Characters and characterization in Shaw’s plays

Texts

Bernard Shaw. Heartbreak House

John Osborne. Look Back in Anger

Samuel Beckett. Waiting for Godot

 

George Bernard Shaw “Heartbreak House”

G. B. Shaw and the theory of a “new drama”

“Heartbreak House”: Preface to the play

Characters and characterization in Shaw’s plays

Find out the means of characterization Shaw uses. Write down quotes which characterize heroes. Pay attention to remarks.

Chekhov’s motives in “Heartbreak House” (“ A Fantasia in the Russian Manner of English Themes”)

Which Chekhov’s play is similar to “Heartbreak House” due to its conflict, system of characters and atmosphere? Reread this play to prove the similarities.

 

John Osborne “Look Back in Anger”

 

English drama after the World War II

“Angry Young Men”

Image of Jimmy Porter in “Look Back in Anger”

P. Rogers about John Osborne: “In Look Back In Anger he touched the nerve of the time”. Comment.

Language of the play

 

Samuel Beckett “Waiting for Godot”

Theatre of Absurd: pure philosophy on the stage

Stylistic peculiarities of the Theatre of Absurd

“Waiting for Godot”

· What is unusual and symbolic about the scenery used in the play?

· What is the significance of the moments of silence in the play?

· Compare and contrast the roles of Pozzo/Lucky and Vladimir/Estragon.

· What is the significance of Lucky’s speech and philosophy?

· What does Vladimir mean when he says “What is terrible is to have thought”?

· What is the significance of Pozzo’s blindness and Lucky’s muteness in Act II?

· Beckett’s “world view.”

· Discuss characteristics of “theatre of the absurd.”

· Support the idea that Waiting for Godot is a play based on Christian themes, or support the idea that the play is an anti-Christian play.

· Who is Godot?

 

References and Bibliography

1. New drama in the early 20th century

http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/n/new-drama-in-the-early-20th-century/

2. Dietrich R. F. From British and Irish Drama 1890 to 1950: A Critical History

http://chuma.cas.usf.edu/~dietrich/britishdrama1.htm#NewDrama

3. Kruse A. Bernard Shaw's Heartbreak House: The War in 'Neverland'

http://ojs-prod.library.usyd.edu.au/index.php/SSE/article/view/440/414

4. Angry Young Men // Oxford Dictionary of National Biography

http://www.oxforddnb.com/public/themes/95/95563.html

5. Navratiolva E. The Absurdity of Samuel Beckett

http://www.samuel-beckett.net/Absurdity.htm

6. From Beckett to Stoppard: Existentialism, Death, and Absurdity

http://home.sprintmail.com/~lifeform/beckstop.html

 

“Heartbreak House”

Extract for discussing

CAPTAIN SHOTOVER. A man's interest in the world is only the overflow from his interest in himself. When you are a child your vessel is not yet full; so you care for nothing but your own affairs. When you grow up, your vessel overflows; and you are a politician, a philosopher, or an explorer and adventurer. In old age the vessel dries up: there is no overflow: you are a child again. I can give you the memories of my ancient wisdom: mere scraps and leavings; but I no longer really care for anything but my own little wants and hobbies. I sit here working out my old ideas as a means of destroying my fellow-creatures. I see my daughters and their men living foolish lives of romance and sentiment and snobbery. I see you, the younger generation, turning from their romance and sentiment and snobbery to money and comfort and hard common sense. I was ten times happier on the bridge in the typhoon, or frozen into Arctic ice for months in darkness, than you or they have ever been. You are looking for a rich husband. At your age I looked for hardship, danger, horror, and death, that I might feel the life in me more intensely. I did not let the fear of death govern my life; and my reward was, I had my life. You are going to let the fear of poverty govern your life; and your reward will be that you will eat, but you will not live.

ELLIE [sitting up impatiently]. But what can I do? I am not a sea captain: I can't stand on bridges in typhoons, or go slaughtering seals and whales in Greenland's icy mountains. They won't let women be captains. Do you want me to be a stewardess?

CAPTAIN SHOTOVER. There are worse lives. The stewardesses could come ashore if they liked; but they sail and sail and sail.

ELLIE. What could they do ashore but marry for money? I don't want to be a stewardess: I am too bad a sailor. Think of something else for me.

CAPTAIN SHOTOVER. I can't think so long and continuously. I am too old. I must go in and out. [He tries to rise].

ELLIE [pulling him back]. You shall not. You are happy here, aren't you?

CAPTAIN SHOTOVER. I tell you it's dangerous to keep me. I can't keep awake and alert.

ELLIE. What do you run away for? To sleep?

CAPTAIN SHOTOVER. No. To get a glass of rum.

ELLIE [frightfully disillusioned]. Is that it? How disgusting! Do you like being drunk?

