Evelyn Waugh "Decline and Fall"

МОСКОВСКИЙ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННЫЙ ЛИНГВИСТИЧЕСКИЙ

УНИВЕРСИТЕТ

МЕТОДИЧЕСКИЕ ЗАДАНИЯ ПО РОМАНУ И. ВО «УПАДОК И

РАЗРУШЕНИЕ»

(для студентов II курса факультета заочного отделения)

Москва 2005

EVELYN WAUGH (1903-1966)

Evelyn Arthur St. John Waugh was born in the London suburb of

Hampstead in 1903, the son of Arthur Waugh, a prominent man of letters and one

of the directors of the puplishing firm of Chapman and Hall. Among Evelyn’s

ancestors were clergymen, doctors, and lawyers; his great-great-grandfather was

one of the best-known Nonconformist ministers of his time, while his great-

grandfather was a clergyman in the Church of England. Arthur Waugh was a

church-going Anglican, and Evelyn’s own early bent was religious. For a time he

thought of becoming a parson. His father sent him to Lancing School, an

institution with decided Anglican associations.

Ironically, in such atmosphere, Waugh lost his faith. In June of 1921 he

wrote in his diary: “In the last few weeks I have ceased to be a Christian. I have

realized that for the last few terms I have been an atheist in all except the courage

to admit it myself.” Primary factors in this development were reading materials

that encouraged disbelief and the influence of a particularly appealing teacher, later

to become an Anglican bishop, who presented his pupils with challenging

questions about Christ and religion and allowed the boys to present their own

theories and speculations without helping them to resolve doubts and confusions:

“We were encouraged to ‘think for ourselves’ and our thoughts in most cases

turned to negetions.” Waugh’s atheism gave him no consolation; he records that

during this period his diary was full of pagan gloom and the consideration of

suicide.”

From Lancing School Waugh went to Hertford College, Oxford. There he

studied in a rather desultory fashion, wrote for the college magazines, and, in

general, greatly enjoyed the abundant social life. Waugh gives the impression that

he did not take much interest in scholastic matters and that his years at Oxford

were those of a playboy. Considering some of the comments about his pre-college

and college days, one notices that he read very widely in his father’s well-stocked

library and that his classical training was more potent and pervasive than he

frequently cared to admit. In some matters Waugh’s non-fictional pronouncements

must be accepted with a grain of salt. For example, Waugh liked to pretend that he

had dashed off his novels in a rather off-the-cuff fashion. He generally posed as a

gentlement dilettante who had “little learning” and regarded his own writing

casually. In fact much thought, care, and artistry went in the production of his

fiction.

When it was determined that Waugh’s primary vocational interest was

painting, he left Oxford without taking degree and entered an art school in London.

But Waugh discovered that his ability in this area was limited so he quit the

academy and for a time became a schoolmaster. A career in journalism followed

his stint as a teacher and Waugh also bagan to write books.

In 1928 Waugh married Evelyn Gardner, the daughter of Lord Burghclere.

The marriage lasted only a short time during which Evelyn was idyllically happy.

While he was away for three weeks working on his second novel, Vile Bodies, his

wife became involved with another man. Evelyn was crushed by his wife infidelity

and at this point remarked to his brother Alec, “The trouble about the world today

is that there’s not enough religion in it.”

In 1930 Waugh became a Roman Catholic; without a doubt the

disillusionment of his first marriage was a basic factor in his conversion. Five

years previously, in atheistic despair, Waugh had attempted suicide. The world as

he had experienced it and the break-up of his marriage convinced him, in his own

words, that his existence “was unintelligible and unendurable without God.”

From 1930 on, Waugh’s life was for many years devoted to travelling and

writing, and a series of novels and travel books came from his pen. His literary

reputation increased in stature. In 1937 he married Laura Herbert, the youngest

daughter of the Honorable Aubrey Herbert, M.P. Laura Herbert’s family was

staunchly Roman Catholic, and this marital union together with his religion

profession gave stability and full meaning to his life. Waugh’s literary cereer

continued although he did not reach wide popular audience appeal, particularly in

the United States, until the publication of Brideshead Revisited (1945) and The

Loved One (1948).

Another biographical fact is of especial significance, and that is Waugh’s

distinguished service in the British Army – especially with the Commandos, the

Royal Horse Guards, and the British military Mission to Yugoslavia – during

World War II. Not only did these experiences give Waugh the opportunity to fight

in the defence of his homeland, but they also presented him with material that he

was able to translate into several important novels about British military life.

Waugh’s last years before his fatal heart attack on Easter Sunday, 1966,

were characterized by increasing tendencies to reclusiveness and by poor health.

His disillusionment with modern world was intense; but he never list his zest for

pranks (he disconcerted an interviewer when he appered for an arranged Paris

Review interview at London Hyde Park Hotel in 1962 by donning pyjamas,

climbing into a bed, and smoking a cigar throughout the interrogation); he

continued to exercise his comic wit at every opportunity (“I used to have a rule

when I reviewed books as a young man never to give an unfavourable notice to a

book I hadn’t read. I find even this simple rule is flagrantly broken now”), and to

take solace in spiritual faith.

