MINISTRY OF EDUCATION

OF THE REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA

ION CREANGA STATE PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY
FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES AND LITERATURES
ENGLISH PHILOLOGY CHAIR

DIPLOMA PAPER

FIGURATIVE USE OF WORDS IN

W.S.MAUGHAM`S SHORT STORIES)

Submitted by:
IONACO SILVIA,
the 4th year student, group 404
Scientific adviser:
SMOCHIN OLGA,
Senior lecturer

Chiinu 2011

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION...3

Chapter I. BASIC ASSUMPTIONS OF STYLISTIC DEVICES IN

LITERATURE
1.1.

Stylistic Resources of Language. Lexical and Lexico-Syntactical Stylistic

Devices in Fiction6

1.2.

The Use of Expressive Means in Literature..11

1.2.1. Irony as a Stylistic Device Used in Literature..12

1.2.2. The Use of Epithets in Fiction..15
1.2.3. The Role of Repetition in Literature.18
1.2.4. The Importance of Phraseological Units Employed in Narrative.23

Chapter II. FIGURATIVE USE OF WORDS IN SOMERSET

MAUGHAM`S SHORT STORIES
2.1. Style of Maugham`s Writing29
2.2. The Pragmatic Analysis of the Use of Expressive Means in Maugham`s Short
Stories...32
2.2.1. Rendering Epithets in Somerset Maugham`s Short Stories..32
2.2.2. Employment of Irony in Maugham`s Narrative40
2.2.3. Repetition as a Stylistic Device in Maugham`s Short Stories...51
2.2.4. The Use of Phraseological Units in Maugham`s Short Stories.58
2.3. The Statistical Results of Investigation..

CONCLUSION............
BIBLIOGRAPHY...........
APPENDIX..........

INTRODUCTION
This Diploma Paper is the result of theoretical investigation and practical
research of the topic FIGURATIVE USE OF WORDS IN SOMERSET
MAUGHAM`S SHORT STORIES.
Figurative language is the language which uses figures of speech a way
of saying something other than the literal meaning of the words. Figurative
language departs from literal meaning to achieve a special effect or meaning.
Figures of speech are of such importance that they must always occupy a
prominent place in every treatise on style or criticism.
The purpose of fiction is to extend, broaden, deepen, enrich, and expand the
consciousness and souls of the many readers who will experience many literary
works over many years. Using different figures of speech, writers make their
works accurate, vivid, and memorable. And such a great role is played by irony,
epithets, repetition and phraseological units in the investigated within this Diploma
Paper Somerset Maugham`s short stories. So, the Work is devoted to the study of
his figurative language.
Thus, for choosing this topic there were several reasons. First of all, it was
interesting to enlarge our knowledge in the sphere of English Literature. Second,
we wanted to deepen study of the theme which was arisen during the lessons of
Literature. And, finally, we have understood that closer acknowledgement with the
figurative language in English literature and, namely, in W. Somerset Maugham`s
short stories will help us in better understanding the other more complicated
linguistic, stylistic and pragmatic problems.
The main aim of the Work is to analyse figurative use of words in W. S.
Maugham`s short stories.
To achieve the aim set it was necessary to solve the following tasks:
1. To collect from Maugham`s narrative the set of sentences containing
different stylistic devices: irony, epithets, repetition and phraseological
units.
3

2. To study the theory on the topic and reveal the problems which were
discussed in the theoretical sources.
3. To interpret the use of different figures of speech in Maugham`s short
stories.
4. To reveal Somerset Maugham`s individual style of writing.
While conducting the research investigation the following research methods
were used:
Analysis is the leading research method because it was used throughout the
whole work. We used it working with the literary material under our investigation
for the purpose to generalize some ideas and come to the conclusions.
Compact selection was used while working with literary sources to extract
the necessary sample sentences.
Description is a scientific method which is used while completing the whole
Work, both in its theoretical and practical parts for studying the material under
investigation and counting its results.
Generalization as the method of investigation was used in each point of
practical part for systematization the information presented within each point, and,
of course in the Conclusion to present general conclusions on the entire Work.
Observation as the scientific research method that consists in collecting data
about different behavours, relationships, activities, objects, etc. based on the
observation guide was used in the theoretical part of the Work for collecting
information for it.
The statistical method was used to join all the results from practical
investigation for the purpose to express them in figures (percent).
Synthesis was used for mixture and combination of different ideas,
viewpoints and styles.
Our pragmatic investigation of the figurative language of Somerset
Maugham was conducted on the basis of the selected Maugham`s short stories.
The logics of investigation suggested us the following structure of the Work:
4