CAPTAIN SHOTOVER. No: I dread being drunk more than anything in the world. To be drunk means to have dreams; to go soft; to be easily pleased and deceived; to fall into the clutches of women. Drink does that for you when you are young. But when you are old: very very old, like me, the dreams come by themselves. You don't know how terrible that is: you are young: you sleep at night only, and sleep soundly. But later on you will sleep in the afternoon. Later still you will sleep even in the morning; and you will awake tired, tired of life. You will never be free from dozing and dreams; the dreams will steal upon your work every ten minutes unless you can awaken yourself with rum. I drink now to keep sober; but the dreams are conquering: rum is not what it was: I have had ten glasses since you came; and it might be so much water. Go get me another: Guinness knows where it is. You had better see for yourself the horror of an old man drinking.

ELLIE. You shall not drink. Dream. I like you to dream. You must never be in the real world when we talk together.

CAPTAIN SHOTOVER. I am too weary to resist, or too weak. I am in my second childhood. I do not see you as you really are. I can't remember what I really am. I feel nothing but the accursed happiness I have dreaded all my life long: the happiness that comes as life goes, the happiness of yielding and dreaming instead of resisting and doing, the sweetness of the fruit that is going rotten.

ELLIE. You dread it almost as much as I used to dread losing my dreams and having to fight and do things. But that is all over for me: my dreams are dashed to pieces. I should like to marry a very old, very rich man. I should like to marry you. I had much rather marry you than marry Mangan. Are you very rich?

CAPTAIN SHOTOVER. No. Living from hand to mouth. And I have a wife somewhere in Jamaica: a black one. My first wife. Unless she's dead.

ELLIE. What a pity! I feel so happy with you. [She takes his hand, almost unconsciously, and pats it]. I thought I should never feel happy again.

CAPTAIN SHOTOVER. Why?

ELLIE. Don't you know?

CAPTAIN SHOTOVER. No.

ELLIE. Heartbreak. I fell in love with Hector, and didn't know he was married.

CAPTAIN SHOTOVER. Heartbreak? Are you one of those who are so sufficient to themselves that they are only happy when they are stripped of everything, even of hope?

ELLIE [gripping the hand]. It seems so; for I feel now as if there was nothing I could not do, because I want nothing.

CAPTAIN SHOTOVER. That's the only real strength. That's genius. That's better than rum.

ELLIE [throwing away his hand]. Rum! Why did you spoil it?

 

“Look Back in Anger”

Comment on the following quotes:

1. "If you could have a child, and it would die...if only I could watch you face that."

Если бы у тебя появился ребенок, а потом умер. Пусть бы он рос, пусть бы из этой морщинистой массы оформилось человекообразное лицо… Как бы я хотел видеть, как ты это переживешь. Быть может, тогда ты сама обретешь лицо. Но сомневаюсь.

2. "Oh heavens, how I long for a little ordinary human enthusiasm. Just enthusiasm -- that's all. I want to hear a warm, thrilling voice cry out Hallelujah!...Hallelujah! I ' m alive!"

Боже мой, как хочется хоть какого-то душевного подъема, хоть совсем немного. Просто услышать теплый, проникновенный голос — «Господи!» (Театральным жестом бьет себя в грудь.) «Господи! Я живой!»

3. "If you've no world of your own, it's rather pleasant to regret the passing of someone else's. I must be getting sentimental. But I must say it's pretty dreary living in the American Age -- unless you're an American of course."

Если нет своего мира, то неплохо пожалеть о чужом, пусть ушедшем. Видимо, я становлюсь сентиментальным. Но должен сказать, что в американский век довольно скучно жить, если ты сам не американец, разумеется.

4. "It's what he would call a question of allegiances, and he expects you to be pretty literal about them. Not only about himself and all the things he believes in, his present and his future, but his past as well."

Джимми называет это принципом преданности и требует его точного соблюдения. Преданности не только по отношению к нему и его убеждениям, к его настоящему и будущему, но еще и к его прошлому.

5. "Jimmy went into battle with his axe swinging round his head -- frail, and so full of fire. I had never seen anything like it. The old story of the knight in shining armour (sic) -- except that his armour didn't really shine very much."

Джимми ринулся в бой, размахивая топором, — такой хрупкий и полный огня. Я никогда не видала ничего подобного. Он словно вышел из старой сказки о рыцаре в сверкающих латах. Правда, латы его не так уж сверкали.

6. "One day, when I'm not longer spending my days running a sweet-stall, I may write a book about us all....It'll be recollected in fire, and blood. My blood."

Когда - нибудь я наплюю на торговлю в киоске и напишу про всех нас книгу… Она будет воспалять мозг и кровь. Это будет моя кровь.

7. "Why, why, why, why do we let these women bleed us to death?"

Но почему, почему, почему мы позволяем женщинам пить нашу кровь?

8. "I suppose people of our generation aren't able to die for good causes any longer. We had all that done for us, in the thirties and the forties, when we were still kids.... There aren't any good, brave causes left."

Я думаю, что люди нашего поколения не сумеют умереть во имя благородных целей. Все возможное уже сделано в тридцатые и сороковые годы, когда мы были еще детьми… Да и не осталось их больше, благородных целей.

9. "There are cruel steel traps lying about everywhere, just waiting for rather mad, slightly satanic, and very timid little animals."

Всюду расставлены коварные капканы, подстерегающие немного сумасшедших, немного кусачих и очень робких зверушек.

“Waiting for Godot”

“Waiting for Godot” may seem a quintessence of philosophical thoughts on different subjects. Try to find these subjects for the proposed quotes.

Example:

ESTRAGON. I'm going. (He does not move)

Possible subjects: inability of making a choice; divergence of words and actions

Quote #1

ESTRAGON What did we do yesterday?
VLADIMIR What did we do yesterday?
ESTRAGON Yes.
VLADIMIR Why... (Angrily.) Nothing is certain when you're about.
ESTRAGON In my opinion we were here.
VLADIMIR (looking round) You recognize the place?
ESTRAGON I didn't say that.
VLADIMIR Well?
ESTRAGON That makes no difference.

 

Quote #2

VLADIMIR There's man all over for you, blaming on his boots the faults of his feet.

Quote #3

A dog came in the kitchen
And stole a crust of bread.
Then cook up with a ladle
And beat him till he was dead.
Then all the dogs came running
And dug the dog a tomb–
He stops, broods, resumes:
Then all the dogs came running
And dug the dog a tomb
And wrote upon the tombstone
For the eyes of dogs to come:
A dog came in the kitchen…

 

Quote #4

ESTRAGON What exactly did we ask him [Godot] for?
VLADIMIR Were you not there?
ESTRAGON I can't have been listening.
VLADIMIR Oh... Nothing very definite.
ESTRAGON A kind of prayer.
VLADIMIR Precisely.
ESTRAGON A vague supplication.

 

Quote #5

ESTRAGON (feebly) Help me!
VLADIMIR It hurts?
ESTRAGON (angrily) Hurts! He wants to know if it hurts!
VLADIMIR (angrily) No one ever suffers but you. I don't count. I'd like to hear what you'd say if you had what I have.
ESTRAGON It hurts?
VLADIMIR (angrily) Hurts! He wants to know if it hurts!

Quote #6

ESTRAGON Charming spot. (He turns, advances to front, halts facing auditorium.) Inspiring prospects. (He turns to Vladimir.)Let's go.
VLADIMIR We can't.
ESTRAGON Why not?
VLADIMIR We're waiting for Godot.
ESTRAGON (despairingly) Ah!

 

Extra task*

Compare Chekhov’s play “The Cherry Orchard” and Shaw’s “Heartbreak House”

 

 

Stream of Consciousness

Время необходимо совершенно отменить, будущее должно как-то цвести прямо из прошлого. Небольшой случайный факт – скажем: упал цветок – уже может содержать в себе все это. Моя теория сводится к тому, что настоящие события на самом деле не существуют, так же как не существует время

Вирджиния Вульф

Read the complete text (not a shortened version):

Virginia Woolf. Mrs Dalloway — Вульф В. Миссис Дэллоуэй

 

I. Theory

How do you think why isn’t it possible to define Modernism? Is it possible to name features of modernistic writings? If yes, enumerate them. Illustrate these features with examples from the books you have read (English, American and European literature).

There are different literary flows united under the term “modernism”: existentialism, impressionism, futurism etc. Provide short definitions of each and examples (try to remember those books you’ve read). Do not just copy long and obscure definitions from dictionaries, try to understand what is important for each particular flow (p.e. surrealism – books about dreams).

What is “ stream of consciousness ”? When did this term appear?

Read an article from modern dictionary about “stream of consciousness” (Application 4)

How do you think, why did this phenomena become so popular in English literature?

Who is the founder of this “school”? Name the representatives (in English and world literature)

Find some examples of “stream of consciousness” in Russian literature.

What is interior monologue? How can you distinguish interior monologue and stream of consciousness? Give examples of both and try to prove that it is interior monologue or stream of consciousness.

 

II. “Ulysses”

Why is Ulysses known as the most influential novel of the 20th century? What is so revolutionary about it?

Can you discern any specific "message" or philosophy from Ulysses? If not, do you think there is some lesson to be learned from the numerous juxtapositions and conflicting philosophies presented in the novel?

Does Ulysses succeed in its goal of elevating the common man or does it come across as literary pandering to lower class people?

Are there any benefits to be gained from the difficulty of Ulysses? How would it be a different book if it were easier?

How does Ulysses re-work the Odyssey? Thematically, how is it similar to the earlier epic, and how does it challenge and re-evaluate early ideas of Homer's?

What is the affect and seeming purpose of the stylistic play in the novel? Is it simply maddening or enthralling or can you discern some reason why Joyce moves through so many different styles?

Why is Stephen such an impossible character? What forces make him feel so isolated from the people around him?

With a particular focus on Molly Bloom's adultery, what is the relationship between love and sex in the novel?

What is the purpose of all the literary references and allusions in the novel?

Why is the book so drenched in the particular details of Dublin life? Do these details date it and make it inaccessible to later readers?