***

One of the salient and most distinguishing features of Waugh’s work is his

abiding preoccupation with style. His vocabulary proved exceptionally rich, and he

was gifted with a special ability to choose the precise, absolutely correct word, and

his economy in the use of language has been unchallenged. Fowler’s Modern

English Usage and the Oxford English Dictionary were constant companions. He

once wrote a letter answering the query as how youthful authors could improve

their style. His response is worth quoting because he followed this advice most

diligently in his own career:

“The most valuable advice you can give young writers today is “Learn your Language.”

This means first a sound but not necessarily scholarly knowledge of Latin and a smattering of

Greek. Don’t worry your heads about your own emotions or opinions. Study the great writers

(and stylists particularly) of the past. Read a page of Pushkin every day. Enlarge and enrich your

vocabulary. Use the dictionary – full-sized Oxford if available – constantly noting the change of

nuances in each word. Learn strict formal grammar. Try to speak correctly and frequent the

company of those who do. Get the habit of grammatical construction so that you can’t make a

mistake. Keep Fowler’s Modern English Usage at your elbow. You must own a copy. Practise

imitating and parodying the styles of writers such as Boswell, Gibbon, Matthew Arnold,

Pushkin, Henry James, etc.”

***

Waugh had little sympathy with novelists such as Virginia Woolf, D.H.

Lawrence and the later James Joyce, who were delving ever-deeper into the mental

states of their characters. In the 1942 edition of Work Suspended, the first-person

narrator John Plant (who usually projects Waugh’s own views on art and literature)

says: “The alternative, classical expedient is to take the whole man and reduce him

to a manageable abstraction…. It is, any way, in the classical way that I have

striven to write.”

The stylised and objective treatment of characters is evident throughout the

early satirical novels. In Decline and Fall Waugh makes much of the fact that his

hero, Paul Pennyfeather, is ordinary, even uninteresting…

***

Waugh’s first work of fiction, Decline and Fall, is a picaresque comic novel

describing the adventures of an innocent young man, a latter-day Candide, from

the time when he is unjustly sent down from the Oxford college where he is

reading for the Church, to the time a little more than a year later when he returns

there disguised to resume his studies, having experienced in the meanwhile a world

fantastic in its nature, totally challenging to all his assumptions….

… The action is fantastic, highly stylised, suited only to a comic novel. Yet

it is an archetypal, masterful comic plot. The way in which characters return again

and again in different roles and guises … is part of the novel’s burlesque quality,

demanding that we accept a different set of probabilities than those in life. … From

the very start we know that this is a world which is arbitrary, without anything but

the appearance of justuce, the moral and legal codes being exploited for the

convenience of the characters… The probabilities are the those who have the

chance to profit from others’ misfortunes will do so, that those who have ideas will

suffer for them, that honour will not serve one well. The social probabilities are

just as free…

LESSON I

(Prelude, Part I Chapters 1-3, pp.35-52)

I. Learn the pronunciation of the following proper names. Record their reading:

Postlethwaite ['pPslTweIt], Alastair ['1lqstFq], Digby ['dIgbI], Augustus

[L'gAstqs], Levy ['lJvI], Beste-Chetwynde ['best 'CetwInd], Prendergast

['prendegxst], Tangent ['txnGqnt], Circumference [sq'kAmfqrqns],

Clutterbuck ['klAtqbAk], Humphry ['hAmfrI] Maltravers [mxl'trxvqz],

Sidebotham ['saId"bPtqm], Sebastien [sI'bxstjqn] Cholmondley ['CAmlI],

Solomon ['sPlqmqn], Otto ['2to4] Friedrich ['fredrIk] Silenus [saI'lJnqs],

Malpractice [mxl'prxktIs], Lennox ['lenqks], Potham ['pPpqm], Parakeet

['pxrqkJt], Lucas ['lHkqs], Vanburgh ['vxnbArq].

II. Find the following words and word-combinations in the text and give their

Russian equivalents. Get ready to reproduce them in the situations from the novel.

learned societies, in authority, past members, to do smb harm (do smb good), at

length, well-off, to get rid of smb / smth, to send down, to face the facts, for

personal reasons, on hand, a slip of paper, testimonials (a letter of

recommendation), to hold a diploma in smth, on the strength of smth, to have

good reason for smth, to be out of the top drawer, without more ado, to be

accustomed to smth, Do you take sugar in your tea?, to have (very little)

difficulty in doing smth, hard on smb, to be in the war, to put smb under arrest,

to try smb’s case.

III. Paraphrase the underlined parts of the sentences bringing out their meaning.

1. “For two years he had lived within his allowance, aided by two valuable

scholarships.” (p.37)

2. “Well, that saves a great deal of trouble.” (p.38)

3. “I have put you in charge of the fifth form for the rest of the term.” (p.47)

4. “That man’s all right, really,” he added, “ only he wants washing.” (p.48)

5. “Then I shal play that as my last card.” (p.50)

6. “Let me put you on your feet again.” (p.52)

IV. Explain the idea and comment on the following sentences.

1. “There is tradition behind the Bollinger…”

2. “You have led too sheltered a life, Paul. Perhaps I am to blame. It will do

you the world of good to face facts a bit – look at life in the raw, you know.

