ever since?

HOMEWORK: Ch. VI-X

Translate into Russian: 'Mrs.Garstin was a hard… She made much of promising politicians' (Ch.VI)

10

Unit 2 Chapters VI-X

COMPREHENSION CHECK

1. Describe the main characters:

Collect all character adjectives and select two key adjectives for each of the above. Compare your ideas.

Present the translation of the passage which introduces Mrs. Garstin.

2.Answer the following questions:

1.Why did Mrs. Garstin set her hopes on her daughters?

2.Why did Mr. Garstin refuse to take silk?

3.For what reason did Kitty marry Walter?

4.Why was Doris supposed to crow over Kitty? VOCABULARY WORK

1.Find in the text and translate the following into Russian:

to cultivate people

she made much of promising politicians they had long outstripped him

a bird in hand is worth two in the bush to lead a dog's life

immediate circle small talk/chit-chat

to set her standards a little lower to play one off the other wouldn't fail to crow over her

2. Translate the following into English and/or find in the text: