ARTSAKH STATE UNIVERSITY

PHILOLOGICAL FACULTY

Department of Romance and Germanic Languages

English Language and Literature

FINAL WORK

THEME: CREATIVE SCHEME OF SOMERSET MAUGHAM’S NOVEL “THEATRE”

Performer: Yana Lalayan

Supervisor: Associate Professor

Petrosyan D. S.

Stepanakert-2023
 Contents

Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………........3
Chapter I. Some Views on S. Maugham’s Writing Style
1.1. S. Maugham’s Characteristic Manner of Narration …………………..........................5
1.2. The Realization of the Author’s Creative Scheme through the Emotive Language......8
Chapter II. The Implementation of the Emotive Language in the Novel
2.1. Stylistic Means Prevailing in the Novel……………...................................................12
2.2 Syntactic Tools as a Means of Actualizing the Emotive Component………................17
Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………………….22
Bibliography…………………………………………………………………………………….….24

Introduction

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 Actuality. Various ethical issues raised in S. Maugham’s works, as well as the author’s
writing style, were analyzed by literary scholars. As claimed by them, the works of S. Maugham
have their own recognizable style, characterized by accuracy, clarity, and conciseness, where each
word is weighed, used absolutely in place. The researchers have devoted a great deal to
understanding the technics and patterns, which the writer uses in describing his characters and
designing his creative scheme through the realization of emotive language.
The novel Theatre is an excellent demonstration of his style. In general, Maugham’s stylistic
language and its artistic implementation in this novel has a great emotional effect on the reader. In
this regard, the study and analysis of Maugham’s emotive language as a way to convey the emotion
of the heroes is especially relevant.
The object of the final work is an individual style of a fiction writer.
The subject of the final work is S. Maugham’s creative scheme realization.
The aim of the final work is to review the author’s characteristic features to narrate the
content and reveal some idiosyncrasies of his narration.
The aim of the final work predetermines the following tasks:
 to present some particulars of the writer’s individual style,
 to indicate specific language media of coining and shaping emotive attitude to the
utterance,
 to identify and interpret some use of rhetorical devices typical for Maugham’s
language.
To realize these tasks, we have used such methods as description, comparison, interpretation
as well as lingo-stylistic analysis.
The theoretical background of the final work is based on the works of different authors
and scholars as A. Aristova, E. Camp, I. Galperin, A.Curtis, V. Yuseva, L. Bizheva and others.
The practical significance of the final work is in the possible use of the material and the
results of the work for theoretical course of English Stylistics and Literature as well as for practical
lessons.
The structure of the final work includes introduction, two chapters, conclusion, and
bibliography.
Chapter I is devoted to the peculiarities of S. Maugham’s writing style making the main
point on his emotive language by means of which the heroes’ emotions are described. The
theoretical part is supported by examples, from a number of his literary works. It considers
emotives as linguistic tools used to express various emotions and how these help the writer to depict
his characters more vividly and realistically.

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 Maugham’s preference is given to the definite storyline of his narratives, his vibrant
dramatization rather than a transcription of life, his astonishing capacity for creating living people,
and his skill in describing the backdrop of stories. Dramatization has the effect of intensifying the
lives of his characters. They breathe the breath of life but lack the complexity and mystery of
human beings. What is valued in Maugham’s works is his attempts to emulate an outstanding word
power, his use of words for their color, cadence, and precision, and the pace and vigor of his prose.
Chapter II reveals various means of emotive language as a mechanism to express the inner
world of the heroes in the novel Theatre. The analysis of selected explicit examples of the
designation of emotions showed that through an efficient combination of stylistic devices and
expressive means the feelings and thoughts of the character and the world outlook are disclosed.
They give the writer an opportunity to show the inner springs which guide his characters’ actions
and utterances making the desired impact on the reader.
Maugham succeeded to establish correct and clear ties between words, word groups, and
separate sentences including imperative, exclamatory, and interrogative, as well as, rhetorical
questions, repetition, and elliptical sentences.
It is stated that S. Maugham created colorful emotional characters in his novel by using
linguistic structures and lexical units that contribute to the stylization of characters’ speech,
consequently to the actualization of his creative scheme.

Chapter I. Some Views on S. Maugham’s Writing Style

1.1. S. Maugham’s Characteristic Manner of Narration

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 Maugham’s novels are written in a style highly idiomatic and fluent, full of emotions, revealing
the qualities of simplicity, lucidity, and euphony, which the author ought to attain.
Content to narrate an interesting story from his own unique angle of vision, he brought to the
genre a gift for creating perdurable characters who reflect life's ironies. In his later works,
Maugham's narrative persona is a character interested in people, yet detached and somewhat clinical
in his analysis of their actions and motives. The narrator demonstrates an unusual degree of
tolerance for human peccadillos and incongruities and is reluctant to judge the actions of human
beings. (Adhikari, 1992)
Trenchant observation is a signature style of Somerset Maugham. His narrative writing style
doesn’t appear as merely precise and plain only. Sometimes he is very much pointed as per the plot
requirement, which is marked by a sense of introspection and reflection, as he explores the
complexities of the human condition with nuance and subtlety.
He writes primarily of adults in conflict with one another and with social mores. Frequently, his
characters grow in tolerance and acceptance of human life, which is portrayed somewhat
pessimistically. Maugham based his characters upon people whom he had known or whose lives he
had somehow come to know; their actions are presented with consummate realism. They are
motivated by their passions or emotions and by their attempts to control their destinies, not by an
ideology or set of ideals. Though they may experience inner emotions and conflict, they are seldom
tormented by such emotions. Like their creator-narrator, the characters often have the ability to
view themselves with deep detachment and objectivity, to cast a cold eye on life. (Brophy, 1952)
Somerset Maugham was also the master of short, concise stories; a blend of self-experience and
excellent thought process that reveals his perfection in presenting remarkable narratives. He could
convey relationships, greed, and ambition with a startling reality. He chose very deliberately to
expound and to ally himself with certain methods and views by discussing leading exponents of the
short story. (Gibbs, 1994)
His description of his short stories says the first and last word about his own art exemplifying to
the full the advantages and limitations of his chosen method. As he himself says, I have never
claimed to create anything out of nothing; I have always needed an incident or a character as a
starting point. He carefully defines a group audience in rather a blunted frame of mind, which wants
to be told something odd or striking, but is not ready to be upset or to enter into subtleties. For us,
his realistic depictions of the boredom and drudgery of life can re-evoke what were perhaps the
more genuine feelings felt by many of his heroes.

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 Claimed by Elizabeth Bowen, S. Maugham anatomizes emotion without emotion; he handles
without pity a world where he finds no pity. His disabused clearness and hardness do, it is true,
diminish any subject a little. (Bowen, 1950)
Maugham's characteristic method is to tell the story himself in the first person using an easy-
spoken style plenty of verbal clichés to unfold a scene or character. He points out that the
convention is very old and its object is to achieve credibility. It also creates the effect of
verisimilitude and gives compactness to the story by limiting place and time. He becomes the
conscious artist of the cliché because it suits the narrator, and it is apparent from his use of such
expressions as grey with anguish, crumpled into a chair, his eyes blazed with passion, forced a
laugh to his shaking lips, his voice was rasping, and many more.
The typical Maugham situation is built around a sense of disillusion which comes from seeing
through the veil of outward appearances. Maugham, with reservation and doubt, guides the reader
through the maze of the grandeur of the conflict: what appears on the surface as ordinary everyday
turns out to be a vital part of the many connections and their interweaving. The responsibility of
thought must find an equivalent linguistic support in its expression: the selection of language
means, their original embodiment and ambiguous arrangement, in other words, in a justifiably
holistic system of thoughts.
Giving Maugham his due for the brilliance of style and pointed ridicule of many social vices,
such as snobbishness, money-worship, pretense, self-interest, etc., we realize his cynical attitude to
mankind. It is quite obvious that when describing the modern society, he is not indignant but rather
amused. His habitual attitude is that of expecting little or nothing of his fellow men. His ironical
cynicism combined with a keen wit and power of observation affords him effective means of
portraying reality without shrinking before its seamy side.
A play upon contrasts and contradictions lies at the basis of Maugham's ironic method in
portraying his characters. It is rather prominent in the solemn ring of emphatic parallel
constructions into which all the flowery expressions are arranged. In fact, Maugham’s very method
of writing has a spontaneous appeal and remains sufficiently flexible and felicitous all through. The
most appealing expression, blend with significant irony, constitutes the spice of an extraordinary
literary style in Maugham’s writing; which brings a conversational tone to his prose.
One of the key features of Maugham's language is its elegance. He had a natural sense of
rhythm and flow. His use of imagery and metaphors was also highly effective, adding depth and
richness to his descriptions without ever becoming overly ornate or verbose.
The perfection of Maugham’s language style lies in its flawless encapsulation of the
insignificance in a word or phrase and the significant arrangement of these into an organic whole.

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Nevertheless, art is more than cleverness; it is a mode of perfection. Succinctness, vividness,
impressiveness and meaningfulness form the most important features of the writer’s language.
Maugham’s writing bears a spontaneous solid appeal. Readers identify it as uniquely flexible
and apt with an impressive touch of mastery. His stories exhibit remarkably his inexhaustible
creative urge which is manifested equally in contents and form, in theme and technique.
Theatre is not a documentary novel of backstage life, an analysis of its glamour, or its hope and
fears. This is theatre life at its suavest, most settled, and least bohemian. The cast of the novel are
already successful people, full of shrewdness and energy, without waste emotion, the subject is one
case only to the aberrations of love. Message and the siesta, dressing-room comforts, cutlets and
reposing riverside weekends are the routine. (Curtis,1987)
Maugham's aim is not merely to portray the English society of the 20th century but to touch
upon the inner world of human beings. In the center of his psychological novel there is just the
depiction of man's soul. The writer tries not only to story tell but also to produce a redolent
impression. Transferring slight, hardly noticeable shadows of human feelings, Maugham creates a
peculiar atmosphere in his novel. (Boster, 2005)
In Somerset Maugham's Theatre, the majority of the narrative is thought rather than dialogue. A
conversation dominated by pleasantries and small talk is often overshadowed by a subset of often
mean or unpleasant opinions and emotions, creating a sort of dichotomy in all human interactions
contained within the story. His focus is on the inner world rather than on external action, and much
of the narration is located within the minds of his characters. This in-depth exploration of thought
and opinion that Maugham provides allows us as readers to see inside the minds of their characters,
and what it reveals is really admirable.
Julia the wife, Julia the mother, and Julia the lover does not show any resemblance with Julia
the actress. What exactly was her state might sometimes be ambiguous, but the fact that something
emotionally loaded has been conveyed is unquestionable.  I have sought - says Maugham to worm
myself into a woman's heart and see life through her eyes and feel emotion through her sensibilities.
No one but a woman can tell if I have succeeded. (Cordell, 1961)
In evaluating the attitude of the writer to the ideas and phenomena he is dealing with, the ability
of the reader to pinpoint the emotional element becomes of paramount importance. It is sometimes
hidden under seemingly impartial description or narrative, and only an insignificant lexical unit or
the syntactical design of an utterance, will reveal the author’s mood. (Izard, 1971)
To grasp the general view on how Maugham’s characters are realized through an artistic
combination in his novel, we analyzed the emotive function of language from the linguistic
perspective.