See things steadily and see them whole, eh?”

3. “…Llanabba hasn’t a good name in the profession.”

4. “We schoolmasters must temper discretion with deceit.”

5. “Paul felt this was not a moment for candour…”

6. “Still, it’s out of the question to shoot an old Harrovian.”

V. Make up a topical vocabulary list pertaining to the topic “Education”.

VI. Give a written translation of the following passage into Russian: “The

explanation of this rather striking contrast… a great deal of work had been done

very cheaply”.

VII. Get ready to answer the following questions. Write out the key words and

word-combinations that would help you to answer the questions.

1. What kind of society was the Bollinger club? Why was the Bollinger dinner

a difficult time for the college authorities?

2. How did Paul Pennyfeather get involved with a rag initiated by the club?

Why did the Juniour dons refuse to intervene?

3. What were the incaculable consequences of the evening for Paul? What do

you think could have prevented the unfair decision? What tone does the

event set for the whole book?

4. How did Paul’s guardian manage to take advantage of Paul’s dissmissal?

What sound advice did he give to Pennyfeather?

5. In what profession did Paul have to seek refuge? What ‘education

discontinued’ post was he offered?

6. Describe Dr Fagan. What did you learn about him and his school from the

interview?

7. What kind of educational institution was Llanabba? What was the history of

the place?

8. What does the reader come to know about the other two shoolmasters?

9. What instructions did Paul receive from the Headmaster?

10. How did Captain Grimes find himself in Llanabba? What according to

Grimes helped him to make his way in the world?

VIII. Translate the following into English using the active vocabulary.

1. Опекун Поля воспользовался ситуацией и лишил его наследства, дав

молодому человеку такой совет: «Тебе будет очень полезно взглянуть

фактам в лицо, как говориться, узнать жизнь без прикрас».

2. Наконец толпа разошлась, и мистер Сниггс облегченно вздохнул. «Все

в порядке. Это не лорд Рендинг, а всего лишь Пеннифезер – так что

можно не волноваться».

3. Понимая, что Поль Пеннифезер не сможет заплатить крупного штрафа,

власти колледжа решили просто избавиться от него, исключив его за

«непристойное поведение».

4. Друзья Дориана видели, как взволнован он был, и поэтому согласились

поехать с ним в театр.

5. Доктор Фейган признался, что ему приходится трудно с подбором

учителей. Особое недовольство директора вызывал капитан Граймс,

так как он не был «человеком надлежащего круга».

IX. Give a short account of Paul Pennyfeather’s background. Record it on tape.

LESSON II

(Part 1 Chapters 4-7, pp.52-75)

I. Find the following words and word-combinations in the text and give their


to keep house for smb, informal gatherings, to hold prayers, at random, on

account of smth, trunk calls, to look to smb to do smth, to make a hit with smb,

to do smb an injustice, to be in smb’s set, there is every reason for smth, to be

down in the mouth, to favour smb with smth, just my luck, to make

arrangements, to spare no expense, to draw a line, to omit to do smth, out of

respect, to be well up in smth, to run smth, to take to smth (doing smth), to be

up to smth, to have one’s eye on smb, to dismiss smb, in disguise.

II. Paraphrase the underlined parts of the sentences bringing out their meaning.

1. “I have rather dropped out of the conversation.” (p.54)

2. “There was my mother and the Bundles and Mrs Crump talking away quite

unconcernedly…” (p.54)

3. “I’ve rather got him into a mess.” (p.62)

4. “Owing to his party I have suffered irreparable harm.” (p.64)

5. “I can’t help it: it’s born in me.” (p.64)

6. “I cannot pretend to understand your attitude in this matter, but no doubt you

are the best to judge.” (p.64)

7. “I’ve been in the trade some time.” (p.75)

III. Explain the idea and comment on the following sentences.

1. “It’s not a gentlemanly fault.”

2. “The great problem of education is to train moral perceptions, not merely to

discipline the appetites.”

3. “He says great sensibility usually leads to enervation of will.”

4. “It was a severe struggle, but his early training was victorious.”

5. “It’s a test-case of the durability of my ideals.”

6. “For generations the British bourgeoisie have spoken of themselves as

gentlemen, and by that they have meant, among other things, a self-

respecting scorn of irregular perquisites.”

7. “It is rarely that the scholarly calm of Llanabba gives place to festival, but

when it does taste and dignity shall go unhampered.”

IV. Make up a topical vocabulary list pertaining to the topics “Education”,

“Sports”.

V. Give a written translation of the following passage into Russian: “Sitting over

the Common Room … to a treatise in psychoanalysis.”

VI. Get ready to answer the following questions. Write out the key words and


1. What did Paul come to know about Mr Prendergast’s ecclesiastical past?

2. Dwell on Paul’s first experience in teaching the boys. Did he find them

difficult to manage?

3. Why did Prendy wear his ill-fitting wig?

4. What was Paul’s impression of his first week at Llanabba?

5. Why did Paul choose to refuse the offer from one of the Bollinger? Why did

he feel “a great wave of satisfaction” when he learnt that Grimes on his

behalf had sent for the money?