 

Sources

Владимир Набоков - лекции по зарубежной литературе: Джеймс Джойс "Улисс"

Хоружий С.С. "Улисс в русском зеркале" – комментарии к роману «Улисс»

М.Брэдбери. Вирджиния Вульф http://magazines.russ.ru/inostran/2002/12/br31.html

http://lit.1september.ru/article.php?ID=200404306 – анализ романа Вульф

 

Extract from “Mrs Dalloway”

Pay attention to imagery, details, interior monologues

“Who can — what can,” asked Mrs. Dalloway (thinking it was outrageous to be interrupted at eleven o’clock on the morning of the day she was giving a party), hearing a step on the stairs. She heard a hand upon the door. She made to hide her dress, like a virgin protecting chastity, respecting privacy. Now the brass knob slipped. Now the door opened, and in came — for a single second she could not remember what he was called! so surprised she was to see him, so glad, so shy, so utterly taken aback to have Peter Walsh come to her unexpectedly in the morning! (She had not read his letter.)

“And how are you?” said Peter Walsh, positively trembling; taking both her hands; kissing both her hands. She’s grown older, he thought, sitting down. I shan’t tell her anything about it, he thought, for she’s grown older. She’s looking at me, he thought, a sudden embarrassment coming over him, though he had kissed her hands. Putting his hand into his pocket, he took out a large pocket-knife and half opened the blade.

Exactly the same, thought Clarissa; the same queer look; the same check suit; a little out of the straight his face is, a little thinner, dryer, perhaps, but he looks awfully well, and just the same.

“How heavenly it is to see you again!” she exclaimed. He had his knife out. That’s so like him, she thought.

He had only reached town last night, he said; would have to go down into the country at once; and how was everything, how was everybody — Richard? Elizabeth?

“And what’s all this?” he said, tilting his pen-knife towards her green dress.

He’s very well dressed, thought Clarissa; yet he always criticises ME.

Here she is mending her dress; mending her dress as usual, he thought; here she’s been sitting all the time I’ve been in India; mending her dress; playing about; going to parties; running to the House and back and all that, he thought, growing more and more irritated, more and more agitated, for there’s nothing in the world so bad for some women as marriage, he thought; and politics; and having a Conservative husband, like the admirable Richard. So it is, so it is, he thought, shutting his knife with a snap.

“Richard’s very well. Richard’s at a Committee,” said Clarissa.

And she opened her scissors, and said, did he mind her just finishing what she was doing to her dress, for they had a party that night?

“Which I shan’t ask you to,” she said. “My dear Peter!” she said.

But it was delicious to hear her say that — my dear Peter! Indeed, it was all so delicious — the silver, the chairs; all so delicious!

<…>

“Do you remember the lake?” she said, in an abrupt voice, under the pressure of an emotion which caught her heart, made the muscles of her throat stiff, and contracted her lips in a spasm as she said “lake.” For she was a child, throwing bread to the ducks, between her parents, and at the same time a grown woman coming to her parents who stood by the lake, holding her life in her arms which, as she neared them, grew larger and larger in her arms, until it became a whole life, a complete life, which she put down by them and said, “This is what I have made of it! This!” And what had she made of it? What, indeed? sitting there sewing this morning with Peter.

She looked at Peter Walsh; her look, passing through all that time and that emotion, reached him doubtfully; settled on him tearfully; and rose and fluttered away, as a bird touches a branch and rises and flutters away. Quite simply she wiped her eyes.

“Yes,” said Peter. “Yes, yes, yes,” he said, as if she drew up to the surface something which positively hurt him as it rose. Stop! Stop! he wanted to cry. For he was not old; his life was not over; not by any means. He was only just past fifty. Shall I tell her, he thought, or not? He would like to make a clean breast of it all. But she is too cold, he thought; sewing, with her scissors; Daisy would look ordinary beside Clarissa. And she would think me a failure, which I am in their sense, he thought; in the Dalloways’ sense. Oh yes, he had no doubt about that; he was a failure, compared with all this — the inlaid table, the mounted paper-knife, the dolphin and the candlesticks, the chair-covers and the old valuable English tinted prints — he was a failure! I detest the smugness of the whole affair, he thought; Richard’s doing, not Clarissa’s; save that she married him. (Here Lucy came into the room, carrying silver, more silver, but charming, slender, graceful she looked, he thought, as she stooped to put it down.) And this has been going on all the time! he thought; week after week; Clarissa’s life; while I— he thought; and at once everything seemed to radiate from him; journeys; rides; quarrels; adventures; bridge parties; love affairs; work; work, work! and he took out his knife quite openly — his old horn-handled knife which Clarissa could swear he had had these thirty years — and clenched his fist upon it.

<…>

For Heaven’s sake, leave your knife alone! she cried to herself in irrepressible irritation; it was his silly unconventionality, his weakness; his lack of the ghost of a notion what any one else was feeling that annoyed her, had always annoyed her; and now at his age, how silly!

I know all that, Peter thought; I know what I’m up against, he thought, running his finger along the blade of his knife, Clarissa and Dalloway and all the rest of them; but I’ll show Clarissa — and then to his utter surprise, suddenly thrown by those uncontrollable forces thrown through the air, he burst into tears; wept; wept without the least shame, sitting on the sofa, the tears running down his cheeks. <…>

It was all over for her. The sheet was stretched and the bed narrow. She had gone up into the tower alone and left them blackberrying in the sun. The door had shut, and there among the dust of fallen plaster and the litter of birds’ nests how distant the view had looked, and the sounds came thin and chill (once on Leith Hill, she remembered), and Richard, Richard! she cried, as a sleeper in the night starts and stretches a hand in the dark for help. Lunching with Lady Bruton, it came back to her. He has left me; I am alone for ever, she thought, folding her hands upon her knee.