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 1.2. The Realization of the Author’s Creative Scheme through the Emotive Language
It is known that we learn a language in all its diversity of functions: communicative,
expressive, and emotive. An appeal to the personality in linguistic studies cannot do without its
nuclear aspect – emotional.
Feelings and sentiments of the individual, their role in human life have always been an
urgent issue of all time and have been studied and analyzed by linguists, as well as philosophers,
psychologists, and researchers in other fields.
According to Galperin manifestation of emotions is indispensable for communication: it
helps to correctly understand the situation and respond to it in proper ways; it helps to build a
dialogue based on the information received about another person. (Galperin, 1977)
As for Bizheva (2015), the language becomes the object of study of linguistics. It has been
proven that language is to the core psychological, humane because it always accompanies and
expresses a person, and emotions are an important component of language.
Hogan considers the emotional function of a language, distinguished along with
communicative, cognitive, and metalanguage functions, is recognized as the most important: it
reflects the ability of a language to be one of the means of expressing feelings and emotions.
(Hogan, 2010)
At the linguistic level emotions are transformed into emotiveness, in other words, emotions
are a psychological category, and emotiveness- linguistic one. The emotiveness of the text is
realized at different levels. The image of the feelings and emotions of the heroes in a literary text is
achieved using the so-called mechanisms of verbalization.
Yuseva (2011) uses the term verbalization in a broad sense, denoting lexical and syntactic
ways of conveying emotions in the text. Moreover, the scholar emphasizes that the complex use of
linguistic means of expressing states achieves a special aesthetic effect, while the choice of a
method or combination of methods remains with the author and depends on the form of speech and
the writer’s intention.
An explicit expression of sentiments in a literary text can occur in the form of a direct
nomination of emotions and in the form of a description of the psychophysical manifestations of
emotions. As the analysis of selected explicit examples of the designations of feelings showed,
direct nomination is used in the narrator's speech; in this case, it is built into the structure of the
literary text to perform the following functions:
 to create a natural course of dialogue, complementing it with various necessary emotional
details;

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  to penetrate into the inner world of heroes, describing their subjective experience; deepen
knowledge of the human psyche and thereby faithfully reflect life's phenomena;
 to coin artistic images by creating an emotional background; conveys the subjective
assessment of the author, narrator and character;
  to convey a hidden implicit meaning that arises from the reader in the perception of the
text. 
It is worth noting that, all functions are closely intertwined and interconnected so that it is not
possible to single out a dominant one.
Let's consider some examples from S. Maugham’s Theatre.
We see a direct nomination of emotions in the dialogue between Julia and Tom. Tom expresses
an ardent desire to go to the play with Julia in the title role, and she portrays surprise at his
perseverance: I'd love to come again, the young man answered eagerly. I've seen it three times
already. You haven't? cried Julia, with surprise, though she remembered perfectly that Michael had
already told her so. (p.4)
The excitement and strong desire of Tom to go to the performance is expressed in the adverb
eagerly, in response, Julia depicted amazement - exclaimed in amazement cried Julia, with surprise.
Michael is alien to the manifestation of emotions. The only person who could achieve this was
Julia. She touched Michael with her play. However, Michael does not know how to show emotions,
but his words and actions show that he recognizes the talent of Julia. The psychophysical
manifestations of emotions not only describe momentary emotions, but also characterize Michael as
a person who is inept, limited and restrained: When the stage was being set for the next act Julia
came through the pass door and sat down beside Michael. He did not speak to her, but looked
sternly in front of him. She threw him a surprised look. It was unlike him not to give her a smile and
a friendly word. Then she saw that he was clenching his jaw to prevent its trembling and that his
eyes were heavy with tears. What's the matter, darling? Don't talk to me. You, dirty little bitch,
you've made me cry. Angel! The tears came to her own eyes and streamed down her face. She was
so pleased, so flattered. Oh, damn it. I can't help it. He took a handkerchief out of his pocket and
dried his eyes. (I love him, I love him, I love him.) Presently he blew his nose. I’m beginning to feel
better now. But, my God, you shattered me. (p.16)
Using vulgar vocabulary (little damn thing, dirty little bitch you've made me cry, damn it,) and
the desire to suppress feelings show Michael's extreme degree of arousal. Even his blowing his nose
(presently he blew his nose) suggests that he is amazed and moved to the depths of his soul, trying
to muffle such an unexpected surge of emotions with his everyday actions.

