English Literature in the Beginning of the 19th Century
ROMANTICISM
The period of Romanticism covers approximately 30 years, beginning from the last decade of the 18th century and continuing up to the 1830s. Romanticism as a literary current can be regarded as a result of two great historical events: 1) the Industrial Revolution in England and 2} the French Bourgeois Revolution of 1789. The Industrial Revolution began with the invention of a weavring-machine which could do the work of 17 people. The weavers that were left without work thought that the machines were to blame for their misery. They began to destroy these machines, or frames as they were called. The frame-breaking movement was called the Luddite movement, because the name of the first man to break a frame was Ned Ludd.
The reactionary ruling class of England was against any progressive thought influenced by the French Revolution. The last decade of the 18th century became known as the "white terror". Progressive-minded people were persecuted and forced into exile.
The Industrial Revolution in England, as well as the French Bourgeois Revolution, had a great influence on the cultural life of the
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country. Romanticists were dissatisfied with the present state of things in their country. Some of the writers were revolutionary: they denied the existing order, called upon the people to struggle for a better future, shared the people's desire for liberty and objected to colonial oppression. They supported the national liberation wars on the continent against feudal reaction. Such writers were George Gordon Byron [ 'd3o:d3 'go:dn 'Ьаюгэп] and Percy Bysshe Shelley ['p3:si 'bif 'Jell] •
Others, though they had welcomed the French Revolution and the slogan of liberty, fraternity and eguality, later abandoned revolutionary ideas. They turned their attention to nature and to the simple problems of life. They turned to the ideas of the feudal past by way of protest of capitalist reality. Among these writers were the poets William Wordsworth [ 'w3:dzw90], Samuel Taylor Coleridge fsaemjual 'tens 'ksulncfc], Robert Southey1 fsaixk], who formed the "Lake School", called so because they all lived for a time in the beautiful Lake District in the north-west of England. They dedicated much what they wrote to Nature. Legends, tales, songs and ballads became part of the creative method of the romanticists. The romanticists were talented poets and their contribution to English literature was very important.
Vocabulary
abandon [э'Ьзегк!эп] v оставлять dissatisfied [ 'dis 'saetisfaid] а неудо-
approximately [s'proksimitli] aaV при- влетворенный
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близительно fraternity [fre't3:niti] n братство
blame [bleim] n причина object [3b'd3ekt] v возражать, проте-
decade [di'keid] n десятилетие стовать
dedicate ['dedikeit] v посвящать persecute ['p3:sikju:t] v преследовать
deny [di'nai] v отвергать terror [Чегэ] п ужас
Questions and Tasks
1. When did romanticism come into being?
2. What historical events did this new literary current coincide with?
1 Robert Southey [ sauoi] (1774—1843) —Роберт Cayra, англ. поэт «озернойшколы».
3. Why did romanticism come into being?
4. What were romanticists dissatisfied with?
5. Comment on the differences between the revolutionary romanticism of England and the poets of the "take School".
6. What are the representatives of revolutionary romanticism?
7. What writers belonged to the "Lake School"?
8. What themes did the poets of the "Lake School" choose for their verses?
William Wordsworth (1770-1850)
| William Wordsworth |
William Wordsworth f W3:dzwa0] was the greatest representative of the Lake School Poets. He was born in a lawyer's family and grew up in the Lake District, a place of mountains and lakes. Soon after mother's death in 1788 he was sent to Hawkshead fruxkfsd] Grammar School, situated in a lovely village near Lake Windermere [ 'windamia]. The boy was allowed plenty of leisure: to go boating and fishing on the lake and studying wild life in the woods. There William came to know and love the world of nature. His father died leaving him an orphan at the age of thirteen. His two uncles sent him to Cambridge University. During his college days William took a walking tour in France, Switzerland and Italy. After graduating he toured Wales and France and became deeply involved in the cause of the French Revolution in which he saw a great movement for human freedom. Later he was greatly disappointed at the outcome of the Revolution. He thought that it had brought only cruelty and bloodshed. William withdrew into the quiet of the country.
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In about 1795 William Wordsworth met the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, who became one of his closest friends. In 1797 he two poets published their best work Lyrical Ballads.
William Wordsworth wrote sonnets and ballads. The most haracteristic themes of Wordsworth's poetry were the defence of
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Vocabulary |
| George Gordon Byron |
the common country people, their feelings and beliefs, the beauty of nature. Every object in nature was in his eyes a source of poetry. His fame grew worldwide.
When he died he was buried in the little church at Grasmere ['grasmia] in the Lake District.
The Daffodils
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er1 vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
Ahost of golden daffodils,
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine And twinkle on the Milky Way They stretched in never-ending line Along the margin of the bay; Ten thousand saw I at a glance, Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
The waves beside them danced, but they
Outdid the sparkling waves in glee;
A poet could not but be gay
In such a jocund company.
I gazed — and gazed — but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought.
For oft'2, when on my couch I lie In vacant or in pensive mood, They flash upon that inward eye Which is the bliss of solutude And then my heart with pleasure fills, And dances with the daffodils.
o'er — over 1 off — often
| bliss [blis] n блаженство cause [ko:z] л дело couch [kautf] n кушетка daffodil ['dasfsdil] n нарцисс defence [di'fens] n защита flutter ['fkts] v трепетать glee [gli:] n веселье host [hgust] n множество involve [m'vrjlv] v вовлекать
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jocund ['фэкэгкГ] а веселый margin ['та:фп] п край outcome ['autkAiri] n результат pensive ['pensiv] а грустный solitude fsolitju:d] n уединение sprightly ['spraith] а веселый toss [tDs] v вскидывать; качать vacant ['veikant] а бездумный
Questions and Tasks
| 1. Give a brief account of Wordsworth's life.
2. Name his first notable work.
3. What did Wordsworth write?
4. What were the most characteristic themes of Wordsworth's poetry?
5. What was every object in nature in his eyes?
6. Express the idea of the poem The Daffodils in some sentences.
George Byron (1788-1824)
George Gordon Byron ['Ьаюгэп], the great romantic poet, has often been called a poet of "world sorrow". In almost all his poetry there is a current of gloom and pessimism. The reason for this gloom and sorrow may be found in the social and political events of his day which influenced him so deeply.
"To solve the mystery of the gloomy poetry of so immense, colossal a poet as Byron, we must first search for the secret oftheepochit expresses", Belinsky wrote.
During his childhood the First Bourgeois Revolution took place in France.
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At the same time the Industrial Revolution developed in England and the invention of new machines, which supplanted workers, brought misery to thousands of labourers. Wars, political oppression of the masses, all these facts observed by the poet, gave rise to his discontent with the social and political life of his time and that's why his poetry was full of gloom and sonow. But Byron was not inclined to accept the then existing conditions passively. He raised his voice to condemn them, and to call men to active struggle against the social evils of his time. That's why he may be rightly called a revolutionary romanticist. Byron's heroes, like the poet himself, are strong individuals who are disillusioned in life and fight single-handed against the injustice and cruelty of society.
The poet was born on January 22, 1788 in an ancient aristocratic family in London. His father, an army captain, died when the boy was three years old. The boy spent his childhood in Aberdeen, Scotland, together with his mother. His mother, Catherine Gordon, was a Scottish lady of honourable birth and respectable fortune. Byron was lame and felt distressed about it all his life, yet, thanks to his strong will and regular training, he became an excellent rider, a champion swimmer and a boxer and took part in athletic activities.
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When George lived in Aberdeen he attended grammar school. In 1798 George's grandurifcle died and the boy inherited the title of lord and the Byron's family estate, Newstead Abbey ['njuistid]. It was situated near Nottingham, close to the famous Sherwood Forest. Together with his mother the boy moved to Newstead Abbey from where he was sent to Harrow School. At the seventeen he entered Cambridge University. He was very handsome. He had a beautiful manly profile. His contemporary young men tried to imitate his clothes, his manners and even his limping gait. He seemed proud, tragic and melancholic. But he could also be very cheerful and witty.
Byron's literary career began while he was at Cambridge. His first volume of verse entitled Hours of Idleness (1807) contained a number of lyrics dealing with love, regret and parting. There were also some fragments of translation from Latin and Greek poetry. His poems were severely criticized by the Edinburgh Review, the leading literary magazine of that time. The poet answered with a
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biting satire in verse, English Bards and Scotch Reviewers (1809), in which he attacked the reactionary critics and the three Lake School Poets, Wordsworth, Coleridge and Southey.
St John's College, Cambridge
After graduating from Cambridge University in 1809 Byron started on a tour through Portugal, Spain, Greece, Turkey and Albania. He returned home in 1811. By right of birth he was a member of the House of Lords. On February 27, 1812 Byron made his first speech in the House of Lords. He spoke passionately in defence of the Luddites1. He blamed the government for the unbearable conditions of workers' life. In his parliament speech Byron showed himself a staunch champion of the people's cause, and that made the reactionary circles hate him.
' Luddites were workers who expressed their protest against exploitation by breaking machines. Ned Ludd was the first to destroy frames.
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In 1812 the first two cantos of Childe Harold's1 Pilgrimage [ 'tfaild 'hasr9ldz'pilgnmid3] were published. They were received by his contemporaries with a burst of enthusiasm. He became one of the most popular men in London. He himself remarked, "I awoke one morning and found myself famous".
Between 1813 and 1816 Byron composed his Oriental Tales. The most famous of tales are The Giaour [ 'фаш], The Corsair [ 'кэзеэ] and Lara, all of which embody the poet's romantic individualism. The hero is a rebel against society, a man of strong will and passion. Proud and independent, he rises against tyranny and injustice to gain his personal freedom and happiness. His revolt, however, is too individualistic, and therefore it is doomed to failure.
In this period Byron began to write his political satires, the most outstanding of which is the Ode to Framers of the Frame Bill.
In 1815 Byron married Miss Isabella Milbanke, a religious woman, cold and pedantic. It was an unhappy match for the poet.
Though Byron was fond of their only child Augusta Ada, he and his wife parted. The scandal surrounding the divorse was great. Byron's enemies found their opportunity and used it against him. They began to persecute him. The great poet was accused of immorality and had to leave his native country.
In May 1816 Byron went to Switzerland where he made the acquaintance of Percy Bysshe Shelley [ 'p3:si 'bif 'Jell], and the two poets became close friends.
While in Switzerland Byron wrote Canto the Third of Childe Harold's Pilgrimage (1816), The Prisoner of Chillon ['pnzna av 'Jibn] (1816), a lyrical drama Manfred (1817) andanumber of lyrical poems.
The Prisoner of Chillon describes the tragic fate of the Swiss revolutionary Bonnivard who spent a number of years of his life in prison with his brothers.
Chillon is a castle on the shore of Lake Geneva, Switzerland. The story told by Byron had real historical foundation. Bonnivard was an active fighter for the liberation of his native city of Geneva
1 Childe — устар. благородный юноша, еще не посвященный в рыцари. Childe Harold — букв , юноша Гарольд
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from the control of Charles III, Duke of Savoy. Bonnivard was a republican, and the Duke of Savoy imprisoned him in the Castle of Chillon where he was kept from 1530 to 1536 without trial. In 1536 the citizens of Bern, Switzerland, captured the Castle of Chillon and released Bonnivard.
In 1816 Byron wrote his Song for the Luddites where he again raised his voice in defence of the oppressed workers, encouraging them to fight for freedom.
In 1817 Byron went to Italy, where he lived till 1823. At this time political conditions in Italy were such as to rouse his indignation. He wished to see the country one and undivided. Acting on this idea, the poet joined the secret organization of the Corba-nari which was engaged in the struggle against the Austrian oppressors.
