Literary analysis:
Old Jolyon learned from Irene that one can lose everything that‟s possible, even it is not acceptable in the Forsytes‟ world. He learned from her the possibility of losing self-possession. So he could accept the world which exists outside the Forsytes‟. “You‟re looking a little Londony”. (27, p.340) This transition shows that in fact, being a Forsyte is seismic, thus Forsyte is only a part of the greater mass of the city”. “You thought you had hold of life, but it slipped away behind you by the scruff of the neck forced you there, and then, likely as not squeezed the life out of you! It took the very stars like that he shouldn‟t wonder, rubbed their noses together and flung them apart: it had never done playing its pranks. Five million people in this great blunderbuss of a town, and all of them at the mercy of that Life-Force like a lot of little dried peas hopping about on a board when you struck your fist on it. Oh, well! Himself would note much longer-a good long sleep would do him good! (27, p.356-7)
From the surface Irene and Soames look like happy. Galsworthy himself calls this couple “a happy pair” and also “a wife and a husband being one person”. But J.Galsworthy as an author didn‟t believe to his own words, he didn‟t rely on his characters which seemed hap-py from distance. He approaches them closely and like the bobble this happiness booms and reaches the end. So this was irony that Soames and Irene is “a happy pair”.
In the description of Irene‟s appearance Galsworthy used such epithets “amber-coloured hair, fair skin and dark brown eyes and rosy light made her more attractive”. As a woman Irene really was beautiful. She is introduced at the beginning of the novel as “a tall woman, who has beautiful figure, even some Forsytes called her heathen Goddess”. (27, p.17) She is portrayed bodily sexual, when she moves her shape sways, skin tight dresses fit her “tight as drum”. (27, p.127)
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Though she beautiful, she couldn‟t find her happiness and that‟s why she was silent, Soames bears this happiness and at the end he wanted to break this silence which in fact was intolerable. So he was annoyed, because he didn‟t realize the reason for her being uncomfort-able. As a real businessman he used to speak about his work, his business, his way, his way of making money even at dinner table. Like in his business life he didn‟t want to see any excep-tion. Everything should be as planned beforehand. So he planned to have a happy marriage with Irene, but to his surprise their together life turned out a horror. He could not realize it, because everything was in high level, why Irene should feel herself uncomfortable with him. It means that something was out of Soames‟s control. Galsworthy describes the interior of their dining room in detail in order to explain Soames‟s character, his desire and admire for luxury. “At the handsome rosewood table they dined without a cloth”. “Deep tints, the starry, soft-petalled roses, the ruby-coloured glass and quaint silver furnishing” made him happy and vain. So their relation is very complicated, he really thought of his wife as a part of his collec-tion of expensive things, property, and investment. The author gives Soames‟s viewpoint through his inner thoughts. When Irene sits at the perfectly designed and served table, Soames feels him manly, his proud grows about himself as a businessman and husband, and it gives him superiority. Then again the author gives a metaphorical device-fog, which depicts through London the whole nation. It anticipates the British values, which were presented in the Second World War as a Home Front.
The only obviously seen thoughts of Soames about “a different kind of modern life” found by Lynne Hapgood, are his adoration and love towards Irene. Soames loved Irene so much that even was ready to leave the city, which was the only way of making her happy. Though the essence of their marriage was the property contract, the only expression of Soames‟s love was his possession; he tried to do everything to make Irene happy. So, all these proposals were rejected by the supporter of beauty - Irene.
In the metaphor “the impingement of Beauty”15 the author points out its active cha-racter, even known aggressiveness of it. This evaluation gives a right key to open this notion, which according to the author and the characters offered by him mainly is responsible for imagination and expression about Beauty.
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In one hand Beauty is a “wild raider”, in other hand the impingiment of Beauty, and the claims of Freedom, on a possessive World
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There are a lot of brilliant metaphors expressing the essence of Forsytizm. Galsworthy describes them like this: All the Forsytes live in shells, characterizing proprietorship insularity of Forsytes, comparing them with shellfish. They are known with their shells woven from dif-ferent circumstances of their life, their property, relations and wives.
The character of philanthropy of Forsytes is defined with the metaphor about the tem-ple of Forsytizm, where day and night is kept quenchless fire before the God of proprietor-ship, on the alter where is written the words: “Nothing is gift, but for penny only stitch”. (translation by Farida Shirinova from 30) This slogan finds its expressive confirmation at the end of the novel. The little grandchild of James gave a poor person a false coin and under the influence of this dispirited with problems James brightened.