6. What other letter did Paul receive?

7. Why did Dr Fagan decide to hold the earlier postponed Annual School

Sports? What arrangements were made on the occasion?

VII. Translate the following into English using the active vocabulary.

1. За обедом д-р Фейган сообщил, что в этом году соревнования в беге по

пересеченной местности не будут проводиться из-за паводка.

2. Пеннифезеру нечего было ждать поддержки от своего опекуна,

который не забыл упомянуть бедных родителей Пола и поспешил

выгнать его из дома.

3. У молодого учителя были все основания подозревать, что дети

устраивали подобные испытания всем своим наставникам в школе.

Однако это его нисколько не успокаивало, и он был расстроен.

4. Элиза считала, что профессор Хиггинз был к ней несправедлив.

Конечно, она не принадлежала к его кругу, но ей казалось, что он

должен к ней хорошо относиться.

5. В обществе с Базилом Дориан чувствовал себя неуютно. Он полагал,

что Базилу не следует вмешиваться в его личную жизнь. Но из

уважения к другу Дориан не желал показывать своих чувств и поэтому

пригласил художника к себе.

VIII. Write out examples to illustrate features characteristic of conversation.

LESSON III




dressed up (to the nines), to be at a loss to do smth, to have an encounter with

smb, an effort at smth, in the background, to the good, to get unnerved, to keep

a firm hand on smb / smth, the other day, to present smb with smth, to join smb

in smth, to abide by smth (decision), to bring an accusation against smb, against

a background of, to be intent on smth, inferiority-complex, to live up to smb, at

times, to be on one’s best behaviour.


1. “I was sure you had not, but one cannot be too careful.” (p.81)

2. “I was never any use at short distances.” (p.83)

3. “I know a cheat when I see one .” (p.87)

4. “Clearly the social balance was delicately poised…” (p.89)

5. “Well, we all feel the wind a bit since the war.” (p.91)


1. “…there was a spring in his step and a pronounced sprightliness of bearing

that Paul had not observed before.”

2. “One way or another, I have been consistently unfortunate in my efforts at

festivity. And yet I look forward to each new fiasco with the utmost relish.”

3. “ … and, Pennyfeather, if you would with tact direct the photographer so

that more prominence was given to Mrs Beste-Chetwynde’s Hispano Suiza

than to Lady Circumference’s little motor car, I think it will be all to the

good.”

4. “He took a note-case from his pocket, the sight of which seemed to

galvanize the musicians into life.”

5. “No one spoke of the race, but outraged sportsmanship glinted perilously in

every eye.”

IV. Add new words and word-combinations to your topical vocabulary list

pertaining to the topics “Education”, “Sports”.

V. Pick out the words and phrases the author employs to describe Mrs Beste-

Chetwynde. Comment on the way the character is introduced.



1. Why did Dr Fagan feel a mixture of detestation and relish because of the

approaching sporting events?

2. Who arrived at Llanabba to watch the competitions?

3. What did the Clutterbucks and Lady Circumference have an argument

about? What event prevented its further development?

4. What caused the division of the party into two hostile camps? Why was the

social balance “delicately poised”?

5. What in Mr Cholmondly’s manner irritated the other guests?


1. Базил был в полном недоумении: как могло случиться, что Дориан стал

равнодушен к судьбе Сибилы. Объяснения молодого человека лишь

встревожили Базила. Однако вскоре он склонился к мысли, что,

возможно, это и к лучшему: теперь Дориан не примет каких-либо

опрометчивых решений.

2. Казалось, ученики были увлечены рассказом учителя. Но тут одна из

учениц с грохотом уронила крышку парты. Учитель был вынужден

прекратить чтение и заменить его письменной работой, так как дети не

могли писать и хлопать крышками парт одновременно. По правде

сказать, не все ученики активно подключились к новому способу

испытать своего учителя, но те, кто не участвовал в этом, очевидно,

были на стороне зачинщиков.

3. По словам Марго, ее чернокожий друг вел себя просто идеально.

Остальные гости восприняли его появление в их обществе в штыки. Но

тот факт, что Марго Бест-Четвинд была чрезвычайно важной особой,

заставил их смириться с присутствием мистера Чолмондлей.

VIII. From Chapter IX pick out examples of epithets. Get ready to discuss their use

at the session.

LESSON IV

(Part 1 Capters 10-13, pp.94-118)



the daily round, to be none the worse for smth, to be much of a one for smth, to

give way, to get mixed up in smth, to come as a surprise to smb, to get hold of

the right end of the stick, to pull smb’s leg, to be the apple of smb’s eye, to

receive a summons, to be neither here nor there, fair and square, a week today,

by far, not by a long chalk, in the abstract, to subscribe (a shilling), to see little

of smb, to get on well with smb, to get on smb’s nerves, too good to be true, up

to date, to some extent, charges against smb, on purpose, to confess to doing

smth.


1. “It’s not becoming of him.” (p.94)

2. “I also resented the references to the Liberal Party. Mr Clutterbuck has stood

three times, you know.” (p.95)

3. “He just moved into a bigger house and went on writing away fifteen to the

dozen.” (p.102)

4. “He asked how he could make reparation.” (p.102)

5. “… the spelling in your last letter has been just too shattering for words.”

