The Early 20th century English Literature 7 страница

For the two tramps, the arrival of Godot will end the wait. While the wait seems to suggest hope, the arrival of Godot suggests sal­vation, a rescue from the uncertainties of time. The boy, a messen­ger of salvation, never denies the arrival of Godot, but is unable to confirm it either. Hope keeps the tramps on the road, and hope prevents them from hanging themselves.

The characters in Waiting for Godot try and fail to comuni-cate with each other through language, and in this play, in which costumes, scenery and action hardly exist, language is the most important to the development of meaning. Apart from dialogue, silence is important to the development of meaning. The pauses that Beckett uses show the incapacity of words to express mean­ing.

Vocabulary

cynical ['smikl] а циничный desperation [^despa'reifsn] n отчаяние oppress [s'pres] v удручать pattern ['pastan] n образец resistance [n'zistsns] n сопротивление slavish ['slsevij] а рабски покорный symbolically [sim'bDhkali] adv симво­лически tramp [traemp] n бродяга transfer [traens'f3:] v перемещать transform [trsens'fom] v изменять, uncertainty [An's3:tntil n неуверенность

appraisal [s'preizsl] п оценка appreciation [э^ргцГГегГэп] n высокая

оценка attitude ['aetitju:d] n положение; поза benefit ['bensfit] v приносить пользу clown [klara] n клоун complementary [ ,kt>mpli'mentan] a

дополнительный confirm [k3n'f3:m] v подтвердить controversy ['kratrev3:si] n дискуссия,

полемика couple ['клр1] п пара

 

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Questions and Tasks

1. Where was Samuel Beckett born?

2. Where was he educated?

3. Where did he work after graduating Trinity College?

4. What did Beckett do during the war?

5. Where did he live after the war?

6. What does Beckett's literary production include?

7. Characterize the first period of his literary activity.

8. What plays did he write?

9. What can you say about the plot and the main characters of Waiting for Godof?

10. When was Beckett awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature?

William Golding (born in 1911)

William Golding was born in Cornwall, England in 1911. He attended the famous private school, and then went to Brase-nose College, Oxford, where he started to study science*. After a short period he changed to study English Literature. Golding graduated from Oxford in 1935 and started a career in teaching.

William Golding

At the outbreak of the Second World War, Golding joined the Royal Navy and was involved in active service throughout the war. The effects of the war on Golding were enormous and helped to create his pessimistic view of human nature.

After the war he returned to teaching, a career that he con­tinued even after achieving fame as a writer. His first novel, Lord of the Flies, was published in 1954 and was accepted as an immediate critical success. This was followed by The Inheritors (1955), a novel set in the prehistoric age.

Pincher Martin (1956) was followed by Free Fall, and then by The Spire in 1964. There was a pause in Golding's literary production, and then in 1979 he published Darkness Visible and Rites of Passage in 1980. In 1983 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.

The novel Lord of the Flies touches some unusual themes. It received huge critical and popular acclaim on its publication and became an important novel, often studied, cited and read through the '50s, '60s and '70s. Now it remains one of the most important contributions to English literature made this century.

The novel is in the form of the fable. A fable is a tale that tells one story through another. The characters exist on two levels: as indi­viduals and as types. i

In this novel a group of boys, refugees from an atomic war, are on a deserted island. After an initial sense of liberty and adventure in this tropical paradise, the boys begin to organize themselves into a little democratic society, electing Ralph as their leader. The group hold meetings, go on expeditions to patrol the island, start building shelters to live in, organize the supply of water, and decide to keep a fire burning constantly, with the hope of signalling to passing boats. The group is composed of "littluns" of about six years old and "bi-guns" of about twelve. Apart from Ralph, another of the biguns, Jack, helps lead the group, by organizing a group of choirboys into a band of hunters, whose task it is to hunt pigs. However, things begin to get out of control. The littluns are afraid by the idea of a "beastie" or "snakey-thing" that they believe lives in the forest.

At night the children suffer from nightmares, even when the rational Piggy, an unpopular but intelligent fat boy, tries to tell them that there is no beast on the Island.

The rational projects that they originally established are gradu­ally abandoned, and under the influence of Jack, the boys return to the savage state based around hunting and the fear of the beast, which Jack develops into a kind of God, the Lord of the Flies. Ralph and Piggy try to keep control of the group, but Jack is too strong and all the boys except Ralph, Piggy and Simon, a strange, solitary boy, leave the first camp and follow Jack to live a savage life.

The boys now become hunters, painting their faces, chanting and dancing, throwing stones and spears. Maurice and Roger act as Jack's assistants. The fear of the beast grows, particularly when

 

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one night a dead man on a parachute falls onto the island. The boys think that the parachute is the beast. Jack encourages the boys to leave "sacrifices" to the beast every time they kill on a hunt.

One night, Simon discovers the true nature of the parachute/ beast, but when he goes to the camp to tell the boys, he is killed, mistaken for the beast. After Simon's death, the hunters led by Jack, Roger and Maurice, kill Piggy and then decide to kill Ralph and to offer him as a human sacrifice to the Lord of the Flies. Ralph is forced to hide while they hunt him.