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 Emotiveness is inherent to all linguistic levels: phonetic, morphological, lexical and syntactical.
Each has its own system of expressive means. There is an assumption that there is some relation
between a specific sound of the word and its meaning. According to this assumption, the sound can
cause in the speakers' minds a certain meaning, that is to substitute an object or effect, becoming
their symbol.
The palette of descriptive expression of emotions is much brighter and more diverse. This
includes the use of interjections and interjection phrases to express emotions, stylistic techniques,
phraseological units, repetitions, elliptical sentences, graphic tools, and a description of
psychological symptoms - a change in complexion, articulation, facial expressions, movements,
postures, movements, etc. Such is a description of the emotions of Tom described on the first night
of meeting with Julia. Tom is very confused, this can be seen in his blush, unnatural smile and
trembling hands: The young man went scarlet. He smiled stiffly in answer to Julia's warm, ready
smile and she felt the palm of his hand wet with sweat when she cordially grasped it. (p.2)
Continuing their acquaintance, Michael and Julia invite Tom to breakfast, which makes Tom
excited, worried and embarrassed. Here, the author skillfully combines a direct nomination with a
description of the psychophysical manifestations of excitement.
The young man blushed again and his Adam's apple moved in his thin neck. It is awfully
kind of you. He gave his clothes a troubled look. I'm absolutely filthy. (p.2)
S. Maugham indicates that Tom was thrilled to meet the famous actress (blushed, jerked,
Adam's apple moved in his thin neck) and was anxious, wanting to leave a pleasant impression of
himself (he looked alarmed at his suit - he gave his clothes a troubled look).
Further conversation only aggravated his excitement - his hands trembled so much that he
could not light a cigarette:
Julia took a cigarette and the young man struck a match for her, but his hand was trembling
so much that she thought he would never be able to hold the light near enough to her cigarette, so
she took his hand and held it. (p.2)
Tom was delighted with Michael's offer to give Julia an autographed photograph, and
became agitated, blushing again. The glow of the eyes describes a state of happiness:
He blushed again and his blue eyes shone (p.5). He was surprised and frankly delighted to
see her. His beautiful eyes beamed with pleasure. (p.4)
The direct nomination here is quite appropriate to combine with the description of the
psychophysical manifestation of happiness.

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 It is worth noting that the description of the psychophysical manifestations of emotions,
although they prevail in the analyzed examples, is quite rare in their pure form, most often this
technique is combined with direct nomination, syntactic notations of emotions and other ways. 
It is important to distinguish between two types of emotions for understanding of revealing of
emotions in different cultures: emotion as relatively short emotional stages with partly uncontrolled
psychological components and with partly controlled expressive components.
In the first case emotions have natural, unexpected character, they are open demonstration of
feelings. In the second case demonstration of emotions has early- prepared character and it is a
certain strategy of communicational behavior, they are used to predict and estimate the situation.
and, of course, to influence the behavior of other participants of communicative process. Such
demonstration of emotions is offered to name emotiveness.  Emotions as well as emotiveness are
used for communicative purposes, but their direction and aims are different. Emotions are
instinctive, unknown, unplanned demonstration of emotions, concentrated in the majority of cases
on the object itself. Emotiveness is understandable, planned demonstration of emotions directed to
the addressee. Thus, emotiveness is language category, while emotions- speech category.

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Chapter II. The Implementation of the Emotive Language in the Novel
2.1. Stylistic Means Prevailing in the Novel
It is believed that the creation of a special emotional background in fiction has an intertextual
character and is achieved by the writers with the help of lexical and stylistic markers of emotion,
created by a skillful combination of emotional situations, states and experiences of heroes, which is
typical for the writer’s works. (Goleman, 1997)
Of particular value among linguistic stylistic devices are metaphors, comparisons, epithets,
repetitions and other connotative means, since with the help of these expressions not only the
emotions and inner feelings of the character are transmitted, but also the attitude of the author or
other heroes of the novel to him. A metaphor can describe the emotion itself, without naming it,
while describing the manifestation of emotion, for example, gestures, facial expressions, changes in
complexion (pallor in fear, redness with constriction or anger, etc.), eye movement when
experiencing emotions. (Aristova, 2013)
As Camp (2007), Pomortseva and Golikova (2014) state, original figurative metaphors are a
basis of creation of the author's inner world. Modern linguistics contains several scientific concepts
regarding the nature of metaphors. According to G. Lakoff and M. Johnson, a metaphorical
transformation is based on a complex mental operation aimed at abstracting any sign of one object
and the ability to find it in another. (Lakoff & Johnson, 2008)
A metaphor has always had an extremely important role, reflecting objective realities.
Therefore, it is impossible to overestimate the place of metaphorical formations in the artistic
speech. The vivid emotionality of metaphors in all colors depicts new feelings and sensations of the
personages of the literary texts.
The metaphors in Theatre help to deepen the novel’s exploration of the complexities of human
existence, and to convey its themes and ideas in a more authentic and evocative way.
The special linguistic structure in the novel of S. Maugham, pointing to a special choice of
stylistically colored lexical units that contribute to the stylization of the characters' speech, thereby
create an indirect characterization of the characters. (Guzikova, 2004)
We categorized metaphors based upon the objects or phenomena used for comparison by the
author to create emotions. For instance, there have been comparisons with animals, natural
phenomena, objects, physiological processes, parts of the body, etc. The episodes with metaphors
were extracted from different stories.
 Her face was long, reminding a sheep, but she gave no impression of foolishness,
rather of extreme alertness; she had the quick movements of a bird. (Foolishness)

