The Painted Veil by W.S. Maugham

МОСКОВСКИЙ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННЫЙ ИНСТИТУТ МЕЖДУНАРОДНЫХ ОТНОШЕНИЙ (УНИВЕРСИТЕТ)

МИД РФ

Разработка по домашнему чтению к книге:

“The Painted Veil” by W.S. Maugham

Составитель: Рокоссовская Н.К.

Москва 2002

Part 1

Chapters (I-XI) pp.

I.Active Vocabulary.

-to pull oneself together (12)

-to get round sb (15)

-to count on sb (15)

-to resist a temptation (16)

-to be (un)faithful to sb (17)

-to reconcile oneself to (18)

-to reproach sb for sth (19)

-to stand by sb (21)

-a solicitor

-to despise (23)

-to stand for parliament (23)

-constituency (23)

-to conceal sth (24)

-to justify sb/sth

-to set one’s hopes on sb (25)

-to frustrate one’s hopes (25)

-to encourage

a) Find the sentences with these words and reproduce the situations.

Paraphrase:

… we’re in for it (p.12).
Do you feel up to going out (p.13)?
…there was no reason for her to put on airs (p.18).
My advice to you is to sit tight.
She nagged him without mercy (p. 23).
…money for odds and ends (p. 25).
… to whom small talk didn’t come easily (p. 25).
… she expected to make up for all the disappointments of her career (p. 26).
… who would jump at the chance (p. 27).
… to give Kitty a piece of her very unpleasant mind (p. 28).
… she got her off her hands.

Comment or explain:

How unfortunate to be called Dorothy! It dated you (p. 17).
… as the wife of the government bacteriologist she was of no particular consequence (p. 19).
From a social standpoint the man of science does not exist (p. 19).
… he was not such a fool as to put up the back of the Assistant Colonial Secretary (p. 20).
He had said that he would stand by her, and if the worst come to the worst…
It (photo) had been done when he took silk and it represented him in a wig and gown. (p. 22)
A bird in the hand was worth two in the bush (p.24).
Mrs. Garstin did not mince her words in the domestic circle and she warned her daughter that she would miss her market (p. 27).
Kitty spoke with her tongue in her cheek, … (p. 33)

Questions and Topics for discussion.

Where is the scene laid?
Speak of Kitty and Charles’s reaction to the incident.
How did Kitty regard the situation she found herself in? How did Charles behave in the predicament? What did Kitty find attractive in Townsend?
Speak about Kitty’s social background.

a) Kitty’s mother

What kind of woman was Mrs. Garstin? What were her ambitions? Why did she set her hopes on her daughters? Why was her influence on Kitty so great?

b) Kitty’s father

Speak on Mr. Garstin’s character and his position in society. What were the relations between Mr. Garstin and his wife? What was Kitty’s attitude to her father? Why did he have so little influence?

Speak on Walter Fane, his character, his social standing, accomplishments. Where did Walter meet Kitty? What impression did she make on him? Did Walter judge Kitty accurately?
What motives made Kitty marry Walter? Was he a match for her? Why was their marriage a mistake? Who was to blame for it?
Does this mistake justify Kitty’s unfaithfulness?
Say what you think of faithfulness as a human value.

Part 2

Chapters XII-XXII (pp. 36 – 58)

I.Active Vocabulary.

-to gratify one’s wish (37)

-to do sb a favour (37)

-to offend sb (37)

-considerate (37)

-casual (37)

-to disconcert sb (38)

-Assistant Colonial Secretary (40)

-feel at ease (40)

-to exasperate (42)

-to tease sb (44)

-to (mis) judge sb (45)

-to do sth by stealth (47)

-do sb justice (48)

-repulsive (50)

-be fed up with

-to speak at length (51)

-to make (kick) a row (55)

-to let sb down (58)

a) Find the sentences with these words and reproduce the situations.

II.Paraphrase:

… the government bacteriologist was no great fry (39).
He put her off with a jest (39).
Kitty was on the defensive (40).
He was always ready to do anyone a good turn (42).
… the Townsends had private means (43).
He never let red tape interfere (42).
He took pains to keep it (46).
…ladies trying to indulge in small talk (59).
… if Walter put his back up (60).