The Introduction includes the main goal and objectives of the investigation,
the actuality of the topic and the motives for its choice.
Chapter I deals with the preliminaries of the stylistic devices in narrative,
namely, irony, epithet, repetition and phraseological unit.
Chapter II deals with pragmatic investigation of the figurative use of words
in Somerset Maugham`s short stories. The statistical results of investigation are
also within this chapter.
The Conclusion contains the results of the pragmatic investigation on the
topic under study.
Bibliography lists the material that helped the researcher in the overall study
of the abovementioned problem and at to realize the objectives of investigation.
Appendix comprises different tables, schemes and diagrams which are
essential on the investigated material.

Chapter I. BASIC ASSUMPTIONS OF STYLISTIC DEVICES IN

LITERATURE

1.1.

Stylistic Resources of Language. Lexical and Lexico-Syntactical Stylistic

Devices in Fiction.
Words in literal expressions denote what they mean according to common or

dictionary usage, while words in figurative expressions connote additional layers

of meaning. When the human ear or eye receives the message, the mind must
interpret the data to convert it into meaning. This involves the use of a cognitive
framework which is made up of memories of all the possible meanings that might
be available to apply to the particular words in their context. This set of memories
will give prominence to the most common or literal meanings, but also suggest
reasons for attributing different meanings. [23, 84]
Classical and traditional linguistics by some counts identified more than 250
different figures of speech. More recently, some have reduced the list to more
manageable proportions; others have claimed to be able to classify all figurative
language as either metaphor or metonymy. The most common of them are:
accumulation, alliteration, anaphora, anticlimax, antithesis, apostrophe, climax,
connotation, epithet, euphemism, example, hyperbole, irony, leitmotif, litotes,
metaphor, metonymy, onomatopoeia, oxymoron, paradox, parallelism, periphrasis,
personification, play on words, pun, rhetorical question, simile, symbol,
synecdoche, understatement. [21, 212]
It has been customary to characterize literal as the antonym of figurative as
if the two are in dialectical opposition. But this view is not sustainable. Each
semiotic niche within a culture will reach agreement about the usual or actual
meaning of words in common use. This will not be fixed but will change over time.
Hence, for example, the original definition of wicked referred to behaviour that
was immoral or sinful, but in some subcultures, the word now carries connotations
of positive approval. So, when the audience begins to decode the incoming
message, the literal meaning of the whole will be the one using the commonly-used
6

meaning for each word. Word-for-word translation between two languages won't
translate the understanding of the original. The full system of interpretation
requires the application of a complex set of rules to place the provisional meanings
allocated to the individual words into a full context in which all the available
information, linguistic and nonlinguistic, will be applied to determine where the
final translation will sit on the spectrum of meaning from literal to figurative. [27,
138]
Cognitive linguistics, in particular, may ultimately declare all distinction
between literal and figurative language irrelevant. What gets called literal meaning
is only a plausible default in minimally specified contexts. It is not clear that the
notion literal meaning plays any privileged role in the on-line construction of
meaning. The literal meaning is not a special form of meaning, as demonstrated
by the example above; it is only the meaning the reader is most likely to assign to a
word or phrase if he or she knows nothing about the context in which it is to be
used. The writer or speaker describes something through the use of unusual
comparisons, for effect, interest, and to make things clearer. The result of using
this technique is the creation of interesting images. Figurative language is not
intended to be interpreted in a literal sense. [34, 112]
It is well-known by now that among multiple functions of the word the main
one is to denote, denotational meaning thus being the major semantic characteristic
of the word.
Each type of intended substitution results in a stylistic device called also a
trope.
Stylistic devices which are used in literature form two large classes:
lexical stylistic devices, and
lexico-syntactical stylistic devices. [19, 12]
The most frequently used, well known and elaborated among the lexical
stylistic devices are: metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche, play on words, irony,
epithet, hyperbole, understatement and oxymoron. Thus:
7