The Italian period (1817—1823), influenced by revolutionary ideas, is considered the summit of Byron's poetical career. Such works as Beppo (1818), and his greatest work Don Juan[" drm' d3U3n] (1819—1824) are the most realistic works written by the poet. It is a novel in verse, that was to contain 24 cantos, but death stopped his work and only 16 and a half cantos were written. Though the action in Don Juan takes place at the close of the 18th century, it is easy enough to understand that the author depicts the 19th century Europe and gives a broad panorama of contemporary life.
Other works of this period are: Canto the Fourth of Childe Harold's Pilgrimage (1817), The Prophecy of Dante [ 'proftsi] (1821), where speaking in the person of the great Italian poet Dante, Byron calls upon Italians to fight for their independence; the tragedy Cain (1821).
Once Byron wrote:
When a man hath no freedom to fight for at home, Let him combat for that of his neighbours.
The defeat of the Carbonari uprising (1823) was a great blow to Byron. The Greek war against Turkey attracted his attention. He went to Greece to take part in the struggle for national inde-
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pendence. His restless life ended there. Soon after his arrival he was seized with fever and died on April 18, 1824. He was thirty-six years old. The poet's heart was buried in Greece, his body was taken to England and buried near Newstead. The government did not allow him to be buried in Westminster Abbey. Only in 1969 the authorities finally allowed his remains to be buried in the Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey. His death was mourned by the progressive people throughout Europe. Pushkin called Byron a poet of freedom. Goethe spoke of him in his Faust, Belinsky called him "a giant of poetry". |
Vocabulary
accuse [a'kju:z] v обвинять
athletic [se6'letik] a спортивный
authority [o:'0Dnti] п власть
blame [bleim] v обвинять
burst [b3:st] n взрыв
canto ['ksentsu] n песнь (часть поэмы)
capture ['kaeptfs] л захват
combat ['kombst] v бороться
contemporary [кэпЧетрэгэп] а современный
discontent ['diskan'tent] n недовольство
disillusion [,disi'lu33n] v разочаровывать
distress [dis'tres] умучить
to feel distressed мучиться; переживать
divorse [di'vo:s] n развод
encourage [т'клпаз] v воодушевлять
doom [du:m] v обрекать to be doomed быть обреченным
estate [is'teit] п поместье
failure [Teiljs] n неудача, провал
fever ['firv9] n лихорадка
foundation [faun'deijbn] n основание
frame [freim] n ткацкий станок
gait [geit] n походка
gloom [glu:m] n мрачность; уныние immense [I'mens] о огромный indignation [,mdig'neijgn] n негодование inherit [m'hent] унаследовать, получать в наследство lame [leim] а хромой limp [limp] v хромать match [maetf] n брак mourn [mo:n] v оплакивать observe [sb'z3:v] v наблюдать pedantic [pi'dsentiklo педантичный profile ['preufail] n профиль rebel [n'bel] n повстанец; бунтарь regret [n'gret] n сожаление release [rf lis] v освобождать revolt [n'vault] n восстание rouse [rauz] v возбуждать severely [si'vish] adv жестоко single-handed ['sirjgl'haendid] а в одиночку staunch [sto:ntf] n стойкий summit ['sAmit] n вершина supplant [sa'plaint] v занимать Swiss [swis] а швейцарский trial [traisl] n суд
unbearable [лп 'ЬеэгэЫ] а невыносимый
Questions and Tasks
1. Why has Byron often been called a poet of "world sorrow*?
2. What was the reason for this gloom and sorrow?
3. What were the political events of his time which influenced him so deeply?
4. How did Byron accept the existing conditions?
5. Why may he rightly be called a revolutionary romanticist?
6. What are the characteristic features of Byron's heroes?
7. Relate the main facts of Byron's childhood.
8. Where did Byron get education?
9. When did his literature career begin?
10. How was his first volume of verse entitled?
11. What was Byron's first speech in the House of Lords about?
12. When did he become one of the most popular men in London?
13. What period is Byron's creative work usually divided into?
14. What works were written by Byron in the London period?
15. Characterize the hero of his Oriental Tales.
16. What are the titles of his works in the Swiss period?
17. Speak on the origin of the plot of his poem The Prisoner of Chillon.
18. What can you say about the Italian period of his work?
19. Why did Byron go to Greece?
20. When did he die?
Childe Harold's Pilgrimage
After two years of touring on the Continent Lord Byron wrote the first two cantos of the poem Childe Harold's Pilgrimage [ 'tfaild 'hseraldz 'pilgrim^]. The poem was written at different periods of Byron's life. The hero, Childe Harold, is very often absent from the poem, and in Canto the Fourth practically disappears.
Childe Harold came from an old aristocratic family. His ancestors were men of great courage and heroism. Harold's life was very different from theirs, it is full of pleasure and entertainment. But now he only felt a great weariness and discontent. He lost faith in friendship and was disappointed in the world of lies in which he found himself. Hoping to find Good in other countries he left England. Childe Harold is a sensitive, disillusioned and generous-minded wanderer.
When the poem first appeared in print, many people believed that Byron's own character was presented in the person of Childe Harold,
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but the author denied it: he justly considered himself to be an active fighter for freedom, while Harold was merely a passive onlooker.
Childe Harold leaves his country for Portugal and Spain; when the ship is far from the shores of England, he sings Good Night to his Motherland.
Good Night
(From Childe Harold's Pilgrimage)
Adieu! adieu1! My native shore
Fades2 o'er3 the waters blue;
The night-winds sigh, the breakers roar,
And shrieks the wild sea-mew.
Yon sun4 that sets upon the sea
We follow in his flight.
Farewell awhile to him and thee,
My native Land — Good Night!
A few short hours and he will rise
To give the morrow5 birth;
And I shall hail the main6 and skies,
But not my mother earth.
Deserted is my own good hall,7
Its hearth8 is desolate;
Wild weeds are growing on the wall,
My dog howls at the gate.
And now I'm the world alone, Upon the wide, wide sea, But why should I for others groan When none will sigh for me ?
Perchance1 my dog will whine in vain, Till fed by stranger hands; But long ere21 come back again He'd tear me where he stands.3
With thee, my bark, I'll swiftly go Athwart4 the foaming brine5; Nor care what land thou bearst6 me to, So not again to mine.7
Welcome, welcome, ye8 dark-blue waves! And when you fail my sight9, Welcome, ye deserts and ye caves, My native Land — Good Night!
Canto the First describes Portugal and Spain. Byron shows his surprise at the contrast between the splendour of the land, where "fruits of fragrance blush on every tree", and the poverty of the people.
In the Spanish scenes the poet shows the people's struggle against Napoleon's invasion which the poet witnessed during the stay in Spain in 1809— 1810. Byron sympathizes with those people fighting for their freedom and independence and blames the ruling classes who betray the interest of the country.
Canto the Second is devoted to Albania and Greece. Describing Harold's stay in Albania, Byron describes his own adventures in the country. He admires the Albanians for their kindness, generosity and hospitality, and praises the great men of the past.
The motif of disappointment sounds with great force when Harold comes to Greece. The miserable state of the Greek people,
1 adieu [э' dju:] ( фр .) — прощай
2 fades — здесь исчезает
3 o'er — over
4 yon sun — вот это солнце (yon = yonder — тот, там)
5 the morrow—tomorrow
6 the main — поэт , стихия, океан
7 hall — здесь дом, замок
8 hearth [Ишв] — домашний очаг
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1 perchance [рэ tja:ns] — устар. может быть
2 ere [га] — устар. прежде чем
3 where he stands — на месте
4 athwart [эЭ' wo:t] — вопреки
5 the brine — соленая вода, море
6 thou [баи] bearst [beast] — ты несешь
7 so not again to mine — лишь бы не снова в мою страну (Англию)
8 уе — устар . you
9 and when you fail my sight — и когда вы скроетесь из виду
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Questions and Tasks 1. How many cantos is the poem Childe Harold's Pilgrimage composed of? 2. When were these cantos written? 3. Give a character sketch of Childe Harold. 4. Is he like the great poet himself? 5. What is the first canto about? 6. Speak on the second and third cantos. 7. Whom is the fourth canto devoted to? 8. What is the merit of Child Harold's Pilgrimage'? Don Juan |
| Don Juan1 fdrm 'фи:эп], Byron's greatest work, was written in the prime of his creative power, in the years 1818 — 1823. It gives a broad critical pictures of the European life of the end of the 18th century. Byron's Don Juan is a young Spanish nobleman. |
who suffer under the yoke of the Turks arouses Byron s indignation and makes him recall the glorious past of Greece.
Canto the Third begins and ends with a touching address by Byron to his daughter Ada, whom he was destined never to see again.
Is thy1 face like thy mother's my fair child!
Ada! sole daughter of my house and heart?
When last I saw thy young blue eyes they smiled,
And then we parted,...............................
Stanza 1
From personal sorrows Byron passes to the sufferings of the peoples that groan under the yoke of oppression.
The greater part of canto describes the beautiful scenery of Switzerland. Pictures of nature —■ now calm and serene, now stormy as the feelings of the poet himself, alternate with philosophical reflections.
Canto the Fourth, dealing with Italy, is usually regarded as the finest. It describes the people and events of ancient history. Byron regrets the fall of the free states, their high culture and art.
Byron calls Italy the "Ivlother of Art" and admires the Italian people who have the world such men as Dante, Petrarch [ 'petra:k], Boccaccio [bau'kaitjiau] and other titans of art, science and literature.
A great part of Canto the Fourth is devoted to the theme of genius and immorality. Byron puts forth the idea that true glory is achieved through creative activity, and not by birth and power.
The merit of Childe Harold's Piligrimage is in its broad critical description of contemporary life and vivid pictures of nature.
Byron's bright characters, beautiful pictures of nature and brilliant satirical power, rich and melodious verse will be admired by many generations to come.
The poem established Byron as a major literary and romantic figure.
Vocabulary
address [a'dres] n обращение alternate [ol't3:neit] v чередоваться ancestor ['aensists] n предок betray [bi'trei] v изменять blush [bUf] v краснеть deny [di'nai] v отрицать; отвергать desolate ['desslit] а заброшенный destine ['destm] v предопределять disillusioned [^disi'lirpnd] а разочарованный foam [faum] v пениться fragrance ['freigrans] n благоухание groan [дгэип] v стонать hail [heil] v приветствовать howl [haul] v выть, завывать melodious [mi'lsudjss] а мелодичный
merely ['imsli] adv всего лишь motif [m3u'ti:f] n основная тема, лейтмотив onlooker ['on Juks] n наблюдатель put forth [fo:8] v выдвинуть reflection [n'flekjbn] n размышление regret [n'gret] ^сожалеть sea-mew ['sirmju:] n чайка sensitive ['sensitiv] а чувствительный serene [si'ri:n] а спокойный shriek [fri:k] v пронзительно кричать sigh [sai] v вздыхать sole [ssul] а единственный splendour ['splenda] n великолепие weariness ['wrennis] n усталость yoke [jsuk] n ярмо
5 thy [6ai] — твое, твоей, твои
1 Don Juan — Дон Жуан (дон — по-испански господин)
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The poem opens with scenes from the hero's childhood which passes in an aristocratic Spanish family. Little Juan is described as:
A little curly-headed, good-for-nothing. And mischief-making monkey from his birth.
Juan, the youth, falls in love with Donna Julia, the beautiful wife of the old and respectable Don Alfonso. The young woman returns Juan's feelings, but his mother finds out about the love-affair and sends her son abroad "to mend his former morals".
The ship is caught in a storm and sinks several days after its departure. Juan escapes in a boat with thirty other passengers. The unfortunate are tossed about the boundless sea for days and days and, one by one, die of hunger and thirst. Juan alone survives and swims to the shore of an island where a famous smuggler and pirate Lambro ['laembrau] lives. Juan is found by the only daughter of Lambro — Haidee [hai'di:]. She takes care of him. The young people fall in love. Suddenly Lambro returns to the island. The lovers are discovered and forcibly separated. Juan is sold into slavery to Turkey and Haidee dies of a broken heart. Juan is bought in a slave market by the Turkish sultana. He is sent to the harem in the guise of a woman. He lives through many adventures there. At last he escapes from Turkey and gets to the Russian camp near Ismail [ лгта: 'i:l], a Turkish fortress sieged by land and water by Suvorov's armies. Byron gives realistic pictures of the storming of Ismail under the command of the great Suvorov.