Now it was time to move, and, as a woman gathers her things together, her cloak, her gloves, her opera-glasses, and gets up to go out of the theatre into the street, she rose from the sofa and went to Peter.

And it was awfully strange, he thought, how she still had the power, as she came tinkling, rustling, still had the power as she came across the room, to make the moon, which he detested, rise at Bourton on the terrace in the summer sky.

“Tell me,” he said, seizing her by the shoulders. “Are you happy, Clarissa? Does Richard —”

The door opened.

“Here is my Elizabeth,” said Clarissa, emotionally, histrionically, perhaps. “How d’y do?” said Elizabeth coming forward.

The sound of Big Ben striking the half-hour struck out between them with extraordinary vigour, as if a young man, strong, indifferent, inconsiderate, were swinging dumb-bells this way and that.

 

 

ПОТОК СОЗНАНИЯ – повествовательная форма (вариант внутреннего монолога), строящаяся по принципу свободных ассоциаций, произвольной последовательности, часто логической бессвязности фрагментов речи и создающая эффект непосредственной передачи реального функционирования психической жизни человека.

У М. Пруста это изображение автономности всего континуума жизни сознания, у Д. Джойса – единства и конфликта внутренней и внешней жизни. В случае Пруста это непрерывное движение мыслительного процесса, импрессионистически сосредоточенного на оттенках предметов и впечатлений и способного таким образом зафиксировать текучесть, изменчивость, неуловимость и, в конце концов, непостижимость жизненных явлений. В случае Джойса – в отличие от прустовского повествования - часто грамматически неоформленная речь, располагающаяся на пороге между сознанием и бессознательным.

Понятие П. с. ввел американский психолог и философ В. Джеймс; метафора «потока» указывает на текучесть и внутреннее единство процесса нервных возбуждений, непрерывно вводящих в сознание чувственный опыт, во всей полноте не осознаваемый субъектом, вместе с тем непрерывно отбирающим из этого безбрежного континуума непосредственных ощущений и впечатлений отдельные, безостановочно сменяющие и никогда не повторяющие друг друга моменты. П. с. в литературе – прием имитации, передачи на письме работы человеческого сознания как произвольного, логически неорганизованного движения фрагментов внутреннего и внешнего опыта, в котором отражается целостность и индивидуальное своеобразие психического состояния конкретной личности. Прием П. с. встречается у Льва Толстого и Достоевского, но систематически стал применяться писателями XX в. уже не только с целью изобразить некое особое психическое состояние, а как способ реализации определенного понимания человека и личности.

Характер целостности обусловлен высокой степенью определенности в способах отбора, выделения, акцентуации, эмоциональной окраски элементов внутреннего и внешнего опыта — всего актуально видимого, слышимою, ощущаемого, а также присутствующего в прошлом опыте, в памяти, в ассоциативном движении мыслей и образов, в сознательной фиксации на определенных мыслях и переживаниях. Так строится П. с. Молли Блум в последнем эпизоде романа «Улисс», который заканчивается словами «...да, я хочу, Да», воплощающими джойсовскую идею органического приятия мира. Однако в П. с. Блума и Стивена актуализуется не только включенность человека в иррациональный поток жизни, но и драматическое отчуждение героя от этого единства — у Стивена с установкой на неприятие мира, в случае с Блумом – на его приятие. Современная личность внутренне глубоко противоречива, она чувствует себя одинокой, отчужденной от других людей, от природы, общества - и она может сколь угодно утверждать свою отчужденность от мира и противопоставлять себя всем, но вместе с тем повествование по методу П. с. открывает и ее включенность в мир, говорит, как это происходит во внутренней жизни Молли, о необходимости и счастье возвращения в иррациональное единство целого, о преодолении раздробленности и восстановлении целостности жизни.

Как показал С. Бочаров, у Пруста метод П. с. как изображения чисто субъективного, произвольного движения психической жизни индивида утверждает автономность сознания, независимость его движения от внешней судьбы героя. Однако П. с. оказывается также и прорывом к реальности, преодолением отчуждения от нее, которое осуществляется посредством восстановления контакта с чувственным опытом, данным субъекту в непроизвольном воспоминании, идущем из глубины его памяти, из «темноты» его я. В результате «произведение, задуманное как искусственный эквивалент грезы, будет, таким образом, попыткой вернуть вещам, местам, памятникам их утраченную сущность или субстанцию» (Ж. Женнет), «глубинную истину». Процесс написания книги, выступающий как творческий процесс в форме П. с, оказывается способом постижения реальности, скрывающейся в «темноте моего я». Писатель, главный герой романа Пруста «В поисках утраченного времени», как бы переводит «иррациональные качества материи и жизни в человеческие слова» (М. Пруст), в стройные синтаксические конструкции, шаг за шагом пытаясь упорядочить, расшифровать, разгадать «истину» - то, что стоит за чувственно данным (Ж. Делез): неустойчивая, обманчивая, неуловимая, иррациональная реальность, непрерывно растворяющая те границы, которые пытаются установить ей наши привычки восприятия и разум.