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  The most remarkable thing about her was her voice high, metallic, and without
inflection; it fell on the ear with a hard monotony, irritating to the nerves like the
pitiless clamor of the pneumatic drill. (Irritation)
 When I was broken and weary she would put her work aside and take the Bible and
read to me till peace came and settled upon me like sleep upon the eyelids of a child,
and when at last she closed the book she'd say - We'll save them in spite of
themselves. (Quickness)
 When the rain stopped and the sun shone, there was a hothouse, seething, humid,
sultry, breathless, and you had a strange feeling that everything was growing with a
savage violence. (Sense of growth)
 Her soul, which was black as night, is now pure and white like the new fallen snow.
(Vivid contrast)
 She wrung out her hair, and as she stood there, unconcerned, she seemed to be a
wild creature of the water or the woods. (Wildness and self-absorption)
 All his plans for the future were seemed to be a house of cards and he scattered them
with angry impatience. (Uncertainty, instability)
 His head ached horribly. It felt as though all sorts of little savage things were
beating inside it, trying to get out. (Acute pain)
 Beatrice, what are you doing? she cried in her deep voice. It reminded Beatrice the
roll of thunder in the distant mountains. (Loudness)
 The little white ball whizzed about seemed to him a small demon of mischief.
(Wickedness or roguery)
Aristova, exploring metaphors in S. Maugham’s Theatre, notes that a metaphor used for a
comparison of a person with an animal or nature especially clearly characterizes the psychological
state of the hero and is used in the dialogues and direct speech of the main heroine: poor lamb, poor
little thing, sweetie pie, little brute. It is notable that, in this way Julia speaks about the men
arousing tender feelings: Poor lamb, she thought, I suppose this is the most wonderful moment in
his whole life. What fun it'll be for him when he tells his people. I expect he'll be a blasted little hero
in his office (p. 3).
Here, with the help of metaphors, W.S. Maugham openly and clearly expresses Julia's inner
attitude towards others, revealing some features of her character, such as pity and compassion,
coupled with narcissism and a bit of vanity.
It becomes clear that Julia is an actress not only on stage during the performance, but she
also prefers to play various roles in real life. The inner world of the main character, as well as her

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acting nature is vividly expressed with the help of metaphors. For instance, during her first dinner
with Tom, she skillfully managed to emphasize the image of a rich, successful, and confident
woman, who managed to get a little fed up with everyone's attention, but nevertheless knows the
value of her talent. Furthermore, a lot of metaphors are also used to describe external distinctive
features of the main characters: Her nose was slightly thick, but he had managed by his lighting to
make it look very delicate, not a wrinkle marred the smoothness of her skin, and there was a melting
look in her fine eyes. Now, his chestnut hair was very grey, and he wore it much shorter; his face
had broadened and was a good deal lined his skin no longer had the soft bloom of peach and his
color was.
Revealing details of Julia's acting career and her artistic talent, the author again resorts to the
frequent use of metaphors: You've got a wonderful voice, the voice that can wring an audience's
heart. I don't know about your comedy, I'm prepared to risk that. Do you think I'm going to work my
guts out to make you give a few decent performances and then have you go away to play some two
penny- halfpenny part in a commercial play in London? You would have thought his observation
had taken a weight of her mind. (p. 3)
The first meeting with Tom, the bank clerk, and then the future lover, does not impress Julia
at all. His awkwardness and embarrassment touch her, and admiration for her immense acting talent
undoubtedly flatters her conceit: In the car Julia had done all she could to put him at his ease, but
he was still very shy. (p.3)
To convey all the tenderness and awe with which Julia looks at her lover, and how much she
is afraid to lose him, Maugham resorts to the emotionality of metaphor: It was heavenly when she
told him how exquisite his nose was and how lovely his russet, curly hair, to feel his hold on her
tighten a little and to see the tenderness in his eyes. (p. 24)
Meanwhile she exercised all her tact and all her self-control. She knew she could not afford
to bore him. She knew she must never let him feel that she was a burden or a responsibility. (p. 24)
When Michael was offered an annual contract in the American troupe, Julia was morally
depressed. But seeing how his eyes lit up, how he longed to take this opportunity, which had
suddenly fallen on him, she had no choice but to play the role of a happy girl rejoicing in the
success of her loved one: Her heart sank but she pretended that she was as excited as he, and went
with him next day to the hotel. (p. 24)
Michael was not so happy about his return to his homeland; his dignity was impaired.
Nevertheless, he was pleased to be able to collect the amount necessary to open his own business: I
honestly don't care, you know. I didn't like America. It's a smack in the eye of course, it's no good
denying that, but the only thing is to grin and bear it. If you only knew the people one has to deal

