Unit 16. The Eloquence of Silence (by Julia Marlowe)
I1.Study the words.
scorching – палящий
delineation – изображение, описание
impersonation – воплощение, исполнение
deficient – лишенный, несовершенный
twit – насмехаться, поддразнивать
eminent – знаменитый, выдающийся
hit off – подражать, копировать
contemplate – обдумывать, намереваться
allude – намекать, ссылаться
ruse – уловка, хитрость
stolid – вялый, флегматичный, тупой
slight – относиться с невниманием
ripple – журчание
daintiness – изысканность, утонченность
martial – воинственный
tramping – тяжело ступающий
grandeur – великолепие, величие
tumult – шум, смятение
ephemeral – недолговечный, преходящий
render – превращать, делать
insignia – знаки отличия (мн. ч.)
transfix – пронзать, прокалывать
2.Note the difference:
Repertory – the practice of performing several plays with the same actors and in the same theatres, one after the other on different days. E.g. a job in repertory, a repertory theatre.
Repertoire – the collection of plays, pieces of music etc., that a performer or theatre company can perform. E.g. He has a larger repertoire of funny stories.
3.Fill in the gaps with Participle I or Participle II of one of the words in the box.
| agonize polish tramp fascinate play finish persuade |
1)Her silence pictured her _ state of mind.
2)This quality is essential of a _ artist.
3)This actor’s voice is particularly adapted to _ fiction.
4)His voice was like the martial music of a _ host.
5)“The silent rhetoric of _ eye ” is important for any actor.
6)The sound of his voice resembles a harp _ upon with a hammer.
7)Acting is more important than the _ delivery of lines.
II 1.Read the text.
Julia Marlowe (1870–1950) was born in England and brought to America when she was five. When she was thirteen she was engaged to play a small part in one of the juvenile companies which were popular in those days. Later she appeared in a Rip Van Winkle company and by 1883 had minor roles in Romeo and Juliet and Twelfth Night in a touring company. After a period of study and training in New York she appeared in a long list of plays. She specialized in dramatic novels and popular melodramas. Her association in the Shakespearean repertory with many outstanding players of the day put her talents to work in a long and distinguished career as a famous interpreter of the Bard.
A carefully trained voice, able to follow all the “windings of the lengthened oh”, is, of course, of great importance to the actress; yet it would seem to me, from observing great players, that they achieve their most impressive results through depicting in the countenance “the events of the soul”.
Too much importance has been given to the human voice. It is for this reason that many players have given their whole attention to its cultivation, forgetting that in the delineation of character by impersonation, there are other and even more important aids.
It is curiously the case, that very many great actors were woefully deficient in the matter of enunciation. It was said, for example, of the great Colley Cibber that he had a “shrill voice apt to crack”; that Betterton’s voice was “low and grumbling, like the notes of a harp played upon with a hammer”, that Garrick’s generally failed him in great roles; and that Edmund Kean’s was generally hard and husky, not naturally agreeable, and was wont to mount into a squeak.
John Philip Kemble, generally acknowledged during his time as a great actor, was constantly twitted by dramatic writers on account of his painfully singular enunciation. Reviewers of her time generally referred to Peg Woffington’s voice as being harsh, and Mrs. Abington’s as “not naturally pleasing to the ear”. Another case in point is that of the famous French actress, Sophie Arnould. She was a great favorite during the time of Louis XIV and holds a high place among the idols of the French stage. Yet it was said of Sophie that she had “the finest asthma ever heard”.
It will be seen, then, that these eminent players were able to achieve distinction in their calling despite the fact that their voices possessed qualities ungrateful to the ear. In other words, they were able to delineate and depict the “deep events of the soul”. Great acting then does not depend upon the voice solely. Indeed, some of the most effective pieces of acting are achieved solely through the ability of keeping silent. A poet during Garrick’s time hit off this truth in a couplet:
A single look more marks the internal woe
Then all the windings of the lengthened oh.
I recall, when a young girl, the first time I saw Edwin Booth. He and Lawrence Barrett were appearing in Othello. Barrett impersonated Othello, and Booth, Iago. As I have never seen Booth, I did not know him when he appeared on the scene. Suddenly I discovered a figure at the back of the stage intently watching the Moor. You could see plainly that he contemplated some demoniac act. His eye and manner at once caught the attention of the house long before he had said a word. The look on his face was crafty and devil-like. This one incident proved to me that there was very much more in acting than the polished delivery of lines.
I recall an even more striking example. Years ago, I saw a dramatization of Zola’s novel, Therese Racquin. In this play there was the character of an old woman who became paralyzed through seeing a murder committed. This character during the entire action of the piece uttered not a word, and pretended that she could not hear. The audience knew that this was a ruse, yet she sat through the entire action of the play listening to the conversation of the guilty persons. Now this old woman, who did not once used her voice after the paralytic stroke, proved to be the most important figure in the play.