Practical class 7. Narrator and Narrative Techniques in American Novels of the 20^th century

Texts

William Faulkner. The Sound and the Fury — Фолкнер У. Шум и ярость

Ken Kesey. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest — Кизи К. Над кукушкиным гнездом.

J. D. Salinger. The Catcher in the Rye. – Дж. Д. Сэлинджер. Над пропастью во ржи.

Vladimir Nabokov. Lolita — Набоков В. Лолита

 

Narrative

The role of author / narrator in postmodernistic writings. What is the difference between author and narrator?

Name types of narrator. Provide each type with an example (try to remember books you’ve read)

Unreliable narrator. Functions. Opportunities of usage.

Narrative strategies.

 

Questions for discussion

 

William Faulkner 'The Sound and the Fury'

What is important about the title? Is there a reference in the novel that explains the title?

One of the complaints that readers voice about the novel is that the book is difficult. Did you find the book overly difficult? Did the difficulty level prevent you from finishing the book? Or, would you have finished the book if you were reading it outside of a classroom setting?

Does the story end the way you expected? How? Why?

Would you recommend this novel to anyone?

Faulkner has said that the character of Caddy was his “heart’s darling”— her character inspired him to write the novel. Why is Caddy driven to pitfalls?

Do you like the stream of consciousness style or do you find it confusing? Would you read another novel written in stream of consciousness style? Do you feel that stream of consciousness was an effective way of presenting Benjy? Quentin? Jason? Why do you think Faulkner did not use stream of consciousness for Dilsey’s section?

Perhaps the single most important theme in The Sound and the Fury is the presence of time in human life. How is that relationship explored throughout the four sections of the novel?

 

Ken Kesey “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”

How do we know Bromden is schizophrenic?

How does One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest position the reader to reconsider what is sane?

What does Nurse Ratched and the Ward Symbolize?

What was the Combine and what did it mean to Chief Bromden in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest?

What is the turning point in Ken Kesey's novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest?

Find Biblical allusions and symbolism. How does McMurphy become a Christ figure?

Why is Bromden the narrator of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest instead of McMurphy? Who is the real protagonist of the novel? How does the use of Bromden as the narrator tie into the biblical allusions in the novel?

 

Sources

Орлова. Образ автора

Р.Барт. Смерть автора

М.Фуко. Что такое автор?

http://www.studygs.net/fictiona.htm - very simple explanation of narrative techniques

 

Extra task *

Choose an extract from any novel (Texts) of not more than 100 words. Choose the passage which is important for deeper understanding of the narrator’s image. Copy the passage down. Rewrite this passage having changed the narrator.

Change narrators as follows: Caddy in “The Sound and the Fury”, McMurphy in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”, Lolita in “Lolita”.

Reflect on this task.

 

I. Theoretical part

Ø Define the term “antiutopia”. What other terms are used to define this genre?

Ø Read the article from a modern dictionary and formulate main features of anti-utopia. Write these features down. While reading the texts choose those passages which best illustrate each feature. Prepare some quotes.

Ø Origin of anti-utopian literature. Representatives. Main works.

 

II. Practical part

«Nineteen Eighty-Four»: Discussion Questions

 

Ø How does Orwell depict the relationship between the three classes in the society of Oceania: the Inner Party, the Outer Party, and the Proles?

Ø The Party wages continual war on sexual desires. Why?

Ø One of the basic ideas in Ingsoc is doublethink. Explain this idea by analyzing O’Brien’s demonstration of it to Winston in the matter of the photograph and Winston’s attempts to master it before he is taken to Room 101.

Ø Analyze one of the Party slogans: War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, or Ignorance is Strength. What does it mean in the life of an individual citizen like Winston Smith? What does it mean to the Inner Party, to someone like O’Brien?

Ø Analyze the use of three or four Newspeak words to show how this official language of Oceania serves a political purpose.

Ø Compare the ways in which the figures of Big Brother and Emmanuel Goldstein affect life in Oceania. For instance, how are they used by the Party to manipulate opinion?

Ø What kind of memories of the past does Winston have? What do they mean to him? How do they, for instance, contribute to his sense of the unreality of life in Oceania?

Ø Analyze the different ways in which Winston and Julia rebel against life in Oceania.

Ø What qualities in O’Brien does Winston admire both before and during the time in the Ministry of Love?

Ø Analyze the significance of Winston’s dream of the “Golden Country.”

Ø The glass paperweight Winston buys from Mr. Charrington is an important symbol in the novel. Why does Winston want it, and what does it represent to him?

Ø What is the purpose of the verses from songs Orwell uses in several places in the novel?

Ø Is 1984 a satire on Communism?

Ø From the evidence of the novel itself, defend one of these two ideas: Orwell intended 1984 as a prophecy; or he intended 1984 as a criticism of contemporary societies.

 

«Brave New World»: Discussion Questions

 

Ø Although they were raised very differently, Bernard Marx and John the Savage are both dissatisfied with the society of the brave new world. What qualities do the characters have in common? How are they different? Compare their strengths and weaknesses.