On Ismail's surrender Juan is sent to St Petersburg with the news of the victory and is received at the court of Empress Catherine. Soon he leaves Russia, travels through Europe, and finally lands in England.
After staying in the country for some time, Juan understands that the policy of England does not follow the principles of true freedom. But many lines of the poem, on the other hand, show the author's love for his native country, for its people, nature and art.
In the last part of the poem Juan, accompanied by a group of guests, visits the country seat of a Lord Amundeville to take part in a foxhunt. Juan is a success with the ladies. Here the narrative breaks off. Canto the 17th of Don Juan remained unfinished. However in the letters
Byron spoke about the end of the poem. He wanted his hero to take part in the French Revolution and die fighting for freedom.
There are practically two heroes in the poem. One is the literary hero — Don Juan who lives and gains his knowledge of life within the framework of the plot. The other is the poet himself.
"Almost all Don Juan", Byron wrote in one of his letters, "is real life, either my own, or from people I knew".
As Juan's adventures cover a considerable part,of Europe it gives his author an opportunity to describe different countries, to comment on politics and relations between men and to give a satiric portrait of his contemporary society. The poem is marked not only for its criticism and realistic portrayal, but for its revolutionary ideas as well.
In the extract given here Byron addresses the free and happy people of the future living in the golden age of freedom, peace and happiness. The poet expresses his hatred of "tyrants" and "thrones" that must be overthrown in order to free mankind. Thrones, in the golden age of freedom and happiness, are objects of curiosity in museums.
To the Free People of the Future
(From Don Juan, Canto VIII)
... I will teach, if possible the stones
To rise against earth's tyrants. Never let it
Be said1 that we still truckle unto thrones2; —
But ye3 — our children's children! think how we
Showed what things were before the world was free!
That hour is not for us, but 'tis4 for you. And as, in the great joy of your millennium5, You hardly will believe such things were true As now occur, I thought that I would pen you'em6;
1 Never let it Be said — Пусть никто не скажет
2 still truckle unto thrones — все еще гнем шею перед тронами, т. е.
монархами
3 ye — you поэт .
4 'tis — it is поэт .
5 millennium [mi 'leniam] — золотой век счастья и свободы человечества
61 would pen you ' em ( them) — я вам их опишу
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But may their very memory perish too!' —
Yet if perchance2 remembered, still disdain you'em3
More than you scorn the savages of yore4,
Who painted their bake limbs, but not with gore5.
Vocabulary
boundless ['baundhs] о беспредельный pirate ['paiant] n пират
empress ['empns] n императрица prime [praim] n расцвет
extract ['ekstrsekt] n отрывок separate ['separeit] v разлучать
forcibly f/fosabli] adv насильственно smuggler ['srrjAgta] n контрабандист
flamework ffreimw3:k] n структура, ком- sultana [ssl'tamg] n султанша
позиция surrender [sg' rends] n сдача
guise [gaiz] n одежда survive [sg'vaiv] v выжить, уцелеть
harem ['hesrem] n гарем toss [rns] v бросать, кидать
mischief-making fmistfifmeikir)] о озорной
Questions and Tasks
1. When was Don Juan written?
2. Give a brief summary of the contents of Don Juan.
3. How many cantos of the poem were finished?
4. How did Byron want to finish the poem?
5. How many heroes are there irwthe poem? What are they?
6. What gives Byron an opportunity to describe different countries, to comment on politics and relations between men?
7. Speak on the main idea of the poem.
8. Comment on the extract of the poem given here.
Political Poetry
The "luddite" theme is quite important in Byron's poetical work. In his speech on the framework bill (1812) in the House of Lords Byron opposed the government's reactionary policy and defended the
Luddites. He said, "You call these men a mob1, desperate, dangerous and ignorant; ... Are we aware of our obligations to a mob? It is the mob that labour in your fields and serve in your houses, — that man your navy, and recruit your army, — that have enabled you defy all the world, you can also defy you when neglect and calamity have driven them to despair! You may call the people a mob, but do not forget that a mob too often speaks the sentiments of the people."
Four days after his speech in Parliament anonymous Ode appeared in a morning newspaper. 'The title (Ode) was very ironic, because an Ode is supposed to be a poem, or a song, recited on formal occasions. Byron's Ode to the Framers of the Frame Bill was a combination of biting satire, revolutionary romanticism and democratic thought.
In the Ode the anonymous poet gave a remedy against the rebellious weavers, who came to their masters to ask for help. He suggested the best thing to do was to hang them.
The poet stressed that men are cheaper than machinery; and if they were hanged around Sherwood Forest for breaking the machinery, it would improve the scenery.
Those who had heard Byron in Parliament had no difficulty in recognizing the author of the Ode, for in the verse Byron repeated most of the thoughts expressed in his speech.
In 1816 Byron wrote his famous Song for the Luddites in which he called upon the people to revolt against their tyrants. It is considered one of the first revolutionary songs in English classical poetry.
Song for the Luddites
I
As the Liberty lads o'er the sea2
Bought their freedom, and cheaply, with blood,
So we, boys, we
Will die fighting, or live free.
And down with all kings but King Ludd!
1 may their very memory perish too — пусть самая память о них исчезнет
2 perchance [pa'tfains] — perhaps
3 still disdain you'em (them) — все же вы их презираете
4 of yore — минувших времен поэт.
5 gore — blood поэт.
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1 a mob — a crowd
2 Liberty lads o'er (over) the sea—i.e. Americans who fought for the independence
of their country.
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A-
п
When the web that we weave is complete,
And the shuttle exchanged for the sword,
We will fling the winding sheet
O'er the despot at our feet,
And dye it deep in the gore he has pour'd.
Ill
Though black as his heart its hue,
Since his veins are corrupted to mud,
Yet this is the dew
Which the tree1 shall renew
Of Liberty, planted by Ludd!
The importance of Byron's poetic works, especially of his political poems, is very great. Translated by Russian poets, Byron's poetry has become a part of our national culture. In Russia, Pushkin and Lermontov were among his admirers. Pushkin called him the "ruler of people's thought". Belinsky called him the Prometheus [ргэ mi:Gju:s] of the century. Hertzen called his poetry "a word of fire". Maxim Gorky said that Byron was one of those writers "who were honest and severe in their exposure of the vices of the ruling classes" and "who had the ability and courage" to write, the truth.
Byron's influence on the minds of such great poets as Heine2 and Mitzkevitch3 was very great.
Byron remains one of the most popular English poets both at home and abroad.
Vocabulary
anonymous [o'lmrumss] о анонимный calamity [ka'laemiti] n несчастье
aware [a'wes] а знающий defy [di'fai] v бросать вызов; прези-
to be aware осознавать рать
1 The Tree of Liberty — daring the First Bourgeois Revolution in France
(1789 — 1793) a symbolic procedure [ргэ ' sv.d^s] was established by planting trees of Liberty. Byron refers to this custom.
2 Heine ['hama], Henrich (1794— 1856) —Генрих Гейне, нем. поэт
3 Mitzkevitch, Adam — Адам Мицкевич, польск. поэт
| Prometheus [pra'mi:9ju:s] n Прометей rebellious [n'beljas] а восставший recruit [n'kruit] v пополнять remedy ['remsdi] n средство sentiment f'sentimant] n мнение, отношение shuttle ['JXtl] n челнок tyrant ['taisrent] n деспот web [web] n ткань winding-sheet ['wamdmTkt] n саван |
desperate ['despsnt] о доведенный до
отчаяния dew [dju:] п роса
exposure [lks'psigs] n разоблачение fling [flin] v (flung) бросить gore [go:] n кровь hue [hju:] n цвет man [mffin] v укомплектовывать neglect [ru'glekt] v пренебрегать obligation [ubli'geijbn] n обязательство oppose [a'psuz] v выступать против
Questions and Tasks
1. Where does the "luddite" theme appear in Byron's works?
2. Comment on the Ode to the Framers of the Frame Bill.
3. Speak on the main idea of Song for the Luddites.
4. Discuss Byron's place in English literature.
Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822)
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Percy Bysshe Shelley ['p3:si 'bif' feih] was the most progressive revolutionary romanticist in English literature.
Like Byron, he came of an aristocratic family and like Byron he broke with his class at an early age.
| Percy Bysshe Shelley |
He was born at Field Place, Sussex. His father was a baronet. Shelley was educated at Eton public school and Oxford University. There he wrote a pamphlet The Necessity of Atheism feiGnzam] for which he was expelled from the University. His father forbade him to come home. Shelley had an independent spirit, and he broke with his family and his class for ever. He travelled from one town to another, took an active part in the Irish liberation movement and at last left England for
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Italy in 1818. There he wrote his best poetry. Shelley's life was mainly spent in Italy and Switzerland, but he kept ties with England.
In 1822 the poet was drowned. When his body was washed ashore he was cremated by Byron and his other friends. His remains were buried in Rome. The inscription on his tomb reads:
Percy Bysshe Shelley Cor Cordium1
Like Byron, Shelley was devoted to the revolutionary ideas of liberty, equality and fraternity. He believed in the future of mankind. He never lost faith in the power of love and good will. He thought that if men were granted freedom and learned to love one another they could live together peacefully. This hope fills his first poems Queen Mab (1813), The Revolt of Islam ['izla:m] (1818) and his later poetic drama Prometheus Unbound [pra'mirGjas /vn'baund]
The plot of the poem Queen Mab is symbolic. Queen Mab, a fairy, shows the past, present and future of mankind to a beautiful girl. Queen Mab shows the ideal society of the future where men are equal, free and wise.
The Revolt of Islam is a romantic and abstract poem, but it is a revolutionary one. Shelley protested against the tyranny of religion and of the government, gave pictures of the revolutionary movement for freedom and foretold a happier future for the whole of mankind.
In Prometheus Unbound Shelley gives the Greek myth his own interpretation. He sings of the struggle against tyranny. The sharp conflict between Prometheus and Jupiter ['скдкрйэ] (the chief of the Roman gods) is in the centre of the drama. Prometheus is bound to a rock by Jupiter for stealing fire from the gods and giving it to mankind. The huge spirit Demogorgon f dimax/ дэ:дэп], representing the Creative Power, defeats Jupiter and casts him down. Prometheus is set free and reunited with his wife Asia (Nature). The fact that Jupiter is dethroned symbolizes change and revolution. Now the mind of man can look forward to a future which is "good, joyous, beautiful and free".
1 Cor Cordium — the heart of hearts
When Shelley got news that the workers of Manchester had been attacked by government troops, his indignation was aroused, and he immediately wrote the poems The Masque of Anarchy [' ma:sk 3v 'aenaki] and Song to the Men of England. In the first part of the poem The Masque of Anarchy the procession of horrible masks may be regarded as an allegorical picture of the then rulers of England. In the second part the poet sings the men of England, their strength and future victory. He calls on them to rise against their human leeches.
Rise, like lions after slumber In unvanquishable number!1 Shake your chains to earth, like dew Which in sleep had fall'n2 on you: Ye are many — they are few.
(The Masque of Anarchy, XCI)
In his great lyric Song to the Men of England Shelley calls upon the workers to take up arms in their own defence. This poem and other revolutionary poems of his became the popular songs of the workers.
Song to the Men of England
Men of England, wherefore plough For the lords who lay ye3 low? Wherefore weave with toil and care The rich robes your tyrants wear?