(p.103)

6. “I should be quite prepared to offer a partnership in Llanaba to a son-in-law

of whom I approved.” (p.105)

7. “He does not entertain at all, but he always has the best of everything

himself, sir.” (p.107)

8. “The service passed off without a hitch, foe Grimes’s Irish wife did not turn

up to forbid the banns.” (p.112)

9. “I was no end of a one for poetry when I was a kid – love and all that.”

(p.113)

10. “God’s own job, and mine for the asking.” (p.116)


1. “I hope you don’t think me a snob. You may have discerned in me a certain

prejudice against the lower orders.”

2. “Those that live by the flesh shall parish by the flesh.”

3. “Our life is lived between two homes. We emerge for a little into the light,

and then the front door closes.”

4. “Paul was the best man.”

5. “Married life is not all beer and skittles…”

6. “I’m getting an inferiority complex.”


pertaining to the topic “Education”.

V. Give a written translation of the following passage into Russian: “It was built in

the ample days … not long enough for the beds.”



1. What were Paul’s feelings towards Mrs Beste-Chetwynde?

2. What stories did Philbrick tell Prendy, Grimes and Paul?

3. What message did Paul receive from Mrs Beste-Chetwynde? How did he

take the news?

4. Why was Grimes so depressed about his engagement?

5. Why did Paul receive a summons from the Headmaster that evening? What

was Dr Fagan’s idea of his future son-in-low?

6. What place did the three masters choose to celebrate Grimes’s engagement?

How did Grimes explain to them the reasons for his marrige?

7. Why did Grimes find his married life rather hard on him?

8. What letter did Grimes get a few days after his marriage? What was his

attitude to the offer?

9. What events marked the end of the term at Llanabba?


1. Несмотря на то, что небылицы, придуманные дворецким, были мало

похожи на правду, многие были склонны ему верить. Действительно,

Филбрик очень умело разыгрывал своих слушателей.

2. Граймс был по горло сыт своей семейной жизнью. Он прекрасно ладил

с женой, но натянутые отношения с тестем действовали ему на нервы.

Он прожил с ним всего неделю, но уже почти стыдился себя, когда

чувствовал не себе надменный взгляд доктора. По мнению Фейгана,

Граймс не был джентльменом.

3. Последнее время Базил очень редко виделся с Дорианом и почти

ничего не знал о его жизни. Поэтому ужасные слухи, ходившие в

Лондоне о непристойных поступках и нравственной низости его

молодого друга, не могли не встревожить художника.

4. Когда освободилось место учителя в одной из школ в рабочем квартале

восточной части Лондона, мистер Брейтуайт был приглашен на

собеседование в министерство образования. После стольких долгих

месяцев без работы это предложение показалось ему просто

невероятным.

VIII. Write out set expressions and comment on the degree of their motivation.

LESSON V




by universal consent, opinion was devided, to exite comment, to do

restorations, to be responsive to smth, to be ordained for smb, to sink into the

oblivion, a general election, in consequence, to make a hero, to do oneself

proud, a creature of a different species, to conform to smth, to cut smb, ill at

ease, there’s no money in it, to fall short, to do proof-reading, to learn

shorthand, an officer of state, to give smb notice, on the grounds that, to pull

down (a house), a good omen.


1. “… the reporter … did not take in what she meant or include the statement

in his story.” (p.121)

2. “In ten years she will be almost worn out.” (p.128)

3. “He supposed he must have a sympathetic air.” (131)

4. “Heavy money, too.” (p.133)

5. “Peter is horribly fastidious.” (p.134)


1. “From having been considered rather a blot on the progressive county,

King’s Thursday gradually became the Mecca of week-end parties.”

2. “He supposed about eight or nine, but as they all wore so many different

clothes of identically the same kind, and spoke in the same voice, and

appeared so irregularly at meals, there may have been several more or

several less.”

3. “… and from the first showed himself as a discordant element in the gay

little party by noticing the absence of their hostess.”

4. “If I’d stayed at the Bar I’d have been a rich man by now.”

5. “It’s not till you get to my age that you really feel the disadvantage of

having been born poor.”

6. “He and Margot and Peter and Sir Humphrey Maltravers were just

insignificant incidents in the life of the house: this new-born monster to

whose birth ageless and forgotten cultures had been in travail.”

IV. Make up a topical vocabulary list pertaining to the topic “Housing”.

V. Give a written translation of the following passage into Russian: “Margot

Beste-Chetwynde had two houses … of this remarkable house.”



1. What made King’s Tuesday a remarkable building?

2. Why did Lord Pastmaster decide to sell the house? Why was the whole

neighbourhood excited at the news?

3. Why did Margot Beste-Chetwynde’s decision to rebuild the house cause so

much disagreement in the public?

4. Who was hired as an architect? Speak on Professor Silenus’s views of art

and architecture.

5. What impression did the house and its architect ptoduce on Paul? What was

his first day at King’s Tuesday like?