III.Comment or explain:

He (Charles) plays a winning hand very well, but when he has bad cards he goes all to pieces (41).
… that Walter knew the truth, and if he didn’t it was better perhaps to leave well alone (47).
If he (Walter) wanted to make a scene, it was his lookout; he must not be surprised if he got more than he bargained (49).
He danced rottenly, he was a wet blanket at a party (50).
… a fellow who’d care to wash a lot of dirty linen in public (55).
… it’s to Walter’s interest to keep on the right side of me (56).
… Charlie was right when he suggested that Walter knew which side his bread was buttered.

IV.Questions and Topics for Discussion.

Speak about Walter Fane as seen by Kitty. What qualities exasperated Kitty? What was his social standing? Why wasn’t he popular in the colony?
Speak of Kitty’s acquaintance with Charles Townsend. What attracted Kitty to him? Why did she make so much of Townsend’s accomplishments? What were Charlie’s plans for the future as far as his career was concerned? What was Charlie’s attitude towards his wife and what held them together? What hopes did Kitty set on Charlie?
Discuss how Townsend regarded the situation and its possible outcome? Why was he sure that Walter would make no row? Why did Charlie try to persuade Kitty to leave things as they were?
How did Walter take the shock? What was his state of mind?
What surprised and puzzled Kitty most in the circumstances?
In what way was Kitty’s love affair predetermined by her upbringing?

Part 3

Chapters XXII-XXVII (pp. 60 – 84)

I.Active Vocabulary.

-epidemic of cholera (62)

-a convent (62)

-of one’s own free will (63)

-to mock sb (64)

-on sb’s account (65)

-commonplace (67)

-second-rate (67)

-marry sb for convenience (67)]

-to cope with sth (68)

-confidence (70)

-to gossip (70)

-to deceive (71)

-to give sb away (72)

-to bring charges against (72)

-to make a condition (74)

-get infected (81)

-to expose sb to sth (82)

a) Find the sentences with these words and reproduce the situations.

II.Paraphrase:

I should be frightened out of my wits (64).
She was recovering her nerve (65).
Did he tell you that in so many words … (66)
But she kept her temper in check (68).
We shall be able to square your husband somehow (73).
… I should make a clean breast of it to Dorothy (76).
… she could persuade him to hold his tongue (76).
… when there’s been cholera and I haven’t turned a hair (80).
… I can’t make head or tail out of what you are saying (80).
… the best way to understand a man is to put yourself in his shoes (80).
… there is no reason to get the wind up about it (81).
… he could not make her out (83).

III.Comment or explain:

I shall immediately file my petition (64).
Townsend will marry you only if he is co-respondent (65).
They say there is no time like the present (69).
You didn’t commit yourself, did you (71).
… we can’t take it lying down (73).
I know that every man has his price (74).
If Walter has made up his mind to bring an action… (74)
… and it’s a damned soft job to be a Colonial Governor (77).
Women are always unfair and they generally manage to put a man in the wrong (83).

IV.Questions and Topics for Discussion.

What news did Walter bring? What kind of place was Mei-tan-fu? What was Kitty’s first thought when she heard the news? What were the motives of Kitty’s refusal to accompany Walter?
Why did Walter bring the subject of Mei-tan-fu before mentioning their divorce? Why had Walter, as he said himself, married Kitty?
Speak of Kitty’s visit to Townsend’s office. Explain his reaction to her coming and for his inconsistent behaviour. What worried him in the situation? What steps was he prepared to take against Walter? Why didn’t Charlie want to divorce his wife? What proves that the mess Townsend got into was not the first in his life.
Discuss the drama Kitty had to live through within one day. What offended her most of all during the conversation with Townsend? What price did she have to pay for her illusions?
Do you think Walter had any right to expose his wife to such danger?

Part 4

Chapters XXVIII-XXXVIII (pp. 84 – 104)

I.Active Vocabulary.

-to be conscious of sth (86)

-to make a fool of oneself (86)

-to deserve (86)

-to sacrifice (88)

-Deputy Commissioner (90)

-a missionary (91)

-sober (91)

-a martyr (91)

-to inoculate (92)

-to take precautions (92)

-to be on leave (93)

-to boast (93)

-panic-stricken (97)

-funeral (97)

-a well-bread woman (100)

-to do a service (99)

-infatuation (101)

-be infatuated with sb

-complacency (101)

a) Reproduce the situation and the sentences with these words.

II.Paraphrase.

She had been taken anawares. (86)
… she allowed herself to give way. (86)
… it had a significance which she felt but could not put into
words. (89)
… it became evident that he was far from sober. (93)
He is the sort that gets on. (93)
… when a man in a rather high position puts on no frills…

III.Comment or explain.