Epithet is a descriptive word or phrase added to or substituted for the name

of a person or thing, highlighting a characteristic feature or quality.
E.g.: He's a proud, haughty, consequential, turned-nosed peacock. [37, 82]
Irony is a figure of speech which is a subtle from a humour which involves
saying things that are not really meant.
E.g.: His head was always most valuable when he had lost it. [37, 91]
Hyperbole is a stylistic device in which emphasis is achieved through
deliberate exaggeration.
E.g.: The girls were dressed to kill. [37, 88]
Metaphor is a figure of speech which involves an implied comparison
between two relatively unlike things using a form of be. The comparison is not
announced by like or as.
E.g.: She was handsome in a rather leonine way. Where this girl was a
lioness, the other was a panther - lithe and quick. [37, 118]
Metonymy is a figure of speech in which an attribute of something is used to
stand for the thing itself, such as laurels when it stands for glory or brass
when it stands for military officers.
E.g.: She saw around her, clustered about the white tables, multitudes of
violently red lips, powdered cheeks, cold, hard eyes, self-possessed
arrogant faces, and insolent bosoms. [37, 119]
Oxymoron is a stylistic device the syntactic and semantic structures of
which come to clashes.
E.g.: Sprinting towards the elevator he felt amazed at his own cowardly
courage. [37, 194]
Play on words is a humorous use of words that involves a word or phrase
that has more than one possible meaning.
E.g.: Have you been seeing any spirits? Or taking any? - added Bob
Alien. [37, 204]

Synecdoche is a figure of speech in which the word for part of something is

used to mean the whole, for example, sail for boat, or vice versa.
E.g.: His mind was alert and people asked him to dinner not for old times'
sake, but because he was worth his salt. [37, 288]
Understatement is a statement, or a way of expressing yourself, that is
deliberately less forceful or dramatic than the subject would seem to justify or
require.
E.g.: Her family is one aunt about a thousand years old. [37, 412]
The other large class of stylistic devices, as it was mentioned above, is
lexcico-syntactical stylistic devices which include the following most frequently
used figures of speech: antithesis, climax, anticlimax, repetition, simile, litotes,
periphrasis. Syntactical stylistic devices add logical, emotive, expressive
information to the utterance regardless of lexical meanings of sentence
components. There are certain structures though, whose emphasis depends not only
on the arrangement of sentence members but also on the lexico-semantic aspect of
the utterance. Thus: [1, 50]
Anticlimax is a figure of speech which expresses an ordinary or unsatisfying
event that follows an increasingly exciting, dramatic, or unusual series of events or
a period of increasing anticipation and excitement.
E.g.: We were all in ll t one another, it was the morning of life, it was
bliss, it was frenzy, it was everything else of that sort in the highest
degree. [1, 52]
Antithesis is a figure of speech which denotes any active confrontation,
emphasized co-occurrence of notions, really or presumably opposed by means of
dictionary or contextual antonyms.
E.g.: Mrs. Nork had a large home and a small husband. [1, 52]
Climax is a figure of speech in which each next word combination (clause,
sentence) is logically more important or emotionally stronger and more explicit.
E.g.: Like a well, like a vault, like a tomb, the prison had no knowledge of
the brightness outside. [1, 55]
9