In Gordin’s The Kreutzer Sonata, there is quite a remarkable example of the eloquence of silence. It will be recalled by those who saw the play that the wife, suspicious of her husband, sits down in silence by the window during an entire evening. The woman’s sister and her husband have gone to the opera. She utters not a word, and after some little time, during which there is a most impressive silence, the curtain descends. Three hours are supposed to elapse before the next act, and when the curtain rises, the woman is still in the same attitude, silently meditating. This device pictured better than the words her agonizing state of mind.
Another equally effective example is supplied by Crime and Punishment, a dramatization of Dostoyevsky’s novel, which Paul Orleneff, the famous Russian actor, presented in New York two years ago. A critic described this incident: “The scene is in a little drinking place. A few stolid, roughly dressed men sit around wooden tables, with vodka before them. Among them is an old, broken-down drunkard. Orleneff, as the student Raskolnikoff, enters, sits himself before a glass of vodka, and listens to the old drunkard telling the story of his life.
For nearly half an hour Orleneff does not say a word, and hardly moves. As the old man tells about his wife and children, how drink has ruined him and his family, how his young daughter has sold her virtue for the sake of the others, how he has learned to adore and worship the abandoned girl, who seems to him almost a saint, Orleneff’s face, without the help even of his hands, reflects the drama of the old man’s life. It does far more than that. By subtle, perfectly natural pantomime, the actor expresses not only sympathy and growing understanding of the old drunkard’s situation, but a solemn, intensely serious criticism of all that poverty means. One feels that the Russian student is in line with the Nihilist tradition of Russia, and that what has been theoretical philosophy with him is taking concrete form as he listens to the old man. It is one of the most dramatic scenes I ever witnessed, and yet nothing happens in the usual sense of the word. But Orleneff’s face tells the story of what is happening to him spiritually, and that accounts for the murders he commits in the next act.”
A similar case is to be found in Bernstein’s play The Thief. It will be recalled that the husband, while extracting a confession from his wife, utters not a word - a most effective piece of stage business…
The inability to listen and depict in the countenance what others have said has spoiled many a good actress. Only last winter I saw a young actress in a comedy who, had she not slighted this necessary requirement, would have been a most effective performer. When called upon to speak a line, or enter actively in a scene, she was excellent; but during intervals in which she was not engaged, she seemed utterly unconscious of what was going on. Her stolid inability to enter into the life of the play greatly marred its effectiveness, and utterly ruined her own part in it.
We have seen that many great actors such as Betterton, Garrick, Kean, Kemble, Woffington, and others, though handicapped by faulty enunciation, yet rose to the highest distinction in their calling. These actors, however, were exceptions to the rule, for we are informed that Barry’s voice “could charm the birds off the bushes”; that Mrs. Oldfield’s was particularly adapted to the proper interpretation of ripples of daintiness and fascinating fiction, and that Forrest’s was like the martial music of a tramping host. But after all, it is the actor with an “eye” speaking like the star of night, who has won the greatest applause. A look often speaks volumes and reveals what the tongue could not - “the silent rhetoric of persuading eyes.” The voice is important only when in use; the eye is never at rest. I think it was the late George Meredith who said that the flash of a woman’s eye is an idea striking a light inside.
There is grandeur in stillness, and it is the eye that is the mind’s signal and the soul’s interpreter. It is the actor’s chief business to express the emotions of the human heart. The eye discloses the tumult that rages within, and speaks the inner thought even more completely than can the tongue. It has a language of its own - an expression that is as far above any language as the eternal firmament is above the ephemeral butterfly.
Horace Walpole said that the voice of Mrs. Cibber, the soul of Mrs. Pritchard, and the eye of Garrick, formed a combination which in one actor would render him superior to all the actors the world has seen or should see. Walpole does not, however, give his opinion as to which of these – the voice or the eye – is more important. Howbeit, Garrick was the greatest of the trio, and it was his eyes and expression that made him so.
The imperfection of Edmund Kean’s voice has been alluded to, yet a writer who had known him said: “He was remarkable for the silence and shyness with which he took his seat in the green room, his eye alone discoursing most eloquent music.” His eyes at time “threatened like a loaded and levelled pistol”, gleaming with scorching lustre. All who saw him act were struck with their marvelous power, in which might be seen the flash and outbreak of a fiery soul. He was able to still an angry audience with a single look, and his most tragic flights, the superb play of his eye was said to be magnificent. Beneath the drooping lashes “slept a world of eloquent meaning”.