Another very short metaphor “their faces-prisons of thoughts” (translation by Farida Shirinova from 30) characterize their secrecy. A very important roles play speech charac-teristics of Forsytes in the disclosure of Forsytizm. The talks, turning around the exchange rate, dividends, the prizes of houses and things, accompanied unchangeable shouts: “Jobson will be given a good deal of money for it!” “Jobson has not such a thing for ages” “Overpa-id”, “Made a bad bargain”. (translation by Farida Shirinova from 30)
The main idea of Galsworthy proprietorship philosophy which is contradictory to all humanity becomes particularly clear when he depicts nature. Motion and brightness of colours differs from the deadly, frozen existence of Forsytes. “Wide leaves were brightly shining under the sun, dancing the music of charmante”.16 “The fields were heating; every-thing was listening to the tender, hardly perceptible buzzing as if it was the moment of cheer and in ungovernable merriment land and sky was whispering something to each other”. “To the path of sky between trees run out new stars”. (translation by Farida Shirinova from 30) But the author also pictures the silence of twilight and hard stillness of the rainy day capturing all the shades of scenery, very often picturing them in the connection with the spiritual state of the characters.
Galsworthy‟s favorite method of characterization was prolonged inner monologue of the characters, which revealed them with their own words. Also the inner monologues are closely related with the writer‟s comments to them.
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a musical instrument which can play 6-7 melodies written on the roller with the motion of turning the handle. In Buratino Papa Carlo was a player of charmante
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So the author and the heroes try to explain the core of the situation together, they do not in-terfere with each other but help. The language of the characters when they speak in their inner world is very concrete and laconic, they do not carry sentimental thoughts, even there is not any kind of abstract terms, and it is close to the everyday speech, which is full of idiomatic constructions. Besides, Galsworthy used the efficiently dialogical speech to give the real pic-ture of the environment. So, the characters speak by themselves without any kind of inter-ference of the writer, one show the other‟s good and bad sides. The characteristic feature of this speech is its being full of colloquialisms, vulgar words, English and French slang words, Biblical constructions in parody.
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Conclusion
Literature is a part of a real life. It reflects human problems, and carries historical events in itself. But it does not mean that literature show the history as it was. It has colourful embodiment, and tries to address to human feelings. A literary work cannot be isolated from real life. Any piece of literature expresses approach to the life from different points o f view. As every person is an individual each author puts his/her view while creating any literary work. But, anyway, literature is whole and can not develop in isolation. Literatures of differ-ent nationalities and countries confronted nearly the same problems and if we try to divide period of the literature we can observe that though nationalities are different the periods of literature nearly the same. Thus, romanticism, realism, sentimentalism are known to all the members of literatures from different nationalities. So, we can come to such a conclusion that, world literature is a whole process, which embodies different isolated literatures of different familiar and unfamiliar nationalities. All the members of literature demonstrate their good and bad sides, problems with the help of their pen. And humanistic problems nearly the same, so, the core of the literature is unique for all the authors, they just express them in different ways.
One of the great members of the British literature, which is also a part of the world li-terature, is John Galsworthy, who had served for the development of the society through his literary activity. Though the author was a man of aristocracy of the British Empire, he wasn‟t on the side of aristocracy. Even, after the publication of “The Forsyte Saga” Galsworthy proved himself as a humanist coming from aristocracy. There appeared a new term in the British literature, which is known as “Forsytizm” up to our days. Forsytes are the typical hypocrites. They have everything, but they are not happy.
John Galsworthy‟s “The Forsyte Saga” is one of the valuable pieces of the English and also world literature. The author gave the description of the time and the people of the period so precisely that, the readers believed the existence of the characters in a real life. Even they claimed that exactly their family was portrayed in “The Man of Property”. Once Galsworthy received a letter, where were written the following words: “Walking in the Cockspur Street I met a person who I knew immediately, but couldn‟t recognize where I know him from. Brushing up my memory I recognized that it was Soames Forsyte”. (translation by Farida Shi-rinova from 30) It is a great success for a writer, to win such sympathy from the readers.
John Galsworthy is remembered not only as a writer, but also with his strong love to his wife, who had inspired him for writing. And I do respect the author for his endless love, yet some people reproach him with secret love affair. In the preface of “The Man of Property”
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Galsworthy wrote such a word: I dedicate “The Forsyte Saga” in its entirety, believing it to be of all my works the least unworthy of one without whose encouragement, sympathy and criti-cism could never have become even such a writer as I am.