Litotes is a two-component structure in which two negations are joined to

give a positive evaluation.
E.g.: It was not unnatural if Gilbert felt a certain embarrassment. [1, 138]
Periphrasis is a stylistic device which basically consists of using a
roundabout form of expression instead of a simpler one, i.e. of using a more or less
complicated syntactical structure instead of a word.
E.g.: His face was red, the back of his neck overflowed his collar and there
had recently been published a second edition of his chin. [1, 211]
Repetition is a rhetoric device which consists in the simple repeating of a
word, within a sentence or a poetical line, with no particular placement of the
words, this is to make emphasis. This is such a common literary device that it is
almost never even noted as a figure of speech.
E.g.: Today, as never before, the fates of men are so intimately linked
to one another that a disaster for one is a disaster for everybody. [1,
215]
Simile is a figure of speech which involves a direct comparison between two
unlike things, usually with the words like or as.
E.g.: She has always been as live as a bird. [1, 329]
To sum up, it should be noted that appealing to the expressive means
provides new ways of looking at the world. It always makes use of a comparison
between different things. Figurative language compares two things that are
different in enough ways. Literary language is a figurative one which uses a lot of
different expressive stylistic devices among which are the following: anticlimax,
antithesis, climax, epithet, hyperbole, irony, litotes, metaphor, metonymy,
oxymoron, periphrasis, pun, repetition, simile, synecdoche, understatement.
Stylistic devices add logical, emotive, expressive information to the utterance
regardless of lexical meanings of sentence components.

10

1.2.

The Use of Expressive Means in Literature.

The stylistic approach to the utterance is not confined to its structure and

sense. Words in a context may acquire additional lexical meanings not fixed in the
dictionaries, what is called contextual meanings. The latter may sometimes deviate
from the dictionary meaning to such a degree that the new meaning even becomes
the opposite of the primary meaning. What is known in linguistics as transferred
meaning is practically the interrelation between two types of lexical meaning:
dictionary and contextual. [15, 223]
The transferred meaning of a word may be fixed in dictionaries as a result of
long and frequent use of the word other than in its primary meaning. In this case a
derivative meaning of the word is registered. Hence, the term transferred should be
used signifying the development of the semantic structure of the word. In this case
two meanings are not perceived. When two meanings of the word are perceived
simultaneously, it means that the learner is confronted with a stylistic device in
which the two meanings interact. The relation between dictionary and contextual
meanings may be maintained along different lines: on the principle of affinity, on
that of proximity, or symbol referent relations, or on opposition. [15, 224]
The special media are called stylistic devices and expressive means. The
principal field of investigation, i.e. stylistic devices and expressive means, touches
upon such general language problems as: the aesthetic function of language,
synonymous ways of rendering one and the same idea, emotional colouring in
language, the interrelation between language and thought, the individual manner of
an author in making use of language, etc. [15, 224]
Expressive means are those phonetic, morphological, word-building,
lexical, phraseological and syntactical forms which exist in language-as-a-system
for the purpose of logical and/or emotional intensification of the utterance.
All the expressive means are divided into 3 large groups: phonetic
expressive means and stylistic devices, lexical stylistic devices and syntactical
devices. Each of group consists of a definite set of tropes. Thus, the first group,
11

namely, phonetic expressive means and stylistic devices include the following:
onomatopoeia; alliteration; rhyme; rhythm.
The second group which comprises lexical stylistic devices includes the
following tropes: anticlimax; periphrasis; imagery; metaphor; metonymy; irony;
zeugma; pun; epithet; oxymoron; antonomasia; simile; hyperbole; clich; proverb;
epigram; quotation; allusion.
And, consequently, the third group of expressive means is made up of
syntactical stylistic devices which include the following tropes: inversion;
detachment; parallelism; chiasmus; repetition; enumeration; suspense; climax;
antithesis; asyndeton; polysyndeton; gap-sentence-link; ellipsis; aposiopesis;
question-in-the-narrative; represented speech; rhetorical questions; litotes. [19,
22-23]
Stylistic device is a conscious and intentional intensification of some typical
structural and/or semantic property of a language unit (neutral or expressive)
promoted to a generalised status and thus becoming a generative model. [15, 271]

1.2.1. Irony as a Stylistic Device Used in Literature.

Irony is a literary or rhetorical device, in which there is a gap or incongruity
between what a speaker or a writer says, and what is generally understood.
Generally, irony is understood as an aesthetic valuation by an audience, which
relies on a sharp discordance between the real and the ideal, and which is variously
applied to texts, speech, events, acts, and even fashion. All the different senses of
irony revolve around the perceived notion of an incongruity, or a gap, between an
understanding of reality, or expectation of a reality, and what actually happens. [1,
72]
The term has been stretched to cover understatement, naivety, hyperbole,
pun, paradox and in fact (especially in modern criticism) any contrast or ambiguity
in fact, to cover anything other than plain literal statement. But, on both
12