Wherefore feed, and clothe, and save, From the cradle, to the grave, Those ungrateful drones who would Drain your sweat — nay4, drink your blood?.
1 In unvanquishable number — непобедимыми рядами
2 fall'n поэт . — fallen
3 ye — you
4 nay — no
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Shelley lived a short life. He was only twenty-nine when he died. But the working people of England did not forget the poet who had been their champion and friend. Shelley's entire life and art were devoted to struggle against oppression and tyranny in every form. |
| 1. What family did Shelley come from? 2. Where was he educated? 3. Why was he expelled from the university? 4. Why did Shelley break with his family? 5. Where did he live after he had left England? 6. When did he die? 7. How did it happen? 8. Why can we call Shelley the most progressive revolutionary romanticist? 9. Name his first notable works. Relate briefly the plot of these works.
10. On what occasion was the poem The Masque of Anarchy written? 11. Comment on the poem Song to the Men of England. 12. Describe Shelley's lyrical poems. 13. Express the idea of the poem The Cloud in some sentences. 14. What can you say about Shelley's place in English literature? |
The seed ye sow, another reaps; The wealth ye find, another keeps; The robes ye weave, another wears; The arms ye forge, another bears.
Sow seed, — but let no tyrant reap; Find wealth, — let no impostor heap; Weave robes, let not the idle wear; Forge arms, — in your defence to bear.
Shelley is also known as the author of many lyrical poems devoted to nature and love. He was sure that the world and nature are ever changing, ever developing to higher forms. He was very fond of nature, he wrote of the clouds, and of the wind and of the high snow-covered mountains. Yet above all other things he loved the sea. Among his nature poems are The Cloud, To a Skylark, Ode to the West Wind, Winter and many others.
The Cloud
I bring fresh showers for the thirsting flowers,
From the seas and Streams;
I bear light shade for the leaves when laid
In their noonday dreams.
From my wings are shaken the dews that waken
The sweet buds every one,
When rocked to rest on their mother's breast,
As she dances about the sun.
I wield the flail of the lashing hail,
And whiten the green plains under,
And the again I dissolve it in rain,
And laugh as I pass in thunder.
Shelley's poetry is musical, deeply sincere, and original in form.
Vocabulary
bind [bamd] v (bound) привязать cast [ka:st] v (cast) бросать
to cast down свергать cradle ['kreid] n колыбель cremate [kn'meit] v кремировать dethrone [di'Greun] v свергать с престола dissolve [di'zolv] v заливать drain [drem] v выпускать drone [drsun] n тунеядец flail [fleil] n цеп
forbade [fa'beid] v past от forbid forbid [fs 'bid] v (forbade; forbidden)
запрещать foretell [for'tel] v (foretold) предсказывать foretold [fofteuld] v past и р. р. от foretell forge [foxtj] v ковать grant [gra:nt] v даровать
Questions and Tasks
hail [heil] л град heap [hi:p] v богатеть idle [aidl] а ленивый impostor [im'psustg] n мошенник inscription [m'sknpjgn] n надпись interpretation [in,t3:pn'teijbn] n толкование lash [laef] v падать leech [li:tj] n пиявка liberation [Jiba'reifsn] n освобождение myth [miG] n миф reap [ri:p] ужать
represent [,repn'zent] v представлять robe [гэиЬ] п одежда slumber ['sUmbs] n сон sweat [swet] n пот tie [tai] n связь wield [wi:ld] v держать в руках
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Walter Scott (1771-1832)
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Walter Scott ['wo:to'start], the father of the English historical novel, was born in the family of a lawyer. His mother was the daughter of a famous Edinburgh physician and professor. She was a woman of education and stirred her son's imagination by her stories of the past as a world of living heroes.
As Walter was lame and a sickly child he spent much of his boyhood on his grandfather's farm near the beautiful river Tweed. He entered into friendly relations with plain people and gained first-hand knowledge of the old Scottish traditions, legends and folk ballads.
At the age of eight Walter entered the Edinburgh High School. Later Walter Scott studied law at the University. Though he was employed in his father's profession he was more interested in literature than in law.
As a boy and man he was fond of spending time in the country in the Highlands and in the Border. He collected and studied the native ballads, legends, folk-songs and poems.
Walter Scott's literary career began in 1796 when he published translations of German ballads.
In 1802 he prepared a collection of ballads under the title of The Minstrelsy' of the Scottish Border.
In 1804 Walter Scott gave up the law entirely for literature.
His literary work began with the publication of The Lay of the Last Minstrel (1805), a poem which made him the most popular poet of the day. A series of poems followed which included
1 The Minstrelsy — the singing of minstrels. A minstrel — in the Middle Ages a singer of old ballads and songs.
Marmion [' maimjan] (1808) and The Lady of the Lake (1810). These poems brought fame to the author. They tell us about the brave Scottish people, their past and the beauty of their homeland.
Soon, however, Scott realized that he was not a poetic genius, and he turned to writing in prose.
Scott's first historical novel Waverley [ 'wervali] published in 1814 was a great success and he continued his work in this new field. Novel after novel came from his pen. His novels appearpd anonymously. Nobody knew he was a writer. From 1814 to 1830 he wrote 29 novels, many of which are about Scotland and the struggle of this country for independence. Such novels as Waverley, Guy Mannering (1815), The Antiquary [di'sentikwan] (1816), The Black Dwarf [dwo:f] (1816), Old Mortality (1816), Rob Roy (1818), The Heart of Midlothian [mid 'taixJjan] (1818) describe Scotland in the 18th century.
The Bride of Lammermoor ['laemsmua] (1819) and The Legend of Montrose (1819) have the 17th century background.
fvanhoe ['arvanhau] (1820) deals with the English history of the 12th century.
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The Monastery (1820), The Abbot and Kenilworth [ 'kemlw3:0] (1821) describe the times of Mary Stuart and Queen Elizabeth.
Quentin Durward ['kwentin 'd3:wad] (1823) refers to the reign of Louis [' lui] XI in France.
It was only in 1827 that Walter Scott declared openly the authorship of his novels. He worked hard. The writer turned out, on an average, a novel and a half a year. His mind was so crowded with stories, characters and incidents that invention came without apparent effort.
Misfortune struck the great novel
ist in 1825— 1826: the publishing firm,
where he had been partner went bank- Sir Waiter Scott was buried
rupt. Walter Scott had to pay a large in the Abbey of Dryburgh
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sum of money. This affected his health and he died on September 21, 1832 at his estate in Abbotsford.
Walter Scott was buried at Dryburgh Abbey.
Walter Scott was the creator of the historical novel in English literature. He realized that it was the ordinary people who were the makers of history and the past was not cut off from the present but influenced it. This romantic love of the past made him create rich historical canvases with landscape and nature descriptions, as well as picturesque details of past ages. His descriptions of the life, customs and habits of the people are realistic. We can agree with Belinsky that the reader of Scott's novels becomes, in a way, a contemporary of the epoch and a citizen of the country in which the events of the novel take place.
Walter Scott was the first to depict personalities typical of the period and the country described. His characters are vivid and expressive.
This makes Walter Scott one of the greatest masters of world literature. His influence can be seen in the historical novels of almost every nation.
Vocabulary
affect [a'fekt] v влиять canvas ['ksenvas] n картина
anonymously [a'nommgsli] оЛанонимно effort f'efst] n усилие
apparent [a'pasrent] а видимый entirely [m'taiali] adv всецело
background ['baskgraimd] л место дей- physician [fi'zijbn] n врач
ствия plain [plem] а простой
bankrupt f baerjkrapt] о обанкротившийся sickly ['sikli] а болезненный
to go bankrupt обанкротиться stir [st3:] v возбуждать
Questions and Tasks
1. Give a brief account of Walter Scott's life.
2. How did he acquire his vast knowledge of ballads, legends, folk-songs?
3. What was the beginning of his literary career?
4. What poems brought fame to the author?
5. Why did he turn to writing in prose?
6. What was Walter Scott's first historical novel?
7. What was the main historical theme he wrote about in his first novels?
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8. Name Walter Scott's novels which describe Scotland.
9. What other themes did he touch upon in his novels?
10. What novels did he write about England and France?
11. How many novels did Walter Scott write from 1814 to 1830?
12. What misfortune struck the great novelist in 1825-1826?
13. Why was he obliged to work very hard?
14. When did he die?
15. What is the contribution of Walter Scott to the development of the historical novel in English literature?
Ivanhoe
Among the outstanding historical novels of Walter Scott Ivanhoe is one of the best. The events described in Ivanhoe take us back to the 12th century England. The scene of the novel is set in England during the reign of Richard I in about 1194. The power is in the hands of the Normans who oppress the conquered Anglo-Saxons.
King Richard I is engaged in the crusades. During his absence the country is ruled by his brother John who is very cruel to the people. The Anglo-Saxon nobility fights the Normans however they can. Cedric fsi:dnk] the Saxon also tries to keep the former privileges for his people. He has even disinherited his son Wilfred Ivanhoe who upset his father's plans and later became a devoted follower of the Norman King Richard.
When Richard I and Ivanhoe return to England, Ivanhoe, under the name of "Disinherited", takes part in a tournament. Cedric and his ward Lady Rowena [гэи 'i:na] recognize him. In the next days' sports he is wounded. An old Jew, Isaac farzak] of York, and his daughter Rebecca, whom Ivanhoe once helped, take care of him. On their way from the tournament Cedric and lady Rowena meet Isaac and the wounded Ivanhoe. All of them are seized by the Templars1, dressed as outlaws, and carried to the castle of a Norman feudal, Torquilstone. Under the command of Robin Hood and Richard I the castle is attacked and the prisoners set free. Cedric and Rowena return home, but Rebecca has disappeared. She has been carried off by Sir Brian ['braian], one of the Templars. When
1 the Templars — члены католического духовно-рыцарского ордена
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the Grand Master of the Templars hears of the influence that Rebecca has over Sir Brian, he commands the knight to give her up as a witch. Ivanhoe fights in her defence.
The marriage of Ivanhoe and Rowena takes place shortly afterwards. Rebecca and her father leave England for Spain where they hope to find better protection than they received in England.
The central conflict of the novel lies in the struggle of the Anglo-Saxons against the Norman barons. The Anglo-Saxons have no right in their own land. There is no equality among themselves, either. Class interests give rise to a bitter struggle. The Norman conquerors also fight for power among themselves.
At the same time some of them want to subdue the Anglo-Saxons completely, while others are ready to co-operate with them.
Walter Scott shows that the second tendency is progressive because it leads to the birth of a new nation.
A great number of characters take part in the chief events of the novel. Some are historical people, e. g., King Richard I, his brother John and Robin Hood. Others are typical of the period, for instance, Cedric the Saxon and Isaac of York. There we meet also romantic heroes, such as Ivanhoe, Lady Rowena, Rebecca and Sir Brian.
Scott is not indifferent to the fate of the characters and to the historical events in which they take part. He was both romantic and realistic in his works. •
Walter Scott's style and language are very interesting. He was a master of dialogue, which helped him better describe his characters. His heroes spoke using expressions peculiar to their professions (the priests, the archers, the tradesmen).
He was fond of humour, and there are a lot of comic situations in his novels. This makes them still more interesting for the reader.
Walter Scott has always been loved and much read in this country.