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with! Why, compared with some of them, Jimmie Langton's a great gentleman. Even if they had
wanted me to stay I should have refused. (p. 31)
Metaphors are frequently used to describe and reveal the excited state of the characters and to
convey their emotional state: But, my God, you shattered me. You just wrung my heart. Then she
saw that he was clenching his jaw to prevent its trembling and that his eyes were heavy with tears. I
never heard such nonsense, he cried. What a filthy mind you’ve got, Julia. (p.19)
In addition to emotionally evaluative words, we discovered a metaphor for the filthy mind, with
which the character expresses his anger: He doesn’t love me. He doesn’t care a damn about me. I
hate him. I’d like to kill him. Blast that American manager.
In a conversation with the theater manager, the tone of the actress changes dramatically: You
devil, you swine, you filthy low-down cad. He took a swing and with his open hand gave her a great
smack on the face. She instinctively loosened her grip on him and put her own hand up to her cheek,
for he had hurt her. She burst out crying. You brute. You rotten hound to hit a woman. (p. 26)
In a given speech situation, a conversation between actress and Jimmy, Julia explodes. She
takes out all the anger on the manager. The actress expresses the feeling of anger through swearing
expressions which are the means of expressing speech aggression (devil, swine, cad, brute, rotten
hound) and emotionally evaluative words (filthy, low-down). The author's remarks also contain a
description of the emotional state of the heroine (her jaw was set and her eyes were frowning, she
was strong and violent).
Lexical means play an important role in revealing emotive potentiality of the novel. In the
speech of the personage's lexical means serve to describe, express their emotional state. To portray
Julia Lambert’s thoughts, the writer uses certain parts of speech to convey her emotional state of
happiness: I'm glad they've made friends!  I am glad you're going home. I love to be here and I am
never so happy as when I am among the orphans. I'm so happy with you. I wish I could make you as
happy as you make me.
In the given utterances the heroine by means of the adjectives describes her feelings: glad,
happy. The adverb so strengthening the emotional coloring of the adjective happy, thus serving an
intensifier.
Maugham conveys the joy of personages of Tom and Rodger by means of emotionally colored
adjectives: They are marvelous, he said, his eyes glittering. Its grand having no one here today,
said Roger. You were simply wonderful!
Sadness is a deep emotional experience of an event accompanied by a negative emotional
burden: The blasted fool, why does he talk all that rot? Doesn't he know I'm crazy to marry him?

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Why doesn't he kiss me, kiss me, kiss me? I wonder if I dare tell him I'm absolutely sick with love
for him. (p.20)
In this case, Maugham depicts the heroine's grief with the help of a hyperbole crazy to marry
him. Lexical repetition of words kiss me also conveys the emotional state of Julia.
According to I.R Galperin, of the strongest means of displaying the writer's or speaker's
emotional attitude to his communication, the epithet is a weaker but still forceful means that relies
on the foregrounding of the emotive meaning. (Galperin, 1971)
Here are some examples of epithets found in the analyzed novel: Julia gave them a wistful look
before she shook her head in refusal (p.15). She gazed at him with his soft expression that people
described as velvet look (p.13).
There are a few colloquial oxymorons, all of them showing a high degree of the speakers
emotional involvement in the situation as in the following examples: She shivered with delightful
anguish when she considered his shining, brown hair (p. 30). Julia was a damned good sort and
clever; you could talk to her about anything in the world. (p.57)
Phraseological units, as well, can serve as a means describing the emotional state of the heroes:
to melt within oneself; to be at a loose end; to be head over ears in love with, hard as nails I feel on
the top of the world. I feel like a million dollars. Gosh, I'm going down like a barrel of oysters.
The analysis of the usage of metaphors in Theatre has revealed S. Maugham's lively and vivid
manner of narration, his rich use of idiomatic and figurative language, metaphors in particular. The
reason why we opted for the metaphoric analysis of his works has been the fact that his language is
inundated with a rich source of emotions introduced by denotative, connotative, conceptual and
idiomatic discourse. His language encompasses the whole gamut of a diverse genre, register, and
style elucidating different aspects of life through immaculate characterization and description.

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 2.2 Syntactic Tools as a Means of Actualizing the Emotive Component
The emotional side of utterance very often is created by means of syntax. At a syntactical
level emotionality is expressed by means of special syntactical models as well as by applying a
common word order, application of repetitions etc.
Emotional syntax represents a stable structure, intonation. Similar structural formations are
meant to convey not the content of the sentence but rather the emotionally colored attitude of the
speaker towards the subject of thought and express emotional connotations. It is well-known that a
syntactical part occupies a special place in general language system as it is not sufficient only to
select lexical material for expressing thoughts and emotions. It is necessary to establish correct and
clear ties between words, word groups and separate sentences including imperative, exclamatory,
and interrogative.
Even though the stylistic effect of the syntactic figures of speech depends on the lexical
content, they are formed by the special stylistic addition of a phrase, sentence or group of sentences
in the text.
According to the composition of syntactic constructions in the style, decay figures are
distinguished, which include ellipsis, asyndeton, and add figures- repetition, gap, polysyndeton.
(Kittay, 1981)
In the examples examined from S. Maugham Theatre, some syntactic ways of depicting
emotions were found in particular, rhetorical questions, exclamatory sentences, and repetition. A
message in a rhetorical question always expresses various emotionally expressive meanings - doubt
reflections. A rather large number of rhetorical questions were found in the analyzed text, which
testifies to the rich inner world of the heroine, about her ability to an internal monologue.
The use of rhetorical questions in the following passage is intended to convey Julia's mock
emotions when Tom expresses a desire to attend the performance for the fourth time - Julia is
flattered and portrays surprise in order to hide her joy: I'd love to come again, the young man
answered eagerly. I've seen it three times already. You haven't? cried Julia, with surprise, though
she remembered perfectly that Michael had already told her so. (p.4)
The following example also contains a rhetorical question that helps express Michael's
indignation at the lack of a suitable role for his role, motivating it with the poor work of the
scriptwriters, which ultimately leads to him not being invited to the roles: They don't seem able to
write good lines any more. Bricks without straw, that's what we actors are expected to make
nowadays. And are they grateful to us? The authors, I mean. You'd be surprised if I told you the
terms some of them have the nerve to ask. (p.5)
Julia's emotions at the time of falling in love with Michael are conveyed in her inner