During the hunt, the boys set fire to the island and a passing ship sees the flames and lands to rescue them, thus saving Ralph's life.

Golding's development of the novel form during the 1950s and 1960s led him to an interesting experimentation with genre. He used the science fiction genre and the fantasy story to provide an effective narrative style for his analyses of human nature.

Vocabulary

outbreak f'autbreik] n начало (войны) paradise ['pasredais] n рай patrol [ps'treul] v охранять refugee Lrefju:'d3i] n беглец sacrifice [ 'sasknfais] n жертвоприно­шение savage ['saevidj] а дикий shelter ['Jelta] n кров, пристанище solitary ['sohtsn] а одинокий spear [spia] n копье

abandon [э'Ьагпёэп] v отказываться;

оставлять acclaim [э'Иеип] п шумное приветствие chant [tfa:nt] v петь choir boy ['kwaigboi] n участник хора

мальчиков cite [salt] v цитировать initial [I'nijbl] а первоначальный involve [m'vnlv] v вовлекать narrative f naerativ] а повествовательный nightmare ['naitmea] n кошмар; страш­ный сон

Questions and Tasks

1. Relate briefly the story of Golding's life.

2. What was his first novel?

3. What can you say about the plot and the main characters of Lord of the Flies'?

4. What form is the novel written?

5. What genres did Golding use in the novel Lord of the Flies'?

6. Name his other notable works.

7. Speak on Wiliam Golding's place in English literature.

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Iris Murdoch (1919-1999)

Iris Murdoch [ 'aians 'm3:dt)k] was bom in Dublin. Her mother was Irish and her father was an English civil servant who served as a cavalary officer in the World War I. The family moved to Lon­don in her childhood and she grew up in the western suburbs of it.

Murdoch studied classics, ancient history and philosophy at Somerville College, Oxford. During World War II she was an active member of the Com­munist Party, but soon she became dis­appointed with its ideology and re­signed. Some years later Murdoch took up a postgraduate studentship in philosophy. In 1948 she was elected a fellow of St Anne's College, Oxford, working there as a tutor until 1963. Since then Murdoch devoted herself entirely to writing. Between the years 1963 and 1967 she also lectured at the Royal College of Art.

Murdoch published her first novel in 1954. This was Under the Net, a comedy. Most of her novels, however, are more philosophical than comic. They have a wide range of themes, and show that serious novels can still become best-sellers. Among the best-known works are The Bell (1958), which depicts an Agli-can religious community, and a novel about the Irish rebellion in 1916, The Red and the Green (1965). Perhaps her best works from the 1970s are Black Prince (1973), A World of Child (1975) and The Sea, the Sea, which won the Booker Prize in 1978. It is con­sidered her major work.

Murdoch published over twenty novels. She was a prolific and highly professional novelist. Murdoch dealt in her works every­day ethical or moral issues.

The novels combine realistic characters with extraordinary situations, and many of them have a religious or philosophical

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theme. She is always concerned with moral problems of good and bad, right and wrong, art and life, and the nature of truth. Iris Murdoch died in Oxford on February 8, 1999.

prolific [prg'hfikj а плодовитый resign [n'zam] v слагать с себя обя­занности tutor [ 'tju:ta] n руководитель группы студентов

Vocabulary

ethical ['eOikal] о этический fellow [Те1эи] п член совета колледжа issue ['isju:] n вопрос postgraduate fpsust'grffidjuit] а аспи­рантский

Questions and Tasks

1. Relate briefly the story of Iris Murdoch's life.

2. When did she publish her first novel?

3. What kind of novel was it?

4. What novels are considered to be her best-known ones?

5. What novel won the Booker Prize?

6. What issues did Murdoch deal in her works?

7. How many novels did Murdoch publish?

8. What moral problems did^he touch on her novels?

9. When did she die?

American Literature

The Beginning of Literature
I            in America

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

In the 17th— 18th centuries there were founded a number of col­onies in America. At the beginning the Portuguese and Spaniards occupied the rich gold and silver fields of south America. The Dutch and the French began the colonization of North America. The Dutch created their own colony around the Hudson River. They called it New Netherlands. The French occupied the territory which is Canada today and the land around it. They called it Louisi­ana [Лиш'жпэ].

England played a very important role in the colonization of North America. The first England settlement was made at Jamestown in 1607. In 1620 a large group of Englishmen landed their ship, the Mayflower, near Cape Cod and founded the colony of Plymouth ['р1нпэв]. It is from these two centres, that the English settlements developed. The war of 1972 — 1674 between the English and the Dutch made New Netherlands an English colony. This made almost the whole Atlantic coast English. During the seven year war (1756 — 1763) England took Canada from France and Florida from Spain.

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After that a vast territory of land was under the English rule. Alongside with the wars between different nationalities of set­tlers there was a struggle against the native inhabitants, the Indian tribes. The extermination of the Indian people was one of the first manifestations of the appearence of the American "civilization".