Vocabulary
co-operate [kau'opsreit] vсотрудничать subdue [ssb'dju:] /полностью подчинять
feudal ['fju:dl] n феодал tournament [Чшпэтэш;] п турнир
former [Тэ:тэ] а бывший upset [A'pset] v нарушать
nobility [nau'bihti] n дворянство, знать ward [wo:d] n подопечный
peculiar Ipi'kjurlja] а присущий witch [witj] n ведьма
privilige ['pnvihdj] n привилегия, пре
имущество
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.______ _............ __:.. _ ,. \
Questions and Tasks
| lie? /anhoe? ting? |
1. What century do the events described in Ivanhoe take us back to?
2. Where is the scene of the novel set?
3. What period of English history does Walter Scott describe in Ivanhoe'?
4. Give a brief summary of the plot of Ivanhoe
5. Where does the central conflict of the novel
6. What can you say about the characters of Л
7. What makes Walter Scott's language interes
Jane Austen (1775-1817)
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Jane Austen ['rjstin] was born on December 16, 1775, in the Hampshire village of Steventon, where her father, the Rev.1 George Austen, was rector. She was the second daughter and seventh child in the family of eight: six boys and two girls. Her closest companion was her elder sister.
| Jane Austen |
Her formal education began in about 1782, when the sisters were sent to be taught by Mrs Cawley at Oxford; and, in 1784, they moved to the Abbey School, Reading, where they remained until 1787. After that their education continued at home. This was no deprivation, as the household at the rectory was unusually gifted. Her father encouraged the love of learning in his children. Her mother was a woman of wit. Reading and writing were enjoyed as family activities. Samuel Richardson and Henry Fielding were favourite novelists. The great family amusement was acting.
| 1 Rev. ['revarend] (сокр. от reverend) — (его) преподобие 147 |
Austen's earliest known writings date from 1787, and between then and 1795 she wrote a large body of material that was collected in three manuscript notebooks: Volume the First, Volume the
Ш
Austen's house
Second, and Volume the Third. In all, these contain 21 items: plays, verses, short novels, and other prose.
In 1793— 1794 Jane Austen wrote a short novel-in-letters Lady Susan. Jane was a girl of seventeen. Some of the letters tell of her enjoyment of local parties and dances in Hampshire, of visits to London, Bath, Southampton [sauG'aemptsn], Kent and to seaside resorts in Devon [ 'devan] and Dorset.
Sense and Sensibilityv/as begun about 1795 as a novel-in-letters called Elinor and Marianne [ 'mean 'sen] after its heroines. She contrasted two sisters: Elinor who is rational and self-controlled, and Marianne who is more emotional. Between October 1796 and August 1797 she completed the first version of Pride and Prejudice. Northanger Abbey was written in about 1798- 1799.
In 1811 she began her novel Mansfield Park. Between January 1814 and March 1815 she wrote Emma.
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In these novels she showed that it was important to know oneself in order to make the right choices in love and marriage. Although her endings are generally happy, her novels make readers feel that they have been made to think about themselves and their moral lives.
Jane Austen's novels are deeply concerned with love and marriage. The novels provide indisputable evidence that the author understood the experience of love and of love disappointed. This observation relates most obviously to her last novel, Persuasion [pa'swerpn] (1815- 1816). The years after 1811 seem to have been the most rewarding of her life. She had the satisfaction of seeing her work in print and well reviewed and of knowing that the novels were widely read. The reviewers praised the novels for their moral entertainment, admired the character drawing, and welcomed the homely realism. Although Jane Austen preserved her anonymity and avoided literary circles, she knew about the reception of her novels.
For the last 18 months of her life, she was busy writing. In 1817 she began her last work Sandition, but it was put aside on March 18. Her health had been in decline since early 1816. In April she made her will. On the morning of July 18 she died. She was buried in Winchester Cathedral.
Her authorship was announced to the world at large1 by her brother Henry, paying tribute to her sister's qualities of mind and character.
Jane Austin is different from other writers of her time, because her main interest is in the moral, social and psychological behaviour of her characters. She writes mainly about young heroines as they grow up and search for personal happiness. She does not write about the social and political issues, but her observations of people apply to human nature in general.
Modern critics are fascinated by the structure and organization of the novels, by the realistic description of unremarkable people in the unremarkable situations of everyday life.
1 to the world at large — всему миру
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Questions and Tasks 1. Where was Jane Austen bom? 2. What family did she come from? 3. Where was she educated? 4. When did she write her first works? 5. What was her first novel-in-letters? 6. What did some of the letters tell of? 7. Name Jane Austen's notable novels. 8. What themes did she deal with in her books? 9. What years seem to have been the most rewarding of her life? Why?
10. What did the reviewers praise her novel for? 11. When did she die? 12. Why are modern critics fascinated by Austen's novels? |
Vocabulary
anonymity Laena'mmiti] л анонимность apply [3'plai] ^относиться concern [k3n's3:fi] v касаться decline [di'klam] л ухудшение deprivation [^depn'veifan] л лишение evidence fevidans] л факт(ы) gifted ['giftid] а способный, одаренный heroine ['hereum] л героиня household fhaushsuld] л семья indisputable Lmdis'pjutabl] а бесспорный obviously ['Dbviasli] adv очевидно praise [preiz] v хвалить reception [n'sep/эп] n прием
rectory I'rektan] л дом приходского
священника relate [n'leit] v относиться resort [n'zo:t] л курорт review [n'vju:] v рецензировать reviewer [п'у)'и:э] п рецензент rewarding [n'wordm] а вознаграждающий satisfaction [^saetis'faekjbn] л удовлетворение tribute ['tnbju:t] n дань
to pay tribute платить дань will [wil] л завещание
English Literature in the 19th Century
CRITICAL REALISM
The critical realism of the 19th century flourished in the forties and at the beginning of the fifties.
The critical realists set themselves the task of criticizing capitalist society, exposing the crying social contradictions. Their strong point was their true reflection of life and their sharp criticism of existing injustice.
The merit of English realism lies in its profound humanism — its sympathy for the working people. The greatest English realist of the time was Charles Dickens ['tjklz 'dikmzj. With striking force and truthfulness he described the sufferings of common people.
Another critical realist was William Makepeace Thackeray ['wiljam 'meikpi:s 'вэекэп]. His novels mainly contain a satirical portrayal of the upper strata of society. Here belong, of course, Charlotte Bronte ['Jcdat 'bronti], Emily Bronte, Elizabeth Gaskell ['ilizabaG 'gses kal], George Eliot ['с{зз:ф' eljat]. These writers showed a realistic picture of their contemporary England.
All these novelists portrayed everyday life, with a little man as the - central character.
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| strata ['straits] pi от stratum stratum ['stra:t3m] n слой striking ['straikirj] о поразительный sympathy ['simpaGij n сочувствие upper ['лрэ] а высший |
| Charles Dickens |
| Navy Pay Office — Казначейство военно-морского ведомства |
Vocabulary
contemporary [кэп 'tempsran] о современный
contradiction [^knntrs'dikjgn] n противоречие
profound [pra'faund] о глубокий
Questions and Tasks
1. When did the critical realism of the 19th century flourish?
2. What task did the critical realists set themselves?
3. What was the strong point of the critical realists?
4. Who was the greatest English realist of the time?
5. What did he describe?
6. Name some other writers belonging to this literary trend.
7. What did they portray in their novels?
Charles Dickens (1812-1870)
Charles Dickens was born» in Portsmouth ['poitsmaG] on the 7th of February, 1812. He was the second child and the eldest son of John and Elizabeth Dickens. John Dickens was a clerk in the Navy Pay Office1.
After a short period in London, John Dickens in 1817 was transferred to the dockyard at Chatham [ 'tfaetam], and here the family remained until 1822. These were the happiest years of Charles Dickens's childhood and youth. Here Dickens went to a small day-school. He also learnt much from his mother,
who was a well-educated'woman, and from the books she gave him to read.
It was here, years later, when he was at the height of his fame, that he returned to live, buying Gad's Hill place, the very house that he and his father had so often admired when out walking.
The little boy, eager, bright, sensitive, energetic but not really robust, found life opening out for him wonderfully during these years at Chatham.
His recollections of these years, seen in the golden haze of childhood, played a very important part in his work. If he had not had this happy time, brightening his childhood; the novels of Dickens would have been darker.
When Charles was about ten, the family left Chatham as John Dickens had been recalled to London.
John Dickens had left Chatham in debt, even after selling off some of his furniture, and nobody in London came to the rescue of John and Elizabeth Dickens and their six children. Everything that could be was given to the pawnshop, and young Charles was often sent on errands of this sort, for he was no longer going to school. He had done well at school in Chatham. But his parents had made no plans for him to continue his education in London.
A friend of the family helped Charles find work at a blacking warehouse. His parents instantly agreed. Charles had to paste labels on the jars of blacking. He received six shillings a week.
Only a few days after Charles started work at the blacking warehouse, his father was arrested and sent to the debtors' prison, the Marshalsea. John Dickens was a happy-go-lucky, irresponsible man, and he usually spent more than he earned. As a result of such living he was thrown into the debtors' prison. Later, Mrs Dickens and the younger children joined him. Little Charles did not live in the prison. He had to live in miserable lodgings and to feed himself.
It came to an end when a relative of the family left Mr Dickens a legacy which was enough to pay his debts and leave the prison. When his father was set free, Charles was sent to a private school where he remained for three years. He was fifteen when his education ended, and he was sent again to earn his living this
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Vocabulary
blacking ['blaekirj] n вакса
curiosity Lkjusn'ositi] л любознательность
dockyard ['dDkja:d] n верфь
eager [i:gs] о усердный
errand ['erand] n поручение
gap [gaep] n пробел
happy-go-lucky ['haepigai^Uki] а беспечный
haze [heiz] n дымка
height [hait] n вершина
illimitable [riimitsbl] а безграничный
irresponsible [^ins'pnnsabl] а безответственный
jar [фа:] п банка
label f'leibl] n наклейка
legacy ['legasi] n наследство lodging ['hxjjirj] n обыкн pi сдаваемая
комната paste [peist] v приклеивать pawnshop ['pomjbp] n ломбард phenomenal [fifrromml] а необыкновенный recollection [декэЧеЦГэп] п воспоминание rescue ['reskju:] n помощь restless [resths] а неугомонный robust [re'bASt] а здоровый shorthand ['/o:thaend] n стенография spare [spea] а свободный transfer [traens'f3:] v переводить warehouse ['weshaus] n склад
The Marshalsea debtors' prison
time as a clerk in a lawyer's office in London. All his spare time he spent in learning shorthand and visiting the British Museum Library filling up the gaps in his education by reading. Just before his seventeenth birthday Charles became a reporter. Soon he was recognized to be one of the best reporters in the whole country. He was invited to join several papers. When he was nineteen he was able to do some reporting in the House of Commons for newspapers.
Finally in 1834 he became the star reporter on the Morning Chronicle.
Young Dickens, with his restless energy and illimitable curiosity, went everywhere and noticed everything. His power of observation and memory were phenomenal.
He went all over the country getting news, writing up stories, meeting people and using his eyes. These early days of a reporter made very deep impressions on his mind and provided him with material for his books.
Questions and Tasks
1. Where was Charles Dickens born?
2. When was he born?
3. What did his father, John Dickens, do?
4. Where was John Dickens transferred in 1817?
5. What were the happiest years of Charles Dickens's childhood?
6. Describe the years Charles spent in Chatham.
7. When did the family leave Chatham?
8. Give a brief account of the financial position of the family.
9. What happened to Mr Dickens?
10. How did Charles live when his family was in prison?
11. What helped the Dickens's family leave the Marshalsea?
12. Where did Charles study?
13. What did he do when his education ended?
14. What did Charles become just before his seventeenth birthday?
15. What kind of reporter was he soon recognized to be?
16. What traits of character helped him become the star reporter on the Morning Chronicle1?
17. Why were these early days as a reporter very important for Charles Dickens in his later life?
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Charles Dickens's Literary Work
| The title of Sketches by Boz |
Charles Dickens began his literary career in 1833. He wrote some sketches under the title Sketches by Boz. Boz was his pen-name. It was a nickname of his younger brother. The work was warmly received, but it was in 1836 that Charles Dickens rose to fame with the publication of The Pickwick Papers. A new firm of publishers, Chapman and Hall, asked Dickens to write some sort of humorous text, describing sporting misadventures, to support the drawings made by a popular comic artist called Seymour. Dickens agreed, but only on his own terms. These were that the drawings must illustrate the text, not the text the drawings.