It was a trick which accorded very well with his sardonic
humour. (87)
Many waters could not quench love. (88)
… if the city was not given over to riot and arson it was due to his determination. (97)
… her mother would make her see very plainly that having married her off, she counted on being rid of her. (98)
That is his stock in trade. (98)
He knows all the official ropes. (99)
She says she’d like to be able to make friends of the poor little things who fall to Charlie. (100)

IV.Questions and Topics for Discussion.

What was Kitty’s state of mind while she was travelling to Mei-tan-fu? What questions did she ask herself? Did she have answers to them? Why did she think that “she was finished with life”?
Speak of the epidemic and the state of things in Mei-tan-fu. What were her feelings when she was looking at the town? What impression did their new home make on her? What was Kitty busy with all days long? What about Walter’s working day? What did Kitty know about Walter’s work? Why had Walter been unpopular in Hong Kong? Why was it different in Mei-tan-fu?
Speak about Waddington, his character, his social position, the way he treated life, people at large and the situation in Mei-tan-fu. Why did Kitty find Waddington’s company refreshing? What drew them together? What conclusions did Waddington make concerning the relationship between Kitty and Walter?
Discuss the change in Kitty’s attitude to Townsend. Did Waddington guess why Kitty started talking about Charles? What was his opinion of Charles? What words hurt Kitty most? Why?

Part 5

Chapters XXXIX-XLIX (pp. 104 – 138)

I.Active Vocabulary.

-malice (114)

-a confirmed drunkard (114)

-to come to one’s rescue (114)

-an infirmary (115)

-an orphan (115)

-charity (115)

-repulsive (117)

-to be short of smth (118)

-to fall a victim to smth (119)

-to baptize (120)

-from curiosity (121)

-to praise smb/smth (122)

-contempt (122)

-homesickness

-to ascribe some qualities to smb

-to commit adultery (129)

-to supervise smb/smth (134)

-to cope with (135)

a) Reproduce the situations and the sentences with these words.

II.Paraphrase.

You could have knocked me down with a feather. (106)
… he never hesitated to speak his mind. (107)
… otherwise they will not take the trouble, but do away with
them. (117)
I suppose I shouldn’t have been taken in by him … (126)
They are very shorthanded … (127)
He must have suggested it only to frighten her and to get back on Charlie. (128)
It’s like reproaching someone who has no ear for music … (129)
No, it is out of the question. (134)

III.Comment or explain.

… we English have no strong attachment to the soil, we can make ourselves at home in any part of the world. (111)
But to all that moving experience there had been a shadow (a dark lining to the silver cloud) …, which disconcerted her. (124)
They spoke a different language, not only of the tongue but of the heart. (124)
If I were you I’d leave well alone, Kitty. (126)
He told her nothing of his work, but even in the old days he had been reticent on this; he was not by nature expansive. (127)
It was all make-believe that he had lived on. (129)
… but the Mother Superior paid no attention to her entreaties and Kitty stood sufficiently in awe of her not to be importunate. (136)

IV.Questions and Topics for Discussion.

Speak about the convent, its history, the role it played in the life of the city.
What kind of woman was the Mother Superior? What was the most striking thing about her? What did Kitty learn about the nuns and their work? Find proof that the nuns had sacrificed their lives for other people. What was Waddington’s opinion of the Mother Superior and the nuns? What was the difference between the Protestant missionaries and the nuns?
Speak about the people and the things that struck Kitty at the convent. Why did she make up her mind to offer her help to the nuns? What work was she set to do there? How did she take its repulsive sides? What made Kitty realize that she was still a “casual stranger” to the nuns. What did she learn about her husband? Did it make her form another opinion of him?
Comment on Kitty and Walter’s conversation about their future and past. What was Kitty’s new view on her adultery? What was their in their conversation that exasperated Walter most? Find proof that Kitty treated her adultery much lighter than Walter did.
“What was it in the human heart that made you despise a man because he loved you?”

Part 6

Chapters L-LVII (pp. 138 – 164)

I.Active Vocabulary.

-conviction (138)

-at heart (139)

-an ancestor (140)

-to be related (142)

-to distract one’s mind (143)

-to forbid (143)

-to flush (145)

-to attach importance to smth (147)

-to abandon smth (148)

-to put up with smth/smb (148)

-to compose oneself (151)

-to burst into tears (151)

-to collect one’s thoughts (154)

-to gain time (155)

-to pity smb (158)

a) Reproduce the situations and the exact sentences with these words.