There was little artistic literature in the colonial period. Eng­lishmen who came to America were not from the intellectual cir­cles in England.

Literature was the privilege of the clergy. They wrote mostly in the form of religious sermons, journals, letters and diaries. Early colonial literature cannot be regarded national American litera­ture. It did not reflect the life, ideas and thoughts of the simple people.

Vocabulary

cape [keip] n мыс                                      Portuguese [, po:tju'gi:z] n португалец
extermination [eks,t3:mrneijbn] n ис-      the Portuguese португальцы

требление                                           sermon ['S3:m3n] n проповедь

manifestation [,mEenifes'teiJbn] n об-    Spaniard ['spaenjad] n испанец

наружение                                              the Spaniards испанцы

Netherlands ['nedgbndz] n Нидерланды

Questions and Tasks

1. When were a number of colonies in America founded?

2. What countries took part in the colonization of North America?

3. What role did England play in the colonization of North America?

4. When was the first English settlement made?

5. Where did a large group of Englishmen land their ship, the Mayflower?

6. When was New Netherlands made an English colony?

7. Explain how a vast territory of land became under the English rule.

8. Characterize American litrature in the colonial period.

ENLIGHTENMENT IN AMERICA

In America the literature of the Enlightenment is closely con­nected with the War for Independence against the British Em­pire. It lasted for eight years (1776—1783).

The war ended in adopting the Declaration of Indepedence. A Federative Democratic Republic — the United States of Ame­rica — was founded.This event was extremely significant for the further development of the country, as it gave freedom and inde­pedence to the American colonies.

But the Bourgeois Revolution had its drawbacks. It did not abolish slavery, nor did it improve the life of American colo­nists, the working people and farmers.

The progressive writers of that time protested against the in­justice of slavery and the growth of reaction.

American literature of the Enlightenment period is charac­terized by its fighting character. The writers of that time wrote political pamphlets and revolutionary poetry. The most popular writers of the time were Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, and the poet Philip Freneau [fre'no:].

Thomas Paine (1737— 1809) was the most democratic repre­sentative of the American Enlightenment movement.

In 1775 he published his pamphlet Common Sense which urged the separation of the American colonies from England.

During the War of Independence he wrote The Crisis (1776 — 1783), a series of pamphlets, containing his comments on the events of the war against England. While in France he wrote The Rights of Man (1791 - 1792), a political essay.

Thomas Jefferson (1743— 1826) was a writer of the revolu­tionary period in America. Besides he was a lawyer, philoso­pher, architect, statesman. In 1776 as a member of the Conti­nental Congress he was in the committee of five to draft the Declaration of Independence. He outlined the principles of revo­lutionary bourgeois democracy. In 1800 Jefferson won the elec­tions and served two terms as President of the USA.

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) is the most significant repre­sentative of the Enlightenment period in American literature.

 

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He distinguished himself as a great statesman, a scientist, a jour­nalist, an economist, and a philosopher.

Franklin's most important pamphlets and essays were pub­lished in his famous Poor Richard's Almanac (1732— 1757) which played a very important role in spreading ideas of the Enlighten­ment period.

Franklin made a fundamental contribution to the Declaration of Independence.

Philip Freneau (1752— 1832) was the most outstanding poet of the Revolution. He wrote political poems.

A Poem of the Rising Glory of America (1772) was full of belief in the birth of a new world where freedom would reign. In the poem To the Americans (1775) the poet called for a rebellion against the British rule.

The Republican Genius of Europe welcomed the French Revo­lution. In his poems Freneau described his disappointment with the revolution as he thought that the American Bourgeous Revo­lution had not satisfied the demands of the people.

Though Freneau's political verse was his most important con­
tribution to American poetry, he wrote also lyrical poems of which
The Indian Burying Ground and The Wild Honey Suckle are the
best.                            «

Freneau also wrote prose. He published some letters and essays. Philip Freneau is considered to be one of the first truly American poets. He was the poet of American independence. He was the poet-journalist of contemporary affairs. All his life he fought for freedom in America.

Questions and Tasks

1. What is the literature of the Enlightenment in America closely connected with?

2. What was adopted when the war ended?

3. Why was this event extremely significant for the country?

4. What drawbacks did the Bourgeois Revolution have?

5. What is American literature of the Enlightenment period characterized by?

6. What did the writers of that time write?

7. Name the most popular writers of that time.

8. What were Pain's famous works before and during the Revolution?

9. Characterize Jefferson as a writer and a statesman.

 

10. What did Franklin do for the American Revolution as a journalist, and as a statesman?

11. Give a brief account of Philip Freneau's literary career.

12. Why can Freneau be considered one of the first truly American poets?

Vocabulary

abolish [s'bDliJ] v уничтожить                outline ['autlam] v обрисовать, наметить

adopt [a'ctopt] v принимать                                                                    statesman fsteitsimn] n государствен-
draft [dra:ft] v составлять (документ)    ный деятель

drawback ['dro:baek] n недостаток         urge [з:ф] v настаивать

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