The first instalment of Posthumous [ 'pnstjumas] Papers of the Pickwick Club (the full title of the book) came into being and brought the author world-wide fame.
The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club is a humorous description of funny adventures and misadventures of the members of the Pickwick Club which was founded by Mr Pickwick, a rich old gentleman, who had retired from business. The purpose of the club, according to its members, was "for the observations of character and manners". All the members, like Mr Pickwick, are rather well-to-do; they spend their time in travelling and in looking for mild adventures.
Long before the twentieth and last number of the paper with The Pickwick Papers came out, the country was Pickwick-mad. The name was given to all manner of things, from coats and hats to canes and cigars.
Dickens became famous all over the world, especially in America and in Russia.
Encouraged by his success Dickens set to work as a novelist. His next novel Oliver Twist (1838) deals with social problems. It is the story of a little boy born in a workhouse and left an orphan.
The kind and honest boy by nature rinds himself in the environment of thieves and lives through terrible hardships.
As Dickens believes in the inevitable triumph of good over evil, it is only natural, therefore, that Oliver Twist overcomes all difficulties. The novel ends happily which has become a characteristic feature of the greater part of Dickens's works.
The cottage where Dickens used to work
With Oliver Twist still in hand, Dickens began to work on his next novel Nicholas Nickleby ['nikabs niklbi] (1839).
The book deals with another burning question of the day — that of the education of the children in English private schools.
Nicholas Nickleby becomes a teacher of a typical English boarding-school for children of parents of modest means.
There is no question of real education at the "school". Its half-starved pupils are used by the master of the school and his wife for domestic work. Its master, Mr Squeers ['skwiaz], is veiy cruel to the children and his only aim in life is to have as much profit as possible out of his establishment.
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The beginning of the sixties saw the publication of Great Expectations (1860-1861) and Our Mutual Friend (1864- 1865). Dickens died in 1870, leaving his last work The Mystery of Edwin Drood unfinished. From 1858 to 1868 Dickens gave dramatic readings of his novels in England and America. He was a brilliant reader of his novels, but he overworked and died at the age of fifty-eight. He was buried in Westminster Abbey. Charles Dickens was one of the greatest novelists that ever put pen to paper1. His novels are now translated into most languages and are highly valued for their realism, their humour and their just criticism of English life. |
| Dombey and Son Dombey and Son is one of Dickens's best works. Dickens enjoyed life, but he criticized the social system into which he had been bom. As he grew older the criticism of his age became bitterer. The main |
| 1 that ever put pen to paper — который когда-либо брал в руки перо |
The scenes of the children's life were so realistic and true to life that a school reform was carried out in England after the publication of the novel.
Dickens's next novel was The Old Curiosity Shop (1841). It is a story of the sufferings and hardships of an old man named Trent, and his granddaughter, Nell, who live in London.
Dickens's first historical novel Barnaby Rudge [ 'ba:rabi 'глф]
(1841) was published before his visit to America in the autumn of
1841. There were many good reasons for going to America. He
wanted to lecture on his works as he knew he would have a large
admiring public there. Besides, he wanted to meet some American
writers, especially Washington Irving ['wrjjirjtan '3:vm], with whom
he had exchanged enthusiastic letters.
After his return from America Dickens wrote American Notes
(1842) andMarfm Chuzzlewit ftJXzlwrt] (1843-1844) which created
a sensation in America. They were social satires of the American
way of life.
Between 1843 and 1848 Dickens published his Christmas Books [A Christmas Carol [ 'knsmas 'kaerol], The Chimes, The Cricket on the Hearth [ha:9]). In 1846 he visited Switzerland and Italy. There he began Dombey [ 'dombi] and Son (1848). In the fifties and sixties the most profound novels were written — David Copperfield ['dervid 'krjpsMd] (1850), Bleak House (1853), Hard Times (1854) and others.
David Copperfield is, to a great extent, an autobiographical novel. In the character of David Copperfield, Dickens shows many features of his own life. The hero of the novel is a young man who lives through hardships and injustice but in the end achieves well-being.
Bleak House is a bitter criticism of England's courts of justice. Hard Times is a novel depicting the conditions of the working class in England.
Little Dorrit (1855— 1857) is the story of a little girl whose parents are thrown into a debtor's prison.
With A Tale of Two Cities (1859) Dickens returned to the historical novel. It is devoted to the events of the French Revolution of 1789-1794.
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Vocabulary
admiring [ad'mainn] а восхищенный
boarding school ['bo:drrjsku:l] n пансион
cane [kem] n трость
environment [m'vaisranmsnt] n окружение
establishment [is'taeblijmsnt] n заведение
extent [iks'tent] n степень
feature ['й:ф] n черта
inevitable [I'nevitebl] а неизбежный
instalment [in 'stoilmsnt] n отдельный выпуск
means [mi:nz] n средства
mild [maild] о безобидный
misadventure [ 'missd 'ventjs] n злоключение
nickname ['nikneim] n прозвище
orphan ['orfan] n сирота
pen-name ['penneim] n литературный псевдоним
profit ['profit] n выгода
retire [n'tais] v оставлять должность
sketch ['sketfj n очерк
term [t3:m] n условия
well-being [ 'wel 'bi:in] n (материальное) благополучие
| 159 |
well-to-do ['welts'du:] а состоятельный
/
subject of his later novels is money and the things that go with money—power, position and so on. In Dombey and Son the symbol of money-power is Mr Dombey himself, to whose pride of position as a British merchant everything must be sacrificed — affection, wife, children and love. According to Dombey "The earth was made for Dombey and Son to trade in, and the sun and the moon were made to give them light. Rivers and seas were formed to float their ships; rainbows to give them promise of fair weather; winds blew for, or against, their enterprises; stars and planets circled in their orbits to preserve inviolate a system of which they were the centre".
Mr Dombey is a prosperous businessman, a starchy and purse-proud merchant. He is selfish to the core1, he bends down only before the power of gold. He looks upon the people surrounding him only from a business point of view. His coldness, his absolute lack of human feeling towards people is extraordinary.
The firm, which is his life, is called Dombey and Son. He has a daughter, Florence, whom he considers to be " a piece of base coin" because she is a girl. He does not love her, he does not notice her, although the little girl loves him dearly. When at last a son is born, it is he who becomes the centre of Dombey's life and interests. He is to become ffls heir, he is to continue to increase his riches.
But the dreams of Mr Dombey are not realized. Little Paul is a sickly child and he feels that he will not get better that he will die like his mother died when he was born. He cannot understand why the money, that his father considers to be so powerful, could not save his mother and cannot make him strong and completely well.
Little Paul dies and the hopes of Mr Dombey never come true. Mr Dombey marries again, but the marriage is a bargain. Dombey is sure that money can buy obedience, devotion, love, faithfulness. But money fails to bring what he expected.
His second wife, Edith, hates him and leaves him.
Florence runs away from his house, too. Misfortune falls on him in business as well. Mr Corker, his secretary, ruins Dombey and perishes himself. Dombey is left all alone. The atmosphere of cold reigns in the house.
The character of Dombey is a symbol of evil. Dickens shows how wrong and mistaken are all those who believe that money can buy everything: affection, happiness, love.
With great talent and power Dickens shows that money brings only evil, poisons the minds of people, makes them egoistic and cruel.
Opposed to Mr Dombey are his two children, Florence and Paul. Dickens made them loving and lovable creatures who hated money. Only Florence's love for Mr Dombey remains unchanged, and she and her husband take care of the lonely old man.
When Belinsky read Dombey and Son he called it a miracle that made all other works written by Dickens seem pale and weak. Dickens managed to show the ugliness of relations based on money in a work of art.
Up to now Dickens has remained one of the great realistic writers. In Russia his works became known a very short time after being published.
Vocabulary
| obedience [s'bkdjgns] n послушание oppose [э'рэш] v противопоставлять perish fpenf] v исчезнуть preserve [prf Z3:v] v сохранять purse-proud ['p3:spraud] о гордящийся своим богатством rainbow ['rembsu] п радуга sacrifice ['sasknfais] v жертвовать selfish ['selfij] а эгоистичный starchy ['stcttfi] о чопорный |
affection [s'fekjsn] n привязанность bargain ['ba:gm] n сделка base [beis] а неполноценный bend [bend] v (bent) склоняться core [ко:] л суть
to the core до мозга костей enterprise ['entapraiz] n предприятие fail [fell] v не удаваться inviolate [m'vaialeit] а нетронутый lack [laek] n отсутствие
1 to the core — до мозга костей 160
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Questions and Tasks
1. When did Charles Dickens begin his literary career?
2. What was his first work?
3. Give a brief summary of the contents of the Pickwick Papers.
4. What Dickens's novels dealing with social problems can you name?
5. What historical novel was written by Dickens before his visit to America?
6. Why did Dickens want to visit America?
7. What novels were written by Dickens after his return from America?
8. What is his autobiographical novel?
9. Name some other notable works by Dickens.
10. Why is the novel Dombey and Son considered to be one of Dickens's greatest works?
11. Give the main idea of Dombey and Son.
12. What social problems did Charles Dickens write about?
William Thackeray (1811-1863)
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William Makepeace Thackeray [ 'баекэп] was the second representative of critical realism in English literature of the 19th century. Dickens and Thackeray were such near contemporaries that their work was often compared, but Thackeray's life was different from that of Charles Dickens.
William Makepeace Thackeray was born into a prosperous middle class family. His father was a well-to-do Eng- William Makepeace Thackeray lish official in Calcutta [kael 'k\ta], India, where he was born. When his father died, the boy, aged six, was sent to England where he attended the famous Charterhouse [ 'tfaitahaus] School. In 1828 Thackeray entered Cambridge University. While a student, he was clever at drawing cartoons and writing verses, chiefly parodies. He did not stay long at the University. The stagnant atmosphere of the place suffocated him.
Besides, his wish was to become an artist, and therefore he left the University without graduating and went to Germany, Italy and France to study art.
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| Caricature of Thackeray drawn by himself |
Intending to complete his education, Thackeray returned to London and began a law course in 1833. Meanwhile, the Indian bank in which the money Thackeray inherited from his father was invested went bankrupt, and Thackeray was left penniless. Thus, he was obliged to drop the studies to earn his living. For a long time he hesitated about whether to take up art or literature as a profession. At last he decided to try his hand as a journalist. He wrote humorous articles,
essays, reviews and short stories which he sent to London magazines. He illustrated his works with amusing drawings.
The first book which attracted attention was The Book of Snobs (1847), which deals with the upper classes and their followers in the middle classes, whose vices the author criticizes with the sharp pen of satire.
The book draws a gallery of English snobs of different circles of English society. In Thackeray's view a snob is a person who bows down to and flatters his social superior and looks down with contempt on his social inferiors.
In his book the author declares war against snobbery, vanity and selfishness.
It was followed by Vanity Fair (A Novel without a Hero) — the peak of social realism, which brought great fame to the novelist, and remains his most-read work up to the present day.
It appeared first in twenty-four monthly instalments which Thackeray illustrated himself, and then in 1848, as a complete book.
The novels of the later period, The History ofPendennis [pen' dems] (1850) and The Newcomes (1855) are realistic, but they show the gradual reconciliation of the author with reality.
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oblige [ab'laKfe] v обязывать to be obliged быть вынужденным official [a'fifal] n служащий peak [pi:k] n пик; вершина reconciliation [,rekansili'eijan] n примирение selfishness ['selfifnis] n эгоизм snobbery ['snoban] n снобизм stagnant ['stagnant] а застойный suffocate ['sAfakeit] удушить superior [sju:'piana] а высший по должности vain [vein] а тщеславный vanity ['vaeniti] n тщеславие wicked ['wikid] а злой |
In the other novels, Henry Esmond f ezmand] (1852), and The Virginians [va'qsmjanz] (1859) Thackeray turned to historical themes, showing a remarkable knowledge of history.