6. Describe the weekend party at King’s Tuesday.

7. What did Paul come to learn about Humphrey Maltravers’s life and career?

8. What was Margot’s offer to Paul?

9. How did Peter, Margot’s son, take the news of Paul’s proposal to his

mother?


1. Два преподавателя, Сниггс и Побалдей, с радостью ожидали, что в

результате беспорядков, к которым обычно приводили встречи

Боллинджер-клуба, колледж получит большие штрафы.

2. Несмотря на свои неудачные попытки наладить дружеские отношения

с детьми, Э. Брейтуайт верил, что дети отзывчивы на любовь и ласку.

Именно эти качества, полагал он, помогут ему, в конечном счете,

завоевать их расположение.

3. Последние месяцы миссис Вейн бывало как-то не по себе, когда она

оставалась наедине со своим суровым и грубоватым сыном.

4. Решение Марго снести старый дом и построить новый по проекту

архитектора-модерниста можно считать символичным. Для Марго

стиль эпохи Тюдоров был слишком «буржуазным», Отто Силен

понимал задачи современного зодчества и искусства как «исключение

всего человеческого», потому что все зло исходит от человека.

VIII. Pick out examples of metaphor and simile. Get ready to comment on them at

the session.

LESSON VI




to be after smb, good fortune, to be at a loose end, to be down on one’s luck, on

leave, to take an interest in smth, advance on smb’s wages, to afford smb little

rest, to have the heart to do smth, to be in store for smb, to be in the

neighbourhood, to be on a false sent, at any rate, to take chances, to decorate a

room, to make out a receipt, How are you off for clothes?, to be engaged on

smth, to accept an invitation, to come to grief, smb’s social advancement, a man

of the world, conscious of smth, a taste for smth (colour), every now and then,

to be in the way.


1. “That suicide didn’t go down well.” (p.138)

2. “… he owed him a great deal of his present good fortune.” (p.145)

3. “… Paul’s sudden elevation from schoolmaster to millionaire struck a still

vibrant chord of optimism in each of them.” (p.146)

4. “There’s heaps of time.” (p.152)


1. “It was the last relic of a great genius, for before that King’s Thursday had

been again rebuilt.”

2. “… his only difficulty in filling his place was the fear of offending any of

his affectionate new friends.”

3. “Paul was beginning to feel cosmopolitan… How patheticaly insular poor

Potts was, he thought, for all his talk of internationalism.”

4. “He hasitated, and then, forsaking, in a moment of panic, both his black hat

and his self possession, he turned and fled for the broad streets and tram

lines where, he khew at heart, was his spiritual home.”

5. “To Fortune,” he said, “ a much-maligned lady!”

IV. Make a list of words used to describe Margot at work.

V. Give a written translation of the following passage into Russian: “For some

reason or other, Paul’s marriage seemed to inspire … with weeping and hysterical

women.”



1. Whom did Paul meet at King’s Tuesday? What had happened to Grimes

since his faked suicide? What brought him to Margot’s house?

2. What did Dr Fagan write to Paul in connection with his resignation? What

did Paul learn about the state of things at Llanabba?

3. Who else visited King’s Tuesday that day? What was the purpose of this

visit?

4. What business was Margot in? What struck Paul about her conduct of

business? Did Paul comprehend the sordiness of the trade?

5. What were the preparations for Paul’s wedding? Why did the public look

upon it as a “romantic” affair? Why was the event a roaring success?

6. Why do you think Lord Tangent’s fate apart from the initial event is

conveyed entirely by allusions?

7. Where did Paul have to go just a few days before his wedding? Who was his

travelling companion on the way to Paris?

8. What part of Marseilles did Paul find himself in in his search of the place

given by Margot?

9. Why was Paul’s business more difficult than he had expected?

10.What came in the way of Paul’s marriage?


1. Профессор Хиггинз был немало удивлен, когда увидел, что у бедной

девушки хватило духу прийти к нему с предложением стать его

ученицей. Позже он заинтересовался этой идеей и решил

способствовать продвижению Элизы по социальной лестнице.

2. Пеннифезеру посчастливилось попасть в общество, к которому

принадлежала Марго Бест-Четвинд. Но Поля не интересовали ни ее

деньги, ни ее положение. Именно поэтому он никогда не смог бы стать

его полноправным членом.

3. Прендергаст не может не вызвать сочувствия у читателей. Его карьера

священника потерпела крах, так как он не захотел мириться с

фальшью, не желал притворяться и скрывать свои «сомнения».

4. Мистер Брейтуайт чувствовал, что его ждет еще более неприятное

испытание. То и дело он ловил на себе тревожные взгляды учеников.

Когда он напрямую обращался к кому-нибудь из детей, тот улыбался

учителю, как будто давая понять, что он не побоится бросить ему

вызов.

5. Джеймс Вейн поверил, что чуть не совершил срташную шибку.

Человек, которого он хотел убить, был, пожалуй, не старше, чем

Сибила, когда Джеймс расстался с ней. «Простите, сэр, - пробормотал

он. – Меня сбили с толку. Случайно услышанные слова направили

меня по ложному следу».

VIII. Explain the meaning of the saying “It’s a small world”. Get ready to speak on

the characteristic features of sayings and proverbs.

