Theater 3-6

Theater 3-6

I. Explain in English or give definitions of and find contextual synonyms for the following words and phrases:

Asset - a useful and desirable thing or quality

a sumptuous supper - splendor suggesting great expense – lavish

extravagance - excessive or unnecessary expenditure or outlay of money

thrift - economical management; economy – frugality

to remonstrate - to say or plead in protest, objection, or disapproval - affirm equanimity - mental or emotional stabilityimperturbability

at a loose end - in an uncertain or unsettled situation or positionon the mooch

to jeopardize - to put in risk - to run chances

alacrity - cheerful readiness, promptness, or willingnesseagerness

susceptible to - admitting or capable of some specified treatment

obsequious - servilely compliant or deferential

a retainer - a servant or attendant who has served a family for many years

II. Find quotations in the text. State their meaning and their function.

"Neither a borrower nor a lender be," Polonius - The quotation belongs to Michael and we can assume it’s his life motto. Michael doesn’t like to spend money. He doesn’t  give it to anybody

"I could not love thee, dear, so much, loved I not honour more," Richard Lovelace (Tell Me Not, Sweet) – That shows Michael’s attitude to love, wedding and Julia.

 "Lord, what fools these mortals be," Shakespeare (A Midsummer Night's Dream) – This quotation Jimmie said to Julia because of his misunderstanding how she could love Michael because, in Jimmie’s opinion, she’s much too good for Michael.

III. Explain the metaphor "she is a millstone round his neck." Who does it refer to?

That means to be a responsibility that is difficult to bear and causes you trouble. This metaphor belongs to Michael and refers to actors, when the man was speaking about his attitude to marriage with an actress just at the source of her career.

IV. Comment on the context of the following phrases:

 "He was too modest to resent an unfavourable criticism." (Ch.3)

Michael was too modest to resent it though he realized that he is still an actor only because of his appearance.

 "... after all he was born a gentleman." (Ch.4)

This phrase refers to Michael because his parents thought that a career of an actor is not good for his son. They preferred him to become a military man.

"He is going to be a flop." (Ch.5)

The phrase refers to Michael who was going to America as an actor. Jimmie supposed him to be an ordinary actor without a great talent that’s why he thought Michael to get a failure.

 "'I suppose it's beastly of me,' she thought, 'but thank God, thank God.'" (Ch.6)

Julia said this phrase after she’d found out about Michael’s return from America. She was afraid that he forgot her and stopped loving and she was really glad that he was going to come back.

VI. What techniques are employed by the author to make the reader see the events through Julia's eyes?

Maugham used metaphors such as poor lamb, silly little fool, angel, poor little thing. For instance she used poor lamb, while speaking about the clerk, who was trying to find a job; in entire monologues, while speaking about Michael. So all these metaphors are employed to convey the woman’s feelings to men: sympathy and pity. Moreover, such metaphors like ‘her heart melted within her’, ‘take courage in both her hands’ describe Julia’s passion to Michael. To help us understand Julia’s emotions the author uses such emotional words as filthy pig, beast, devil, brute, rotten old eunuch.

VII. Answer the questions:

1. Who was Jimmie Langton and what role did he play in Julia's and Michael's lives?James Langton was running a repertory theatre at Middlepool that was attracting a good deal of attention. He was a fat, bald-headed, rubicund man of forty-five; an eccentric, arrogant, exuberant, vain and charming fellow. He had a passion for the theatre and loved acting, but his appearance prevented him from playing any but a few parts.And although Jimmie was no actor, he worked his company hard. Due to him Julia and Michael met: both of them were in his troupe. He didn’t understand what the woman found in Michael, he even hinted that he wasn’t a good match for her.

 2. When did Julia and Michael join the Middlepool Theatre Company? Michael had been playing in another theatre for three years, when the he was in Middlepool, he was noticed  by Langton, who asked him to join Middlepool Theatre, Michael agreed.

3. How did Julia and Michael get to know each other? - Michael played the boy and Julia played Regina. They heard one another their parts and after rehearsals lunched together to talk of them. Soon they were inseparable.

4. What did Julia like about Michael? - His most engaging trait was his good humour. He bore Jimmie Langton's abuse with equanimity. When tempers grew frayed during a long rehearsal he remained serene. It was impossible to quarrel with him.

4. What did Michael think of good looks and decent families? He thinks that decent families are more important than good looks because everyone can have a good appearance but not everyone can belong to a decent family.

5. How did Julia feel about her family? – She feels good with it and she wasn’t embarrassed wither father’s profession.

6. What were Michael's views on marriage? “I think an actor's a perfect fool to marry young. There are so many cases in which it absolutely ruins a chap's career. Especially if he marries an actress. He becomes a star and then she's a millstone round his neck”.

8. What did Michael read newspaper reviews for? Did Julia share his views? – In newspapers reviews he would like to find information and opinions about himself and articles about Julia he reads briefly without special attention.

9. Who invited Julia to Michael's house for the Holy Week? It’s Michael’s mother, Mrs. Gosselyn

10. Did Michael's father meet Julia's expectations? - Julia found the Colonel a much less alarming person than she had expected. He was thin and rather small, with a lined face and close-cropped white hair. His features had a worn distinction. He reminded you of a head on an old coin that had been in circulation too long. He was civil, but reserved. He was neither peppery nor tyrannical as Julia, from her knowledge of the stage, expected a colonel to be. She could not imagine him shouting out words of command in that courteous, rather cold voice.

11. What impression did Julia produce on Michael's parents? Michael: "You've made a tremendous success with my people. They've taken an enormous fancy to you. Father told me you were very ladylike, and not a bit like an actress, and mother says you're so sensible."

12. Was the proposal expected by Michael's parents? Michael’s parents were delighted with Julia: she was well-mannered, educated, and was able to support any conversation. From one side, the woman was herself (the same sociable), but on the other hand, she wanted to hide an actress in herself and tried to be a simple, modest, and artless girl.

14. What steps did Julia take upon finding Michael was leaving for America? –She came to Jimmie and began blaming him and asked not to let Michael go.

15. Was Michael a success in America? –No, he had a great failure there.

16. Did Julia keep in touch with him while he was away? “Julia wrote to Michael constantly, pages and pages of love and gossip, while he answered once a week, four pages exactly in a neat, precise hand. He always ended up by sending her his best love and signing himself hers very affectionately, but the rest of his letter was more informative than passionate. Yet she awaited its coming in an agony of impatience and read it over and over again”.

17. Was Julia eager to meet Michael straight at the station? Julia regularly wrote to Michael with pages and pages of love and gossip, while he answered once a week, four pages exactly in a neat, precise hand. He always ended up by sending her his best love and signing himself hers very affectionately, but the rest of his letter was more informative than passionate.

18. What were Michael's impressions after staying and working in America? “ After a fortnight of rehearsals, Michael was thrown out of the part for which he had been engaged, and for three or four weeks was left to kick his heels about till something else could be found for him. He opened in due course in a play that ran less than a month in New York. It was sent on the road; but languished and was withdrawn. After another wait he was given a part in a costume play where his good looks shone to such advantage that his indifferent acting was little noticed, and in this he finished the season. There was no talk of renewing his contract”.  

20. What was Michael going to do in England and what were his prospects? He wanted to open the theater, where he and Julia would play key roles.

VIII. Summarize the events of chapters 3-6.

Julia meets Michael,while playing in a troupe, and falls in love with him. They spend a much time together and she was invited by his mother to their house for the Holy Week, during this week Michael made a proposal. Julia accepts it with pleasure. Soon Michael went to America, but he couldn’t find success there. He returned back home, there Julia was waiting for him. She met him at the station.