Ø In some ways, Linda and Lenina are the most serious rebels of the brave new world. How does the experience of each character challenge the assumptions of the dystopia? Do you think Huxley takes these women characters as seriously as he does the men? Why or why not?

Ø Analyze Mustapha Mond's role in the novel. How is the World Controller different from the other characters? What is Huxley's purpose is putting Mond in Brave New World? What would the novel be like without Mond?

Ø Discuss Huxley's use of satire to make his point in the novel. Choose either the scene describing the Solidarity Service that Bernard attends or John's visit to the feelies as the focus for your argument.

Ø Henry Ford, inventor of the assembly line that made possible mass production, looms large as a kind of god in the brave new world. Discuss the specific ways that the society uses Ford's methods to maintain stability. How does Huxley use Ford and the assembly line to advance his themes?

Ø "Everybody's happy nowadays," according to the hypnopaedic suggestion. Mustapha Mond himself asserts that happiness and stability are the hallmarks of his society. What evidence does Huxley offer that this is not true? In what specific ways has the promise of happiness not been achieved in the brave new world?

Ø Does Brave New World suggest that we should seek something else in life rather than our happiness? If so, why?

Extra task*

Select a narrative or descriptive passage from the novel “Nineteen Eighty-Four” (not a scene in which conversation is used). Try to characterize Orwell’s style in it. What kinds of details does he use, for example? Is his choice of language appropriate to what he wants to say? Is he able to make you see and feel the world he is depicting?

Resources:

Gregory Clayes. The origins of dystopia: Wells, Huxley and Orwell // The Cambridge Companion to Utopian Literature.

http://books.google.com.ua/books?id=sFCuoqykV9QC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=dystopia&f=false

 

Names and naming in “Brave New World:

http://books.google.com.ua/books?id=D159Z5kJa_YC&pg=PR5&source=gbs_selected_pages&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

Апенко, Е. Настоящее и будущее по Олдосу Хаксли / Е. Апенко // Хаксли, О. Остров / О. Хаксли; пер. с англ. С. Шик. -СПб.: Академический проект, 2000. - С. 5-12.

 

Шадурский М. Литературная утопия: от Мора до Хаксли // http://www.gumer.info/bibliotek_Buks/Literat/shadurs/index.php

 

РОМАН-АНТИУТОПИЯ - жанр эпической прозы, В сущ­ности, «жанровый гибрид» - результат взаимодействия утопии и романа. При этом утопия становится предметом изображения. Обе исходные структуры деформируются: утопия, включенная в историческое время, теряет присущие ей абстрактность, замкнутость, «готовость», а роман, в свою очередь, приобретает черты повести или новеллы (цикличе­ская схема и герой в ситуации выбора в первом варианте; кумулятивный сюжет, катастрофа и пуант во втором). Отмеченные структурные особенности представляют собой своего рода «канон». Хотя роман в целом, по мнению М.М. Бахтина, - неканонический жанр, отдельные его разновид­ности с течением времени могут «отвердевать»: Р.-а. при­надлежит к их числу. В специальной литературе его приня­то рассматривать как пародию на утопию, «антижанр», пе­реворачивающий все постулаты исходного жанра. Идея гибридной природы Р.-а. (как жанра, по Бахтину, «пародийно-травестируюшего») позволяет рассматривать его как особый самостоятельный жанр, а не всего лишь разновид­ность утопии.

Основные его характеристики включают сочетание ха­рактерных признаков обоих симбиотическн слившихся жанров. Главный герой произведения либо доминирующий субъект речи, т.е. рассказчик, либо исключительно близкий повествователю субъект видения. Изображение колеблется между предельно внешней и предельно внутрен­ней точками зрения; описание государственного устройст­ва, в частности, определенных ритуалов, на одном полюсе уравновешивается снами главного героя (частная жизнь). На другом то же противоречие проявляется в соотношении двух видов вставных текстов: государственных (бюрократи­ческих) документов и продуктов литературного творчества героя.

Мир персонажей характеризует двоемирие. т. е. сосуще­ствование «утопического» («готового», замкнутого) про­странства и остановленного времени с окружающим миром, разомкнутым и включенным в исторический поток, в жизнь природы и индивидуальную биографию (историю созна­ния). При этом «остановка истории» сочетается с историче­ской, биографической и природно-циклической формами времени. Отсюда внутренняя двойственность героя (соци­альная, психологическая, биологическая и т. п.) и соответ­ствующая ей двуплановость сюжета, развитие которого строится на противоречии между личностью (внутренний план сюжета) и государством (внешний план). Организую­щую роль в сюжете играет идея испытания героя и мира, в связи с чем развертывание цепи событий представляет со-бой преодоление героем границ государства, а центральные и взаимосвязанные пункты в нем кризис (или катастро­фа) социума и идеологический выбор.

И изображении границы между миром героя и действительностью автора И читателя налицо сочетание «зоны контакта» И «Долевого образа». Герой и его мир. с одной стороны, причастны к незавершенной (исторической) со­временности читателя, выглядят результатами экстраполя­ции некоторых знакомых черт и признаков сложившегося социального устройства, а также нынешней личности. Но с другой стороны, главный предмет изображения - мир, стремящийся быть осуществленной целью исторического развития и потому изолирующийся от реальной истории -неизбежно дистанцирован от читателя как во временном, так и в ценностном отношении.