LESSON VII

(Part 3 Chapter 1-3, pp.154-174)



a lame coclusion, an old hand at smth, in a sing-song voice, to be intended for

smth, one’s predecessor in office, under smb’s care, to take (a) pride in smth,

broad-minded, to stamp out, associated labour, to take exercise, under the

pretence of (doing) smth, far-seeing, to ascertain facts, to avail oneself of a

privilege, a breach of the regulations, to lead a lonely life, with the most minute

care, to keep at a distance of, at hand, in a flash, to bring to smb’s notice, in

(prejudicial) terms, to be of a different opinion, to be used to smth, to deprive

smb of smth, to find vent in smth, irritation at smb / smth.


1. “Even then things were very flat.” (p.154)

2. “She rather feels the whole thing’s rather her fault, really, and, short of

going to prison herself, she’ll do anything to help.” (p.155)

3. “… I shall ever be able to make up to him for all this.” (p.156)

4. “Has the paste any nutritive value?” (p.164)

5. “Standing Orders are most emphatic on the subject.” (p.165)

6. “Dissatisfied curiosity contended in his thoughts with irritation at this

interruption of routine.” (p.172)

7. “But Paul did not reap the benefits of this happy reversion of tradition…”

(p.174)


1. “At first he pleaded guilty on all charges, despite the entreaties of his

counsel, but eventually he was galvanized into some show of defence by the

warning of the presiding judge that the low allowed punishment with the cat-

o’-nine-tails for offences of this sort.”

2. “So Paul was sent off to prison, and the papers headed the column they

reserved for home events of minor importance with “Prison for Ex-ociety

Bridegroom. Judge on Human Vampires.””

3. “The loss of personal possessions gave him a curiously agreeable sense of

irresponsibility.”

4. “Give hell to the man immediately below you, and you can rely on him to

pass it on with interest.”

5. “His eminent qualities, however, did not keep him from many severe

differences of opinion with the Chief Warder.”

6. “Sir Wilfred Lucas-Dockery felt very much like Solomon at ten o’clock

every morning of the week except Sunday.”

7. “… dispensing automatic justice like a slot machine: in went the offence; out

came the punishment.”

8. “Paul read wholesale massacres in the warders’s face.”

IV. Make up a topical vocabulary list pertaining to the topic “Crime and Justice”.

V. Give a written translation of the following passage into Russian: “The next four

weeks of solitary confinement … so desirable in the early morning.”



1. What were the charges against Paul Pennyfeather? What was his sentence?

2. Who visited Paul in prison?

3. What prison was Paul sent off? What was his first day there like?

4. How did Prendy find himself in the position of the Prison Chaplain? Why

was he displeased with his new job?

5. Comment on the way the author describes the Governor, Sir Wilfred Lucas-

Dockery. What was the Governor’s predecessor’s advice?

6. What were the Governor’s most notable innovations in prison life? What did

you learn about the so-called “system of progresive stages”?

7. Whay did Paul find his first weeks of solitary confinement among the

happiest in his life?

8. What did Sir Wilfred Lucas-Dockery think would eventually bring him fame

and recognition? Comment on his manner of governing the prison.

9. What was Paul’s “petition” to the Governor about? What decision did Sir

Wilfred Lucas-Dockery make?

10. What was the first stage of the experiment prescribed by the Governor?

What did Paul learn from his new acquaintance?

11. Why did Paul find the next stage more disquieting?

12. What led to Mr Prendergast’s tragic death? Why did it pass unnoticed by

the authorities?


1. Дориан надеялся, что все будут думать, что Базил уехал в Париж, как и

намеревался. Он вел замкнутый образ жизни, так что пройдут месяцы,

прежде чем полиция начнет искать его.

2. Предшественник сэра Уилфреда, полковник в отставке, посоветовал

ему превратить тюрьму в такое ужасное место, что люди сами

старались бы держаться от него подальше. Однако сам сэр Уилфред

решил, что заключенные, находящиеся в его попечении, должны

гордиться своей тюрьмой.

3. Когда Базил поинтересовался, не вызывали ли Дориана в суд по поводу

смерти Сибилы, Дориан почувствовал, что все это его раздражает, как

нечто грубое и пошлое.

4. Когда лорд Генри выслушал историю о первом добром деле, которое

совершил Дориан, он сказал, придерживается на этот счет другого

мнения. Дориан разбил сердце девушке. Теперь она будет презирать

своего будущего мужа и чувствовать себя несчастной.

VIII. Cive examples of metonymy and irony. Get ready to comment on the use of

these devices.

LESSON VIII




to be shy of doing smth, to do the right thing in doing smth, to face the music,

to set smb to work, to shut down (a school), to be cut out for smth, for good, to

run smth on a plan, to stretch a point and do smth, to risk severe reprimand, to

put oneself in the wrong, point-blank, socially ostracized, on no account, in a

low voice, to be out of earshot, on any pretext whatever, a law-abiding citizen,

to make a will, on a large scale, to carge smb for smth, to be much the worse for

smth, to operate on smb, without regaining consciousness, to be observant of

smb / smth, a distant cousin.