This novel is of great importance from different sides. It reveals the period, which is really very confused. It has autobiographical importance; the love affair of the writer with his cousin‟s wife depicted very skillfully in the novel. There are a lot of humanistic problems put by the author; most of them do not find their solution.
The speech system and the system of characters form artistic unity cast in “The For-syte Saga” and “Modern Comedy‟s” storybooks. At first, “Saga” was accepted in a parodical meaning – as a clear notion of life, devoid of heroic beginning contrary to Middle Age narra-tion about heroes. But thereafter when “A Modern Comedy” appeared, not only the internal content, but also its heading gained the historical-philosophical meaning.
Socio-psychological analysis of reality, exercising of Forsyte cycle – is a visual wit-ness of inexhaustibility of realistic method the champion of which was J.Galsworthy. Gene-ralization coming from the artistic analysis of Forsyte world and fates and also the whole crit-ical epoch are large-scaled, important in them, and evoke a strong interest towards J.Galsworthy. But, as is seen, inexhaustible attention towards his novels and stories has also other basis. Why his literary activity achieved much popularity and influence to XX century literature, television and films?
The mystery of John Galsworthy‟s popularity lies on his achievement of finding a harmony between individual and common, when aesthetic depth and beauty of the whole cycle gradually prepared with each episodes and colours of words. That‟s why, reading of the Forsyte cycle gives not only a great pleasure of cognition of the world, but also an arrange-ment of aesthetic observations of the author‟s artistic unity.
Galsworthy used a lot of words describing the modern life, which were new for that period, such as: bicycle, flying-machine, motor-car, cheap Press, rejection of the country life, and emergence of the town‟s life. But the author did not consider himself “an author of scien-tific study of the period”. Because, to his mind, he had other purposes which very were diffi-cult to realize. Post-war period England was very gloomy, and its description became too dif-ficult. To give a real picture of the country, to depict the people of different generations, and the problems of the society was important for the author than to show modernity of the time.
Though the writer was interested in the modern inventions, he also was a man of reli-gion in some way. He believed in God, and wished to be together with Ada in the other world.
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So, religion also related with love and beauty for him. The traces of his life experience, his suffers from love reveals itself in every sphere of his life.
Also Galsworthy was one of those authors who tried to show the crude speech of the post-war period people, who became disillusioned, severely shocked and disappointed.
So, analyzing this novel by John Galsworthy we came to such conclusions:
“The Man of Property” in general “The Forsyte Saga” depicts the period between the end of XVIII and the beginning of XIX century, where the human values were di-minished. A group of people were wealthy and day by day their amount of money grew, and another group was shabby, which was not important for the rich. There was a huge valley between them which could not be passed easily.
The World Wars influenced the whole society, the results were horrible, which be-came important for John Galsworthy as a person and as a writer, so he write “The For-syte Saga” which shows the whole generation, the concrete members of that genera-tion, reveal themselves with their characters and way of living, their thoughts.
The main character of “The Man of Property” is a Soames Forsyte, who is shown from different sides.
The events happening in Soames‟s family life related, interconnected and inter-dependent to historical events. Human problems such as passion, infidelity, estrange-ment, divorce are uncovered and disclosed with the fusion of social, cultural changes of society and political chaos.
The criterion of evaluation of money, property is of great importance among brothers, sisters, parents, children, husband and wife. In the novels of Galsworthy this criteria is connected with the concurrence and being superior which predominate in the bour-geois society wholly. For example, though Soames Forsyte is a connoisseur of art, the owner of a great number of picture collections, he tries to evaluate and guess an approximate customer, time and place to sell them, but aesthetically he wasn‟t impressed by.
The main theme of Galsworthy‟s literary activity is the problem of Forsytism - proprietorship, ownership. Through the inner world of Soames Forsyte, Galsworthy addresses to the world of Forsytes, reveals the Forsytes‟ psychology, their viewpoints and imaginations which are limited by the frames of their clan, their behaviours are re-lated with the generally accepted norms, manners of conduct in their class. The main idea of Galsworthy, philosophy of forsytizm is a human character, which he tries to judge and criticize with all its aspects and in all its influenced spheres. The author dis-
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graces bourgeois society and its believes to their power of money. He shows that, the happiness which can be bought and sold is only illusion.