17
monologue with the help of rhetorical questions to herself: Marriage? What did she care about
marriage? (p.15)
The meaning of these questions is that Julia's goal was not marriage. She sincerely loved
Michael and only wanted one thing - to be near him, take care of him, having the opportunity to
show her love.
The following rhetorical question also does not imply an answer. Discussing the opportunity
to start his own business, Michael believes that he and Julia will not be able to get the starting
capital, thereby justifying their inaction and suppressing guilt: The money was the difficulty. They
discussed how much was the least they could start on. Michael thought five thousand pounds was
the minimum. But how in heaven's name could they raise a sum like that? Of course, some of those
Middlepool manufacturers were rolling in money, but you could hardly expect them to fork out five
thousand pounds to start a couple of young actors who had only a local reputation. (p.17)
The rhetorical questions in the following example used in the complex convey Julia's degree
of indignation: Have you done all this to get me to stay on for another year? Have you broken my
heart and ruined my whole life just to keep me in your rotten theatre? (p.25)
 In the following statement of Julia, a duplicate repetition of the phrase is introduced. It
necessarily carries a semantic-stylistic burden, used to emphasize any details in the description to
portray emotions or create expressive coloring: I think he's such a nice friend for Roger to have. A
thoroughly normal, clean-minded English boy. Oh, thoroughly. (Bloody fool, bloody fool.) In the
interrogative sentence, the combination of the facilitative adjective such and the swear word fool
conveys the emotional state of the actress. Julia restrains because of all her strength and remains
outwardly calm without letting her emotions escape when she is talking with Michael about Tom
and Roger.
In addition to using various types of sentences to convey emotions, the author often cites
Julia's thoughts in parentheses. They absolutely do not coincide with her real behavior and with her
words, but express true emotions that the heroine is trying to conceal from others.
In the example below, there is a syntactic repetition: events are interconnected and flow
from one another. Also, in the passage elliptical sentences are traced, parallel constructions, which
is typical for colloquial speech, and in fact, this is, representing Julia's internal monologue,
illustrating her longing for ordinary food and irritation with constant restrictions.
When I'm sixty I shall let myself go. I shall eat all the bread and butter I like. I'll have hot
rolls for breakfast, I'll have potatoes for lunch and potatoes for dinner. And beer God, how I like
beer Pea soup and tomato soup, treacle pudding and cherry tart Cream, cream, cream. And so help
me God, I'll never eat spinach again as long as I live. (p.41)

18
 The passage describes Julia's dreams. All the simple human joys available to other people
are laid on the altar of the acting profession. Julia is forced to adhere to asceticism in food in order
to remain attractive and be in demand in the professional market. Here, the clutch based on
repetition and polysyndeton contributes to an increase in tension characterizing Julia's attitude to
food. Constant restrictions in nutrition have led to the fact that dreams of cream and beer prevail in
the consciousness of the heroine and cause irritation: Cream, cream, cream.
In the following example, there is a combination of syntactic means of expressing feelings
(Julia's joy at the successful premiere and that she can afford to move away from a strict diet),
manifested in the use of interrogative, exclamatory and elliptical sentences and repetitions, and a
description of the psychophysical manifestations of emotions:  To tell you the truth I was enjoying
myself. Christ, I'm hungry. What have we got for supper? Tripe and onions. Oh, how divine! She
flung her arms round his neck and kissed him. I adore tripe and onions. Oh, Michael, Michael, if
you love me, if you've got any spark of tenderness in that hard heart of yours, let me have a bottle of
beer. Julia. Just this once. It's not often I ask you to do anything for me. (p.51)
Emotiveness in the novel is expressed by many language means, particularly noteworthy
exclamatory sentences, exclamation marks. The function of exclamation marks in exclamation
sentences is well known, but in stylistic analysis one must consider the special case of discrepancies
between the traditional and situational indicating when exclamation used after sentences which in
its form is not an exclamation. Exclamation marks in such cases points to a specific attitude, to the
content of speech, and sometimes to outrage over the utterance.
Exclamation sentences starting with the pronoun, what, convey the strong feelings and
emotions of the speaker: What a damned fool I was! Why didn't I keep my temper? I never heard
such nonsense, he cried. What a filthy mind you've got, Julia!
The emotional state of the hero Tom Fennel is represented by the verb hate in combination
with the intensifying verb do, accentuating its meaning: He drew back with an angry gesture. Don't
do that, he said. I do hate having my hair mussed about! This type of emotive helps to determine
the author's remark in which the hero's behavior is described in combination with the direct name of
emotion.
Syntactic tools serve as a means of actualizing the emotive component of a statement. The
most expressive syntactic units of expression are simple sentences imitating oral speech. Emotions
of joy in this case, its highest manifestation of admiration are represented on the syntactic level
through a rhetorical exclamation with the words how and what.
Oh, how divine! He was brimming with the excitement. What a grand woman! Oh,
darling, how wonderful for you! Gosh what a performance!