Р.-а. имеет, как минимум, два типологических варианта - «антиэпопейный» (включающий в себя иронически осве­щенный комплекс мотивов эпопеи, как в романе Е.И. Замя­тина «Мы») и «антиидиллический» (с пародией на идиллию, как в «Приглашении на казнь» В.В. Набокова).

Модель «антиэпопейной» разновидности Р.-а. наиболее продуктивна. К ней можно отнести наряду с «Мы» произве­дения Дж. Оруэлла «1984», О. Хаксли «О, дивный новый мир», К. Воннегута «Механическое пианино». В речевой структуре этой разновидности, наряду с инвариантными признаками жанра, выделяются композиционные формы «исторической справки» и «исторического комментария». В некоторых фрагментах произведений этого типа первона­чальная порождающая катастрофа (аналог эпопейного «первовремени») представляет собой войну. При этом обычно сосуществуют две различные точки зрения на нее, которые передаются как «объектным», так и «двуголосым» (М.М. Бахтин) словом. Изображенные ритуалы регламенти­руют в первую очередь поведение человека, а не его психо­логическое состояние. Основная сюжетная ситуация - со­стояние войны и во внешнем для героя мире, и в его внут­ренней жизни (борьба с собой). Мир и герой проходят в сюжете испытание на тождество себе. Мир представлен преимущественно в технократическом варианте, и сущест­вующая в нем внутренняя граница выражена пространственно. Декларируемые «равенство» и «одинаковость» персонажей опровергаются развитием сюжета. Происходит гибель героя (не обязательно физическая) и восстановление нарушенного ненадолго равновесия в мире (которое само представляло собою нарушение исконной нормы). Концепция человека подразумевает его потенииальную целостность в биологическом и социальном аспек­тах, при этом телесное начало с авторской точки зрения ценностно не снижено. Ядро сюжета - событие распадения и восстановления «эпической целостности» мира и героя, представленное в своем искаженном, «обратном» варианте (отсюда доминирование циклической схемы).

К «антиидиллической» разновидности Р.-а. принадлежат романы В.В. Набокова «Приглашение на казнь» и Т. Тол­стой «Кысь». В речевой структуре этой разновидности пре­обладает несобственно-прямая речь, связанная со слиянием внешней (субъект речи повествователь) и внутренней (ге­рой) точек зрения. Изображенные ритуалы призваны кон­тролировать не только внешнюю, но и внутреннюю сферу человека. Сюжет построен на основе кумулятивной схемы и представляет собой нарастающую цепь событий с неизбеж­ной катастрофой в финале. Мир и герой и в этом случае проходят испытание на тождество. Но мир представлен в большей степени в природном, как бы «идиллическом» ва­рианте, и существующая в нем внутренняя граница выраже­на психологически. В итоге развития сюжета герой перехо­дит в другой, «истинный» мир (как в случае «Приглашения на казнь») или к началу нового мира (в случае романа «Кысь»). Система персонажей построена на противопос­тавлении «естественной» внутренней жизни героя внешнему миру, личности - гротескным персонажам (людям-куклам, людям-животным). Концепция человека, выраженная в типе героя, подразумевает доминирование в нем духовного нача­ла в противовес телесному.

Романы-антиутопии - порождение XX в. Реальное мас­штабное воплощение утопических проектов преобразования общества и первые результаты этих попыток вызвали реак­цию, в том числе в литературе. Характерно, что первые Р.-а. долгое время считались в России жанром «буржуазной ли­тературы», порочившим действительность Советского госу­дарства. Однако дальнейшее развитие социального экспе­римента в стране не сгладило противоречий между идеалом и реальностью: история Р.-а. несет в себе их отражение. Наиболее острые ключевые моменты общественно-политической жизни в России XX в. сразу вызывают подъ­ем интереса к жанру. По мнению исследователей, выделяет­ся три узловых этапа в процессе развития романа-антиутопии: 1900-1920-е годы; 60-е годы и 80-е годы XX столетия. «Образцом» Р.-а. считается произведение Е.И. За­мятина «Мы». Дж. Оруэллу даже пришлось пережить обви­нения в подражательстве (по поводу романа «1984»). Ана­логичные обвинения вынужден был опровергать и ВВ. На­боков, так как в «Приглашении на казнь» критики усмотре­ли отдельные сюжетные повороты, отсылающие уже к ро­ману Дж. Оруэлла. Конечно, речь в этих случаях должна ид­ти о воспроизводимости быстро «отвердевающей» жанро­вой структуры, «канона» Р.-а.

Texts

Bernard Shaw. Heartbreak House

John Osborne. Look Back in Anger

Samuel Beckett. Waiting for Godot

 

George Bernard Shaw “Heartbreak House”

G. B. Shaw and the theory of a “new drama”

“Heartbreak House”: Preface to the play

Characters and characterization in Shaw’s plays

Find out the means of characterization Shaw uses. Write down quotes which characterize heroes. Pay attention to remarks.