1. “Her son’s succession to the earldom recalls the sensation caused in May of

this year by the announcement of her ingagement to Mr Paul

Pennyfeather…” (p.176)

2. “He had ‘done the right thing’ in shielding the woman…” (p.176)

3. “As luck would have it , there was a fog next day…” (p.184)

4. “The driver is not in on this.” (p.187)

5. “Below, it was stated, with the usual legal periphrases, that he left all he

possessed to Margot Beste-Chetwynde.” (p.188)

6. “I’m sure this is all very irregular.” (p.188)

7. “I think this is an important evening for most of us … most of all for my

dear friend and sometime colleague Paul Pennyfeather…” (p.190)


1. “They give an appearance of industry which on investigation is quite

illusionary…”

2. “… it was torn and distracted bu two conflicting methods of thought.”

3. “… he felt a flush about his knees as Boy Scout honour whispered that

Margot had got him into a row and ought jolly well to own up and face the

music.”

4. “It was impossible to imprison the Margot who had committed the crime.”

5. “… for anyone who has been to an English public school will always feel

comparatively at home in prison.”

6. “…Grimes … was of the immortals. He was a life force.”

7. “Robbed of their uniforms, it seemed natural that they should treat each

other with normal consideration.”

8. “A time must come to every man when he begins to doubt his vocation.”


pertaining to the topic “Crime and Justice”.

V. Give a written translation of the following passage into Russian: “The granite

walls of Egdon Heath Penal Settlement … that there is very little work done.”



1. What kind of place was Egdon Heath Penal Settlement?

2. Why was it uneasy for Paul to solve his moral response to Margot? What

made him come to the conclusion that Margot was above and beyond any

moral code?

3. Whom did Paul meet at Egdon? What story did Grimes tell him?

4. What were the manifistations of Paul’s favoured treatment at Egdon?

5. Speak on Margot and Paul’s meeting. What news did she break to Paul?

Why do you think Paul was so little pained by it?

6. Why did Paul refuse to believe in Grimes’s death?

7. Under what circumstances was Paul transferred to Cliff Place Sanatorium?

What kind of medical establishment was it?

8. Why do you think Otto Silenus compared life to the Big Weel at Luna Park?

9. What did Paul choose to become after his mock death? Do you find much

difference between the early Paul Pennyfeather and the Paul of the last

pages? Comment on the author’s words: “In fact, the whole book is really an

account of the mysterious disappearance of Paul Pennyfeather. So that

readers must not complain if the shadow which took his name does not

amply fill the important part of hero which he was originally cast”.

10. How did Paul describe his curious moral confusion to Peter Pastmaster?

What do you think this explanation implies?


1. После всех приключений, заключения в тюрьму, так называемого

побега, организованного при помощи взяток и влияния Малтрэверса,

Пол вернулся к своим занятиям теологией. Единственным изменением

в его облике была его новая бородка, а в остальном все пережитое,

казалось, никак не отразилось на нем.

2. Дориан был уверен, что поступил правильно, когда спрятал портрет в

старой классной. Нельзя рисковать, что тайна раскроется. Ни в коем

случае портрет не должен был оставаться в комнате, куда мог прийти

любой из его друзей или знакомых.

3. В разговоре дети под любым предлогом использовали эти слова, и

всегда их голоса были достаточно громкими, чтобы учитель их мог

услышать.

4. Последняя выходка детей не могла не остаться незамеченной. Учитель

понимал, что им придется за это отвечать.

5. Мистер Флориан объяснил молодому учителю, что большинство детей

в школе считаются трудными и успели проявить еще в начальных

классах некоторое неуважение к администрации. Но школа Гринслайд

управляется по особому плану, который, прежде всего, способствует

духовному, нравственному и физическому развитию учеников.

VIII. Comment on the repetition of the phrase: “Fortune, a much-maligned lady.”

TOPICS FOR GENERAL DISCUSION

1. The role of the main character Paul Pennyfeather.

2. The principal objects of Waugh’s satire in the novel Decline and Fall.

3. The author’s techniques to achieve the commic effect.

4. Character sketches of: Paul Pennyfeather, Margot Beste-Chetwynde, Doctor

Fagan, Captain Grimes, Prendergast, Otto Silenus, Sir Wilfred Lucas-Dockery.

Books of reference

1. Malcolm Bradbury. Evelyn Waugh. – Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd, 1964. – 120p.

2. Jacqueline McDonnel. Evelyn Waugh. – Macmillan, 1988. – 168p.

3. A.A. De Vitis. Roman Holiday: The Catholic Novels of Evelyn Waugh. – N.Y.:

Bbookman Associates, 1956. – 88p.

4. Paul A. Doyle. Evelyn Waugh. A critical Essay. – William B. Eerdmans/Publisher, 1969.

– 48p.

5. James F. Carens. The satirical art of Evelyn Waugh. – Seattle and London: University of

Washington Press, 1966. – 195p.

6. Evelyn Waugh. The critical Heritage. / Ed. by Martin Stannard. – Lnd.: Routledge &

Kegan Paul, 1984. – 537p.

Documents

Evelyn Waugh "Decline and Fall"