All the mightly histrions of the dead past had singularly beautiful and expressive eyes – the unfailing symbols and insignia of a great soul. Tony Aston, in his Brief Supplement, dwells at considerable length on Betterton’s wonderful and expressive eyes – eyes that spoke the soul’s thoughts before the voice uttered them. He could transfix with a look, and a soft glance melted the hearts of the hardest listeners. In silence they had a speech which all could interpret.
Theatre-goers of today recall Edwin Booth’s ever-glowing and radiant eyes, able unfailingly to express melting tenderness of withering scorn, love, anger, and avarice – all visibly moved those beautiful black orbs.
In brief, unless the actor is able to discourse most eloquently without opening his lips, he lacks the prime essential of a finished artist.
Note
1)a Rip Van Winkle company – one of the strolling companies playing Rip Van Winkle only
2)the Bard = the Bard of Avon – Shakespeare
3)I did not know – I did not recognize
4)to be in line with – to accept the views of, agree
5)had she not slighted this necessary requirement – if she had not slighted this necessary requirement
2.Answer the questions.
1)According to the author, what is the greatest means that helps the actors to achieve the most impressive results?
2)If an actor is deficient in the matter of enunciation, does it mean he will be a complete failure?
3)Give some remarkable examples of the eloquence of silence from the text.
4)What inability can spoil a good actor or actress?
5)“A look often speaks volumes and reveals what the tongue could not – “the silent rhetoric of persuading eyes”. The voice is important only when in use; the eye is never at rest”. Do you agree with it?
6)The author states: “It is the eye that is the mind’s signal and the soul’s interpreter”. Is it the only means of disclosing the “tumult that rages within”?
3.Find in the text the formal variants of these neutral words:
face, sad, pronunciation, likely, expressiveness, eyes, brightness, the sky, greed, actor.
4.Replace the italicized words with words and word combinations from the text.
1)After a period of training Julia Marlowe appeared in many plays.
2)The countenance of an actor shows “the events of the soul”.
3)Some actors’ voices possess qualities unpleasant to the ear.
4)Three hours passed by before the next act.
5)His state of mind explains the murders he commits in the next act.
6)The actress’ inability to enter into the life of the play spoilt its effectiveness.
7)Many actors lack the perfection essential of a finished artist.
5.These are names of characters in popular fiction. They are so well-known (even by those who have never read or even heard of the original work) that they are often used in ordinary conversation. Put each one in its correct place in the sentences below.
| Robin Hood Superman Man Friday Peter Pan James Bond Billy Bunter Robinson Crusoe Scrooge |
a)During the war he was sent on dangerous secret missions abroad. Very exciting! He was a sort of _.
b)I think Alan should go on a diet and get more exercise. He’s beginning to look like _.
c)He still has very youthful enthusiasms, and he’s as slim and fit as he was 20 years ago. He’s a _.
d)There are times when most of us would like to escape from all the pressures of city life and live a more simple, basic kind of _ existence.
e)Come on! I’ve never met anyone so reluctant to spend money, you _!
f)He’s not very practical. What he needs is someone to look after him and do everything for him. He needs a _.
g)The firm is doing very badly and facing bankruptcy. I don’t think it can survive. We don’t just want a new director. We want a _.
h)Well, yes, he was a criminal and he stole a lot of money, but he helped a lot of people with it. He was a bit of a _.
6.Instructions as above.
| Walter Mitty Big Brother Jekyll and Hyde Rip Van Winkle Little Ford Fauntleroy Sherlock Holmes Tarzan Cinderella |
a)He’s a strange person. Usually he’s very pleasant and reasonable, but there are times when he gets very bad-tempered and almost violent. He’s got a _ personality.
b)How on earth did you guess his nationality, occupation and all those other things about him just from his appearance? You’re a proper _.
c)I don’t like this new government proposal to put details of everyone’s private life on computers. I can see it will mean greater efficiency and all that, but, well, it’s a bit like _, isn’t it?
d)I think the neighbour’s kids should be allowed a bit of freedom to wear what they like and get dirty having fun, not made to look like _.
e)She’s really exploited by her family. They make her do everything for them, cook, clean... She’s a sort of _.
f)He’s a body-builder and weight-lifter. Have you seen him in a swimsuit? He looks like _.
g)He sounds very impressive when he talks about his adventures and achievements, but it’s all fantasy. He’s a _ character.
h)Come on, _ , wake up! It’s nearly lunch-time.