Both for Soames and other Forsytes marital relationships look like this: Husband keeps wife, materially provides her and wife sits at home, keeps the house and always obeys her husband. A wife is one of the properties of husband and a beautiful wife additionally is a means of proud. Irene should carry her marital duties and respon-sibilities without complaint and give a birth to children – heirs of Soames‟ heritage. Internal world of a woman and her views are not interesting for Soames and even he doesn‟t see any kind of shortcomings and lacks in their marital relations, expect spiri-tual remoteness which is the fault of Irene. Can it be done towards Soames? Such kind of excellent husband?
Marriage, in the Forsytes clan and as others like them is a rule and also a chance to ar-range your life profitably, to have children – heirs of heritage. Soames and others are real Forsytes. Such notions as passions, beauty, art, etc. are very strange and remote for him and even dangerous. So when these notions come to face in this family with the character of Irene and Bosinney the collapse of his family and the crack of all For-sytes clan became inescapable.
Bosinney‟s broken heart, broken feelings made him week. But it was the author‟s way of demonstrating the situation. He could in no way let the lovers become happy; it could spoil the impact of the novel. Unlike Forsytes, Bosinney was a specialist in his sphere. He was a creative person. He could imagine, he could think, he could feel and express his feelings through his work. He had humanistic ideas. But he was in the power to save his love. It was not the collapse of week and strong between Soames and Bosinney, but it was the collision of two principles. Each of them represented his principle. One, who is a husband of much property, and the other, who has deep feelings, but lacks the power to do something for his aim. Bosinney made unhappy both June and Irene. It was somehow his fault. Though he knew that, the world of For-sytes was gloomy for him; he entered this world, but could not bear till the end. Though, the Forsytes had not been happy before his entrance to their family, it was pretext for all Forsytes that, Bosinney‟s coming to the family matters made them un-happy. He destroyed their silent life, carried them to the collapse. He destroyed the life of a respectable family.
If we approach to the situation from the side of Galsworthy, we can see that, the reason to the fall of love between Irene and Bosinney was not their sin. It was the de-
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mand of the time and society. Because this love was against the Forsytizm. The For-sytes were of great in number, and it was nearly impossible for lovers to win in this situation. They tried to attack, but then understood that, it was only the defence. Even in the position of defense they could not stand, they were week, and lost.
To my mind, Soames is the central line in the novel. He is given from different sides. As a man of property he causes pity with his being limited in his feelings, his proud, dictate character to his surrounding. Being ideal for his relatives, colleges, partners he makes his wife afraid Irene with lacks and shortages, with his being Forsyte.
Love, Beauty and Art cannot exist in such societies, where rules forsytism. Also they cannot survive alone. If there is a condition for moral values in the society, they will enlighten together. But in the period where people like Soames lived, it was impos-sible. Everything was counted according the rules of money. Beauty, Love, and Art existed to enjoy the Forsytes, who get more money with them. They were the victims of Forsytism.
The cracks of Forsytism were very obvious, though they wanted to hide it. The mem-bers of the Forsyte clan gathered together, in order to show the unity among them. But the events revealed the real situation. They did not go along with one-another, they even had not any desire to be in the same environment. Forsytes were the people of the period, and with the end of the period the collapse of the modes emerged openly, and it was inescapable.
But unfortunately, in modern society the people like Soames and like him exist, who cannot evaluate the human feelings and higher values.
Another human problem put forward by the author is generations and changes. Thus, the generations of the Forsyte clan change only when the old generations die. For in-stance, after some generations the Forsytes‟ main source of proud, the fact that they are superior over the others, because they have property loose its importance, it does not matter neither to them, nor to others so much. The changes happen even in the ma-rital status of Irene and Soames, their children do not care so much their parents con-flicts in their past.
Then again, an important fact is that, the Forsytes‟ offspring decreases in number. Their second generation has not so many children. So the fewer they are the fewer the Forsy-tizm. But thinking about this, I remember the words written in the preface of the “The Man of Property” by the author, and became skeptical about it: “Let the dead Past bury its dead” would be a better saying if the Past ever died. The persistence of the Past is one of those tragi-
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comic blessings which each new Age denies, coming cocksure on to the stage to mouth its claim to a perfect novelty. But no Age is as new as that! Human Nature, under its changing pretensions and clothes, is and ever will be very much of a Forsyte, and might, after all, be a much worse animal.
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