Thackeray's last novel, Denis Duval, remained unfinished, for Thackeray died in 1863.
Numerous other works written by Thackeray include essays, short stories, sketches, satirical poems. These were popular during the writer's life-time but, for the most part, forgotten by the next generation of readers.
Thackeray is at bottom a satirist. In his novels he gives a vivid description of the upper classes of society, their mode of life, manners and tastes. His knowledge of human nature is broad. His criticism is acute, his satire is sharp and bitter. Thackeray used to say that he wished to describe men and women as they really are.
Thackeray's books are often very sad. He tells us clearly that not only people are often wicked, vain and unjust, but that they can be only what they are due to existing conditions. As Thackeray had no hope of change, many of the pages he wrote are filled with sorrow for the world's ills.
The picture of the life of the ruling classes of England created by Thackeray remains a classic example of social satire to this very day.
Vocabulary
acute [g'kjuit] а острый bankrupt ['baerjkrept] n банкрот
to go bankrupt обанкротиться bottom ['botam] n основа
at bottom no натуре bow [bau] v кланяться contempt [kan'tempt] n презрение flatter ['flaeta] v льстить gradual ['grasdjual] а постепенный ill [il] n зло
inferior [m'fiaria] а низший (по положению) inherit [m'hent] v наследовать invest [in'vest] v вкладывать деньги mode [maud] n образ действий
Questions and Tasks
1. What family did Thackeray come from?
2. Where was he educated?
3. What was he clever at while a student?
4. Why didn't he stay long at the University?
5. Where did he go to study art?
6. What did Thackeray begin to study when he returned to London?
7. Why was he obliged to drop his studies?
8. What did he begin to write?
9. Say a few words about Thackeray's first novel The Book of Snobs.
10. Who is a snob in Thackeray's view?
11. What novel is Thackeray's masterpiece?
12. Name his other notable works.
13. What characterizes Thackeray as a satirist?
14. Why are many of the pages he wrote filled with sorrow?
Vanity Fair (A Novel without a Hero)
The subtitle of the book shows the author's intention to describe not individuals, but the bourgeois-aristocratic society as a whole. The author pictu-res the world he describes in the novel as a "very vain, wicked, foolish place, full of all sorts of humbugs, and falsenesses and pretensions". Vanity Fair is a social novel which describes not only society as a whole, but the very laws which govern it. Using satire the author mercilessly exposes the vices of the aristocracy and the merchants, their self-conceit, narrow-mindedness, their worship of money, and moral degradation.
The interest of the novel centres on the characters, rather than on the plot. The author shows various people, their thoughts and actions in different situations. There is no definite hero in the book. In Thackeray's opinion there can be no hero in a society where the cult of money rules the world.
The novel tells of the fates of two girls with sharply contrasting characters — Becky Sharp and Amelia Sedley. The daughter of a rich city merchant, Amelia Sedley, is a young girl representing "virtue without wit". She is sweet, honest and naive. Her friend Rebecca Sharp or Becky is clever, talented, charming, energetic
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| Thackeray's home where Vanity Fair was |
and pleasant to look at. She possesses a keen sense of humour, and a deep understanding of people's nature. The girls meet at school. Becky's father was a teacher of drawing there. After his death Becky has to earn her own living. She understands that society is split into the rich and the poor. Into the world to which Amelia belongs, Becky Sharp, representing "wit without virtue", forces her way after many struggles. Her only aim in life is to get to high society at all costs1. She decides to get to the top of it through marriage. Rebecca tries to entrap Amelia's brother Joseph f фэшгх], He is lazy and foolish, but rich. Her plans are ruined by George Osborn ['dz-Ьэп], Amelia's fiance. Becky believes neither in love nor friendship. She flirts with George Osborn, though he is the husband of her friend. She is ready to marry any man to gain wealth and title.
Becky begins to work at Sir Pitt Crawley's fkro:hz] asagoverness. She secretly marries Sir Pitt Crawley's son Rawdon fro:dn], who is to inherit his rich aunt's money. But old Miss Crawley cannot forgive her favourite nephew this foolish step and leaves her money to Rawdon's brother, Sir Pitt. No wonder Rebecca almost loses "her presence of mind" when she realizes how wrong her calculations
were. At that time Pitt Crawley himself proposes to her. The fact that Pitt is old and that she despises him does not count with her. Pitt is the owner of Queen's Crawley. He possesses money and title and these were the only things Becky's greedy nature wishes. "I would have had the town-house newly furnished and decorated. I
| ( |
would have had the handsomest carriage in London, and a box at the opera, ... All this might have been; and now — now all was doubt and mystery."
Flattery, hypocrisy, lies and other mean actions help Becky to join the upper classes of society, but no happiness is in store for her1. Her life has neither real feelings, nor honest aims in view.
Contrary to Becky, Amelia is honest, generous and kind to all the people she comes in touch with, and is admired by all."... she could not only sing like a lark... and embroider beautifully, and spell as well as a Dictionary itself, but she had such a kindly, smiling, tender, gentle, generous heart of her own as won the love of everybody who came near her...".
But for all that Amelia cannot be regarded as a heroine of the novel: she is not clever enough to understand the real qualities of the people who surround her. She is too unintelligent, naive and simple hearted to expose all the dirty machinations of the clever and sly Rebecca. She is absolutely "blind" to all the faults of her lightminded and selfish husband, and even after his death she is determined to remain faithful to him.
Suddenly Sedley goes bankrupt. Old Osborne disinherits his son because he has married Amelia, the daughter of his bankrupt friend. Soon after their marriage George is sent to Belgium { to fight against Napoleon's army. He is killed on the field of Wa-; terloo ['wolalu:]. Now Amelia and her son George are very poor. They only receive occasional presents from little Georgy's god-| father, Colonel Dobbin. He loves Amelia and little Georgy and | after his friend's death proposes to Amelia. Only in the end Amelia learns that her husband wanted to leave her and flee with | Becky. Then she agrees to marry Dobbin. Though Dobbin, like
1 at all costs — любой ценой
166
1 but no happiness is in store for her — но ее не ждет счастье
167
Amelia, is an exception in Vanity Fair, he is too primitive and narrow-minded to be admired by the author.
Captain Rawdon Crawley returns a colonel. Rebecca is presented to the court and recognized by upper society. Yet her career soon comes to an end. Her relations with Lord Steyne [sti:n] are disclosed, and her husband leaves her. Her son is adopted by Rawdon's brother. Rebecca becomes an adventuress.
Old Osborn dies leaving his money to his grandson. Dobbin is appointed as Georgy's guardian.
Vanity Fair is one of the greatest examples of critical realism of the 19th century. The action is carried forward by a series of plots and subplots; the setting is detailed and varied, the characters are real individuals.
Questions and Tasks
1. Explain the meaning of the subtitle of Vanity Fair.
2. What vices of bourgeois-aristocratic society are mercilessly exposed by Thackeray in the book?
3. Name the main characters of the novel.
4. Give the main facts of Amelia's and Rebecca's life.
5. Why do we say that Rebecca Sharp embodies the spirit of Vanity Fair?
6. Do you find any characters that are either all good or all bad?
7. What traits of character do Amelia and Rebecca possess?
8. Why do we consider Vanity Fairio be one of the greatest examples of the
19th century critical realism?
The Bronte Sisters
Vocabulary
adopt [s'dcpt] vусыновлять adventures [gd'ventjgns] n авантюристка appoint [a'pomt] v назначать calculation [,kaelkju'leij3n] n расчет charming ['tja:min] а очаровательный colonel [кз:п1] п полковник despise [dis'paiz] v презирать * disclose [dis'kbuz] v раскрывать disinherit ['dism'hant] v лишать наследства embroider [im'broids] v вышивать , entrap [m'trasp] n обмануть exception [ik'sepjan] n исключение fiance [ft'a:nsei] n жених flattery ['flsetsn] n лесть flee [fli:] v (fled) убегать flirt [fl3:t] v флиртовать godfather ['gt>dfa:6a] n крестный guardian ['gadjsn] n опекун humbug ['ЬлтЬлд] п обман hypocrisy [hi'prjkrssi] n лицемерие keen [ki:n] а глубокий lark [la:k] n жаворонок lightminded ['lait'mamdid] а легкомысленный
machination [^maeki'neifan] n козни
mean [mi:n] о низкий, подлый
mercilessly f rmisihsli] odv безжалостно
naive [na:'i:v] а наивный
narrow-mindedness fnaerau'mamdidnis] n ограниченность
nephew ['nevju:] n племянник
occasional [э'ке1зэп1] а случающийся время от времени
pretension [ргГten/an] n притворство
self-conceat [ 'selfksn 'si:t] n самомнение
setting ['setirj] n окружающая обстановка
sharply ['Ja:pli] adv резко
shy [fai] а застенчивый
sly [slai] а хитрый
split [split] v (split) делиться
subplot ['sAb'ptot] n побочная сюжетная линия
subtitle ['sAb,taitl] n подзаголовок
virtue ['v3:tju:] n добродетель
wit [wit] n ум
worship ['\V3:Jip] n поклонение
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| The Bronte Sisters |
There were three Brontes — novelists: Charlotte (1816 — 1855), Emily (1818- 1848) and Anne (1820- 1849). Their father was an Irish protestant, a clergyman in Yorkshire. Their mother died when the girls were little. The children were entirely devoted to reading, writing, drawing, wandering over the open moors and playing a game of story telling about their imaginary heroes. The sisters received their education at a charity school and worked as governesses. Private teaching was the only profession open to educated women, and the Brontes needed to earn their living.
Their life was hard, and they tried to create a new world of their imagination. The sisters turned to literature though they knew of the difficulties a woman writer had to face when it came to publication. Their first volume of verse was published under a masculine pseudonym. Poems by Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell (1846).
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Nowadays Charlotte and Emily rank among the greatest realists of the 19th century. Anne is less known, though her Agnes Grey and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall cannot be ignored, either.
Vocabulary
charity-school [ 'tfcentisku:l] n приют pseudonym ['sjuidsnim] n псевдоним
(для бедных детей) rank [rsrjk] v относиться к числу; п ряд
masculine ['maskjulm] о мужской
Charlotte Bronte
Charlotte Bronte's first attempt at prose writing, the novel The Professor (1847) was rejected by publishers. But the young author was not discouraged and began her next novel Jane Eyre [' ёзет' еэ] (1847) which brought her fame and placed her in the rank of the foremost English realistic writers.
She was personally acquainted with Dickens and Thackeray, and the latter greatly influenced her literary method.
In 1849 Charlotte Bronte published Shirley [ '/3:li]. The novel dealt with the life of workers at the time of the Luddites' movement.
The author's sympathies are with the working people. The last novel by Charlotte Bronte, Vilette [vf let], which came out in 1853, is a realistic description of her experiences at a boarding-school in Brussels.
In her novels Charlotte Bronte combined scenes from her own life with the far richer and more romantic experiences which she imagined. She aimed to make her novels a realistic picture of society but she also added to her realism elements of romanticism. The main subject of her books is the soul of a woman, a governess or a teacher. Her heroines are generous, intelligent, modest and gentle. Charlotte Bronte attacks the greed and lack of culture of the bourgeoisie and sympathises with the workers and peasants. She is convinced that society can be reformed by means of education.
Vocabulary
convince [kgn'vms] v убеждать foremost ['fsmsust] а передовой
discourage [dis клшсЦ vобескураживать soul [saul] n душа
Jane Eyre
On the first pages of the book the reader meets Jane Eyre as a small girl at her aunt's house. She loses both of her parents shortly after birth. Her aunt, Mrs Reed, a woman of despotic character is rude and unjust to the poor orphan. Mrs Reed's children also find pleasure in teasing and mocking Jane.