19
 The emotionality in these exclamatory constructions is emphasized by emotionally-
evaluative adjectives-divine, grand, wonderful, and interjection Oh, Gosh.
 Combination of various types of sentences (exclamatory and rhetorical questions) with
psychophysical manifestations of emotions (Her heart sank, she noticed that she was trembling)
describes Julia's vivid emotions- indignation, despondency and despair: Her heart sank and she
noticed that she was trembling. What a damned fool I was! Why didn't I keep my temper? Her heart
now beat painfully. (p.60)
Graphic means often manifest an emotion reflection enhancer; they draw the reader's
attention to the statement. They are aimed at creating a certain emotional coloring, i.e. convey to the
reader the feelings of the writer, or serve as an emphasizes as a general special increase in the
speaker's efforts, which emphasizes part of the statement or indicates the presence of subtext.
Phonetic means of expressing emotionality include intonation, the emphasis of a pause,
which in the written text is transmitted by punctuation. The pause after the break is generally
charged with meaning and it is the intonation only that will decode the communicative significance
of the utterance in the spoken variety and in the writing, it is punctuation: exclamation points,
capital letters, italics, ellipses, dashes, etc. The peculiarity of such tools is that, unlike lexical tools,
they do not directly call emotions, because they cannot have semantics, like lexemes by which one
can judge the emotional state of an object.
Integration design on letters are made out by graphic means: hyphenation, doubling of
individual graphemes, writing a word or sentence in a special font, distinct from the font of the
entire text: italics, underlining, capitalization, ellipsis and dash. (Chalova, 2012)
Capitalization is used for emotional emphasis, to create a sense of heightened intensity and
urgency. It can be a powerful tool to convey a wide range of emotions and sentiments: Vulgar little
beast. Him and his young lady. The nerve of asking if he could bring her to see ME.
Julia Lambert has a strong sense of anger because of the seemingly innocent request of a
young man to see the actress behind the curtains. The capitalized word me enhances the
emotiveness of the utterance and draws the reader's attention to the state of the heroine. Thus, the
author's transfer of emotion gains brightness and expressiveness.
The degree of emotiveness increases and the particular shade of meaning (in this case, the
manifestation of despair, confusion or thoughtfulness) becomes more apparent, it being back up by
punctuation marks. Along with the function of division of the sentences into its syntactic parts, and
division of the text to the sentences and indication of the general characteristics (question,
exclamation. statement) punctuation indicates many elements that are important in emotional and
expressive respect, for example, emotional pause, irony and etc.

20
 Punctuation plays an important role in the transmission of the author's attitude to the
expressed, in allusion to the subtext, in prompts of emotional response that is expected from the
reader: And I-I, she thought, if they'd offered me a thousand dollars a week I wouldn't have gone if
it meant being separated from Michael. (p.22) 
Each author has his own individual style, his own language, and often writers introduce
additional punctuation marks that are important for conveying their thoughts, and use a special
arrangement of text on the page.
And since the syntactic means help not only to understand the content, but also to catch all
the subtleties of the scheme, to reveal the way of thinking and find the exact subtext, these means
are of greater value and individual in the work of the writer.

21
 Conclusion
On the basis of the study of the given material, we can conclude that literature, especially
fiction, is a figurative reflection of reality, and S. Maugham tried to portray the world around him in
his own peculiar manner, which helps the readers realize the writers’ inner nature, his perception of
reality, attitude towards his characters described in the light of his own life experiences and world
landscape.
S. Maugham’s prose style is marked predominantly by three attributes: lucidity, simplicity,
and euphony. He believed that even the subtlest reflections can be expressed clearly if the writer
only goes to the trouble of finding the exact word, if only he takes a malicious delight in being
purposely abstruse. The acute characteristics of personages, places and events is one of the leading
features of Maugham’s individual style, while Theatre as a complete and perfectly balanced entity
reflects the main properties of Maugham’s artistic style in the domain of themes, ideas, and mode of
writing.
The studied novel is an example of the author's consistency in the actualization of his
creative scheme. Here he employs various expressive means and stylistic devices, their main
function being to heighten the effect of the utterance. The author uses them for making his works
more vivid and race, namely he uses the following stylistic devices: metaphors, similies, gradation,
emphatic do, inversion. As far as the language used by the participants is concerned, we come
across variability making the text closer to real, by means of questions, answers, requests,
imperatives, and so on. In addition, choosing keywords and syntactic constructions, that play a
significant role in the creation process of the imagery of the work, express the author’s individuality
and originality. They give the writer an opportunity to show the inner springs which guide his
character's actions and utterances making the desired impact on the reader. Through efficient
combination of stylistic devices and expressive means the feelings and thoughts of the character and
the world are disclosed.
Apart from witty rhetorical devices, harmonious diction is another important feature of S.
Maugham, that helps to build up the uniqueness of his coining and shaping thoughts. In evaluating
the attitude of a writer to the things, ideas, events, and phenomena he is dealing with, the ability of
the reader to pinpoint the emotional element becomes of paramount importance.
Many linguists argue that emotions, as an integral part of culture, are conceptualized and
verbalized in language; the theory assumes that language is the main means of cognition of human
emotions.

22
 The creation of a special emotional background in the novel Theatre is achieved by the
writer with the help of stylistic and syntactic markers of emotion, created by a skillful combination
of emotional situations, states and experiences of heroes.
Of particular value among stylistic devices are metaphors, comparisons and repetitions,
since with the help of these expressions not only the emotions and inner feelings of the characters
are transmitted, but also the attitude of the writer to his personages.
Some syntactic ways of depicting emotions found their place in the analyzed novel:
rhetorical questions, exclamatory sentences, exclamation marks and graphic means, which are
aimed at creating emotionally colored characters.
Studying the choice of lexical, syntactical and stylistic means, the analysis of Maugham’s
language seems to be the most important procedure is estimating his individual style. We have tried
to observe the choices which the author prefers and, according to the observations, define the
particulars that allow Maugham to convey his ideas to the reader in precisely the way he intends.

23
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