7.The following are parts of newspaper reviews of visual and performing arts and literature. Identify the subject of each (film, novel, etc.) and mark at least six words which helped you to decide.
a)The first movement is dominated by the strings with only occasional percussion participation. So many bows dancing in unison made this a visual as well as an aural delight and I abandoned my score to watch. In the second movement the wind section takes command, and with such vigour that the baton seems to struggle to keep up rather than the reverse. For once I did not envy the man on the rostrum, and was content with my seat in the stalls.
b)His favourite medium is now oil, and the canvas which dominates this show, a still-life of bottles, is a masterpiece of representational skill (his early abstracts and collages were never good). His technique is superb. The brushstrokes are invisible, the bottles real. Every section of his palette is used. I shall never again think of bottles as colourless. Every hue of the spectrum is there.
c)Her weaknesses are characterisation and dialogue. Her strengths are plot and feeling for place. Her characters are two-dimensional, their words wooden, but the events are plausible and the places vividly depicted. The setting is now Mexico City, now Tokyo, now Johannesburg. The twist at the end defies prediction. For once the blurb on the back is true. It says, ’Unputdownable’.
d)This new young choreographer has given us an exciting and unconventional piece. Called simply Mixture, it is indeed influenced by classical, folk, progressive and even tap and ballroom besides. The men are agile and athletic, the girls loose-limbed and supple. The leaps are high, the pirouettes prolonged. What more can you want? The night I went they received a standing ovation.
e)First-night nerves are notorious, but I have never heard so many lines fluffed, so many cues missed. The promoter was busy last night and the director (and doubtless the backers) in tears. I do not expect this piece to have a long run, but critical reception and box-offices success are often two very different things and, if it does survive, it will have been saved by a number of well-played supporting roles and a stunning set. But the final final curtain cannot, I think, be far off.
III1.Which do you think is more important in an actor’s performance – the voice or the eye? Or maybe something else? Give an example from your own experience.
2.Write a review of a play or a film. Be sure to describe the actors’ performance. Some of these expressions might help:
… was directed by … … is based on the life of a notorious bank robber/the author’s experience in … It is based on a book of the same name. … tells the story of…, and as the story unfolds, we see … It stars X in the title role of the Y. It’s set in rural England at the beginning of the 19th century. It is about A’s relationships with her ex-husband. In the end B … What we don’t learn until the end is that …There are several flashbacks to when he was a child …
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1.Воронина Л.Н., Михайлова Т.М. Великобритания. Искусство. М.: Просвещение, 1978.
2.Искусство США. Живопись. Скульптура / Сост. И.П. Турошев. М.: Просвещение, 1986.
3.Современные американские пьесы. М.: Просвещение, 1981.
4.Чтение ради пользы и удовольствия: Учеб. пособие /Сост. Д.Н.Белл, Б.Н.Белл. М., Высш. шк., 1977.
5.Юмористические рассказы английских и американских писателей. / Сост. Г.М.Беляев, Р.И. Сорокина. М.: Просвещение, 1978.
6.Baker’s Dozen: Thirteen Stories by Modern British and American Writers. Moscow, 1979.
7.Carroll L. Alice in Wonderland. Moscow, 1967.
8.Challenge to Think. Oxford Univ. Press, 1986.
9.Duffy G., Roehler L.K. Improving classroom reading instruction: A decision making approach. 3rd ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 1993.
10.Fielding H. Briget Jones’s Diary. Picador, 1997.
11.Grellet F. Developing Reading Skills: A practical guide to reading comprehension exercises. Cambridge Univ. Press, 1981.
12.International Student Handbook. Pacific Intercultural Exchange.
13.Jones C., Bastow T. Inside Out. Student’s Book Advanced. Oxford, 2001.
14.Maugham W.S. Theatre. М: Междунар. отношения, 1979.
15.McConochie S.A. Twentieth Century American Short Stories. М.: Высш. шк., 1979.
16.Milan D. Developing reading skills. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1991.
17.Schooling // Guardian Education. April, 20, 1993.
18.Theatre World: Reader for Art Students. Moscow, 1978.
Учебное издание
Поплавская Татьяна Викторовна
Сысоева Татьяна Александровна
Читай и обсуждай
Учебно-методическое пособие к курсу «Практикум по культуре речевого общения»
В двух частях
Часть первая
Редактор Л.М. Малинина Ответственный за выпуск Т.В. Поплавская
Компьютерный набор Т.А. Сысоева
Подписано к печати Формат 84х108/32.
Бумага офсетная. Офсетная печать. Усл. печ. л. 10,5. Уч.-изд.л. 7,14.
Тираж 325 экз. Заказ
Учреждение образования «Минский государственный лингвистический университет». Лицензия ЛП №544 от 24.06.02. 220034, Минск, Захарова, 21.
Полиграфический участок Учреждения образования «Минский государственный лингвистический университет». Лицензия ЛП №339 от 25.03.99. 220034, Минск, Захарова, 21.