One day, unable to bear the torture any longer, Jane tells straight to her aunt's face all she thinks of her. She is an orphan, a plain and penniless girl, but she possesses her own feelings of right and wrong. Mrs Reed is furious and gets rid of her hated niece by sending her to the Lowood Institution, a charity school for poor girls.
Jane meets with terrible living conditions in Lowood. She stays there for eight long years, six spent in studies, and the remaining two as a teacher.
The other part of the book is one of the most romantic love stories in English literature. When Jane grows up she becomes the governess of Mr Rochester's foster daughter. Mr Rochester is a rich squire. He is a strong, noble, proud, manly and tragic figure. He is much older than Jane. His life has been miserable. He has been wandering here and there seeking rest and dulling his intellect. Heart-weary and soul-withered Mr Rochester meets Jane. He finds in her many of the good and bright qualities which he has sought for twenty years. He proposes to Jane. She is in love with her master and agrees to become his wife. The young woman does not know the truth: for years Mr Rochester has kept a lunatic wife in his house in charge of a servant. Nobody suspects her existence. On the eve of Jane's marriage the lunatic enters Jane's room and tears her bridal veil in half. In the church she learns Mr Rochester is married. Shocked by the news, she thinks she must leave Thornfield, though she still loves Mr Rochester.
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Half-starved, worn-out and soaked to the skin Jane comes across a parson who helps her to get the job of a teacher in a village-school. Soon she discovers the parson to be her cousin and that she is the heiress of a large sum of money that her uncle on her father's side has left her.
Meanwhile, a great misfortune happens to Mr Rochester: he loses his sight during the fire in the house, caused by his mad wife who meets a tragic death by jumping off the roof in spite of his attempt to save her.
Hearing that Mr Rochester is quite broken down, Jane Eyre comes to him and becomes his right hand and the apple of his eye. They marry and their life is very happy.
Jane Eyre depicts a poor girl's rebellion against cruelty, injustice, the division of people into the rich and poor, the inhuman educational system in English charity schools. Another problem raised in the novel is the position of women in society.
The novel examines many sides of the circumstances of women, and Jane's words at the end, "Reader, I married him" show a new move towards freedom and equality. Jane controls her own life and, through all her difficulties and problems, becomes more independent.
Charlotte Bronte presents things in a realistic and satirical way. In Mr Rochester's house Jane meets the county gentry — uncultured, ambitious, cold and vulgar. They are contrasted with Jane, a poor orphan. She is honest, intelligent, brave and strong-willed.
There are a lot of emotional and thrilling episodes in the novel. Charlotte Bronte also has fine knowledge of the English language and she uses it skilfully.
Vocabulary
| ambitious [sem'bijgs] a честолюбивый apple of the eye n зеница ока bear [Ьеэ] v (bore; borne) переносить bridal ['braidl] а свадебный charge [tfa:c^] n забота |
to be in charge of иметь (кого-л.) на попечении division [di'vi3n] n деление dull [d41] v притуплять foster ['fbstg] а приемный
| sight [sait] n зрение soak [sauk] v промачивать (о дожде) to be soaked to the skin промокнуть насквозь (до нитки) sought [so:t] past и р. р. от seek soul-withered fssulwKfod] а изнуренный suspect [sss'pekt] v подозревать tear [tea] v (tore; torn) рвать tease [ti:z] v дразнить torture ['to:tfs] n муки veil [veil] n фата worn-out ['wo:n'airt] а усталый, изнуренный |
gentry ftfeentn] n мелкопоместное дворянство heart-weary ['halwisn] а усталый heiress f'eans] n наследница lunatic ['limstik] а сумасшедший manly ['maenli] а мужественный mock [rrrak] v насмехаться parson fpa:sn] n приходский священник plain [plem] а простой rebellion [n'beljsn] n бунт rid [rid] v (rid; ridden) избавлять
to get rid of избавиться seek [si:k] v (sought) искать
Emily Bronte
Emily Bronte wrote only one novel Wuthering Heights fwAdann 'halts] — her prose-poem. This book is regarded as one of the most remarkable novels in English literature.
It is a novel of passion, an early psychological novel. The central characters, Cathy and Heathcliff live out their passion in the windy, rough countryside of Yorkshire, and the landscape is as wild as their relationship. The novel is very original in the way it is written, moving backward and forward in time, and in and out of the minds of the characters. Again it presents a new view of women and their emotions.
The book is strange. On the one hand the plot is full of mystery. On the other hand the novel is very concrete: the time of the action, the landscape, geography and climate are realistic. The author of the book makes no difference between the supernatural and natural. Both work together to serve her artistic purpose. The mystery and the supernatural are used as romantic elements in her original study of violent characters.
Emily Bronte's characters and actions may seem unbelievable but they convince us. They are unique, and their violent emotions are connected with the Yorkshire moors where the action takes place. The moors are varying to suit the changing moods of the story, and they are beautifully described in all seasons.
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Emily Bronte very skilfully shows the reader her heroes' psychology and moral conflicts, their desires, passions, temperaments and human weaknesses.
Vocabulary
concrete [kDn'kiit] a конкретный unique [ju'ni:k] a необыкновенный
psychology [saf кю1эф] п психология vary [vean] v меняться
suit [sju:t] v соответствовать violent ['vaiatant] а неистовый
supernatural [,sju:p9'na£tjrel] о сверхъестественный
Anne Bronte
The youngest Bronte sister, Anne, wrote The Tenant ofWildfell Hall (1848) also with an unusual central female character and involving complex relationships and problems.
All three Bronte sisters faced these kinds of problems into the novel with unusual courage and directness, and together they changed the way the novel could present women characters: after the Brontes, female characters were more realistic, less idealized and their struggles became the subject of a great many novels later in the nineteenth century.
Vocabulary
directness [daf rektnis] n прямота female ['fiimeil] а женский . involve [in'volv] v затрачивать
Questions and Tasks
1. Name the three Bronte's — novelists.
2. What do you know about their childhood?
3. Where did they receive their education?
4. What profession was open to educated women at that time?
5. Why did the Brontes turn to literature?
6. What was their first volume of verse?
7. Who ranks among the greatest realists of the 19th century?
8. What was Charlotte Bronte's first attempt at prose writing?
9. What novel brought her fame?
10. What were her last two novels about?
11. Name the main subject of Charlotte Bronte's books.
12. What traits of characters do her heroines possess?
13. Give a brief summary of the contents of Jane Eyre.
14. What themes does Charlotte Bronte touch upon in Jane Eyre?
15. What can you say about the only novel of Emily Bronte Wuthering Heights'?
16. Comment on the plot and the characters of the novel Wuthering Heights.
17. What novel was written by Anne Bronte?
18. What is the Bronte sisters' contribution to the development of the English novel?
George Eliot (1819-1881)
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| George Eliot |
George Eliot ['dp:d3'elj3t] is the pen-name of Mary Ann Evans ['evanz], who began writing fiction when she was already middle-aged. Until then she had worked as a journalist. Mary's father was a land agent. She was born some twenty miles from Stratford-on-Avon, but spent her childhood on a farm in the Midlands. The girl studied at two private schools for young ladies. After her mother's death she left school at the age of seventeen. Since that time, to almost thirty she kept house for her widowed father. Along with her work in the house, she found time to study languages, biology and other sciences. Mary read a great deal and became interested in social and philosophical problems. She became one of the most learned women of her time. After she had moved to London she translated some philosophical works from German into English and acted as assistant editor of the Westminster Review.
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George Eliot best works are: Adam Bede [bi:d] (1859), The Mill on the Floss (1860) and Silas fsailas] Marner (1861). These books are a wonderful study of English provincial life. They deal with rural society — the farmers, the small landlords and the clergy of Warwickshire. Eliot's works are also rich in descriptions of the English countryside, drawn with exactness and a deep love of nature. The persons she writes of are for the most part the common people of the country and village, whom she knew from her earliest years.
George Eliot very skilfully reveals to the reader her heroes' psychology and moral conflicts. Their desires, passion, temperament and human weaknesses are always struggling with their moral duty. That is why in her novels George Eliot deals mostly with the problems of religion and morality. Eliot shows an emotional sympathy and tenderness towards her heroes, praising their human dignity, unselfishness, honesty and frankness, and at the same time pitilessly unmasking the hypocrisy and wickedness of those who make them suffer.
The works of the later period — Romola fromab] (1863), Felix Holt [ 'fi:liks 'hault], the Radical (1866), Middlemarch (1872) and Daniel Deronda [da'rrmda] (1876) — are much weaker. They contain less observation and fhspiration.
But George Eliot must be judged by the books in which she gave her talent, the books that brought her fame and made her one of the most distinguished English novelists of the period.
George Eliot's work belongs to the later period of the 19th century novel. She has sometimes been described as the first modern English novelist. Her great merit is a deep psychological analysis of the characters she portrays, and a keen observation of their inner world.
pitilessly ['pitilisli] adv безжалостно rural [' гиэгэ 1] а сельский
psychological Lsaiks'lrxfeikal] а психо - sympathy ['simpa9i] n симпатия
логический tenderness ['tendsnis] n нежность
psychology [saf kntadji] n психология unmask [An'ma:sk] v разоблачать
reveal [n'vi:l] v показывать wickedness ['wikidms] л злоба
The Mill on the Floss
George Eliot's most widely read book is The Mill on the Floss. It is an original study of English provincial life and the story of a brother and a sister. The central character is Maggie Tulliver fmaegi 'tAlrva]. As a child she is intellectual, emotional and strong in character. Her brother Tom is a contrast to her sister, being noisy, dull and shallow, yet Maggie adores him. The life of the children is shown in their relations to their parents and a circle of aunts and uncles. The reader sees the middle-class family through Maggie's experience. It is a hardworking, economical, proud and narrowminded family. When Maggie grows up she dreams about a larger world of the mind and emotions. Her ardent nature is never satisfied with "a little of anything". "That is why better to do without earthly happiness altogether", she says to her friend Philip Wakem. Maggie is ever ready for self-sacrifice. She thinks she has found peace in subduing her own will. But the reader doubts in this. So does Philip. He loves Maggie and therefore he sees that Maggie is only trying to deceive herself.
Maggie is engaged to Philip but she falls in love with Stephen [ 'stirvn] Guest, who, in his turn, is engaged to her cousin Lucy Deane ['lusi 'di:n]. She has to make a moral choice between the two men. The author solves Maggie's dilemma by a quite tragic ending. George Eliot invents a flood of the Floss. Maggie tries to rescue her brother from it, but both drown in the river.
Vocabulary
dignity ['digniti] n достоинство frankness ['frasrjkms] n искренность
emotional [i'imujbnl] a эмоциональный hypocrisy [hi'prjkresi] n лицемерие
fiction ffikfan ] n художественная лите- inner Г / тэ ] а внутренний
ратура inspiration [,msp3'reijbn] n вдохновение
Vocabulary
adore [a'do:] v обожать dilemma [dai'lems] n дилемма
ardent ['adant] а пылкий economical [Jika'rromiksl] а экономный
deceive [di'si:v] v обманывать emotion [ Гтэи / эп ] п чувство
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| self - sacrifice ['self'saeknfais] n само пожертвование shallow ['Jaelau] а ограниченный solve ['sbIv] v решать subdue [sab'dju:] v подавлять |
engaged [m'geicfcd] a помолвленный flood [ fl \ d ] n наводнение narrowminded ['nasreu'mamdid] а ограниченный rescue ['reskju:] v спасать
Questions and Tasks
1. Relate briefly the story of George Eliot's life.
2. Comment on George Eliot's best works.
3. What problems does she deal with in her novels?
4. Name her works of the later period.
5. What is the merit of the work The Mill on the Floss?
6. Retell the contents of The Mill of the Floss.
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