II.Paraphrase.

Kitty stood in no fear of her… (139)
…when I think now of the pranks I used to play.
…so that your heart went out to her. (139)
…and she loves him to distraction. (142)
She began to regain her spirits. (143)
…since she threw everything to the winds to be with me. (148)
He will be overwhelmed with joy. (153)
…but her mind was a blank… (154)
It was stupid of me, but … what with one thing and another. (155)
…and it always gave her a catch at the heart. (158)
But she bore him no ill will for it. (161)
…which had prevented her from giving herself the benefit of the doubt. (162)
I know no one who cares a row of pins if I’m alive or dead. (163)

III.Comment or explain.

The moment they arrived they began to save the poor little unwanted girls from the baby-tower… (141)
‘I have no experience of the plural’, he replied. ‘Mine is only in the singular.’ (149)
“It doesn’t seem to be a long way to Harrington Garden,” she smiled. (149)
She could count on him never to throw the past in her teeth. (156)
Surely what troubled him most was the wound to his
vanity… (162)
I shouldn’t have thought you were the sort of person to put yourself out for a few stuffy nuns and a parcel of Chinese
brats. (163)

IV.Questions and Topics for Discussion.

Speak about Sister St. Joseph. What made her different from nuns? What did Kitty and Sister St. Joseph mostly talk about? What did Kitty learn from her about the Mother Superior? Why did she feel a wall between herself and the nuns? In what way did Kitty’s work in the Convent help her find a new sense in life?
Compare what Sister St. Joseph told Kitty about Waddington’s private life with what he told Kitty himself. How does it characterize him?
Speak on Kitty’s reaction to finding that she was at last free from Townsend. What helped her to regain her heart? Why did she think that Walter would never forgive her?
What made Kitty realize that she was with child? What was her reaction? Compare it with what the nuns felt about it. How did Walter take the news? What were the signs indicating that Walter’s attitude to her somehow changed after the talk? Why did Walter insist on Kitty’s leaving Mei-tan-fu?
What did Walter tell Kitty about his aim in having brought her to Mei-tan-fu? Do you think him vindictive? Prove your point.
Discuss the change in Kitty’s personality brought about by her life in Mei-tan-fu. Find proof that the change wasn’t profound.

Part 7

Chapters LVIII-LXIII (pp. 164 – 187)

I.Active Vocabulary.

-to shake hands (164)

-to have affection for smb (167)

-at all costs (170)

-to be content (172)

-to bid farewell (173)

-to repent (173)

-to be detained (175)

-to survive (176)

-to make amends for smth (177)

-to overwork (180)

-to resist

-resistance

-to have mercy on smb (186)

-delirium (186)

a) Find the sentences with these words and reproduce the situations.

II.Paraphrase.

She … had an elegance which made Kitty feel all thumbs. (166)
The Manchu laughed but once. (167)
…I don’t know the first thing about you. (167)
…she felt that this alone could give him peace of mind. (170)
…some unexpected occurrence might throw him off his
guard. (171)
…for Walter coming home late, in order not to disturb her, took pains to be quiet. (178)
Try and keep a tight hold on your nerves. (181)
This is a pretty kettle of fish… (183)

III.Comment or explain.

They (the hands) suggested the breeding of uncounted
centuries. 165)
As if a woman ever loved a man for his virtue. (167)
One day, firmly convinced that a heretic could know nothing of such matters, she told Kitty of the Annunciation. (169)
A well-bred woman does nothing which shall make people talk of her. (173)
…men often have a deeper feeling for their daughters than they ever have for their sons. (174)
There is one way to win hearts and that is to make oneself like unto those of whom one would be loved. (175)
“The dog it was that died.” (186)

IV.Questions and Topics for Discussion.

Why was Kitty interested in meeting the Manchu woman? Why did the Manchu woman and the place seem unreal to her? What observations did Kitty make during this visit? Comment upon Waddington’s words on the way back.
Discuss the nuns’ attitude to Kitty when they learned she was with child. What did Kitty seek in their company? What did “faith” mean to Kitty? What was the only thing that counted in life according to the philosophy of the Mother Superior?
What was Kitty’s state of mind after her new life experience? How did she regard her infidelity now? Speak about the change in her attitude to Townsend and Walter.
How did Kitty take the news that Walter had been taken ill? In what state did she find Walter when she came to see the last of him? Comment on Kitty’s attempts to give him peace of mind and their effect. Why couldn’t Kitty understand Walter’s last words?

Part 8