etymological practical grounds, there are better regarded as means of irony or,
according to the literary circumstances, as overlapping concepts. [10, 476]
The principal obstacle in the way of a simple definition of irony is the fact
that irony is not a simple phenomenon. There is evidently a wide gap between the
situational irony of which the single-minded pickpocket is a victim and the verbal
irony, the academic sub-acidity of tone. [9, 8]
Dealing with general notion of irony, first of all, it is necessary to define this
term. Different dictionaries present its definition in their own ways, but, of course,
more or less they are similar.
According to Collins Cobuild Advanced Learner`s English Dictionary irony
is:
1. Irony is a subtle form of humour which involves saying things that you do
not mean.
E.g.: Sinclair examined the closed, clever face for any hint of irony, but
found none.
2. If you talk about the irony of a situation, you mean that it is odd or amusing
because it involves a contrast.
E.g.: The irony is that many officials in Washington agree in private that
their policy is inconsistent [36, 768]
The other dictionary, namely Encarta Dictionary Tools, presents the meaning
of irony in such a way:
Irony, in drama and literature, is a statement or action whose apparent
meaning is underlain by a contrary meaning. In addition to verbal or rhetorical
irony, there is also structural irony, sometimes called irony of situation.
Structural irony typically takes the form of a discrepancy between appearance and
reality, or between what a character expects and what actually happens. Both
verbal and structural irony share the suggestion of a concealed truth conflicting
with surface appearances. [39]
In Oxford Advanced Learners` Dictionary it is explained as:
13

1 the amusing or strange aspect of a situation that is very different from what
you expect; a situation like this: The irony is that when he finally got the
job, he discovered he didnt like it.
E.g.: It was one of lifes little ironies.
2 the use of words that say the opposite of what you really mean, often as a
joke and with a tone of voice.
E.g.: There was a note of irony in his voice. [41, 217]
And, finally, Wikipedia an electronic encyclopedia, writes the following
about irony:
Irony is a literary or rhetorical device, in which there is a gap or incongruity
between what a speaker or a writer says, and what is generally understood (either
at the time, or in the later context of history). Irony may also arise from a
discordance between acts and results, especially if it is striking, and known to a
later audience. A certain kind of irony may result from the act of pursuing a
desired outcome, resulting in the opposite effect, but again, only if this is known to
a third party. In this case the aesthetic arises from the realization that an effort is
sharply at odds with an outcome, and that in fact the very effort has been its own
undoing. [45]
H. W. Fowler, in Modern English Usage, had this to say of irony:
Irony is a form of utterance that postulates a double audience, consisting of
one party that hearing shall hear and shall not understand, and another party that,
when more is meant than meets the ear, is aware both of that more and of the
outsiders incomprehension. [40, 428]
The word irony in the American Heritage Dictionary of the English
Language has four meanings and, besides, some of meanings are divided into
several sub-meanings:
1a. The use of words to express something different from and often opposite
to their literal meaning.
b. An expression or utterance marked by a deliberate contrast between
apparent and intended meaning.
14

c. A literary style employing such contrasts for humorous or rhetorical

effect.
2a. Incongruity between what might be expected and what actually occurs:
Hyde noted the irony of Ireland's copying the nation she most hated.
b. An occurrence, result, or circumstance notable for such incongruity.
3. Dramatic irony.
4. Socratic irony. [43, 429]
Other historical prescriptivists have even stricter definitions for the word
irony. Henry Watson Fowler, in The Kings English, says any definition of
ironythough hundreds might be given, and very few of them would be
acceptedmust include this, that the surface meaning and the underlying meaning
of what is said are not the same. Not all irony is humorous: grim irony and
stark irony are familiar. [9, 118]
To sum up, it should be noted that ironic literature is a kind of literature in
which there is a constant dialectic interplay of objectivity and subjectivity, freedom
and necessity, the appearance of life and the reality of art, the author immanent in
every part of his work as its creative vivifying principle and transcending his work
as its objective presenter.

1.2.2. The Use of Epithets in Fiction.

Epithet is a descriptive word or phrase added to or substituted for the name
of a person or thing, highlighting a characteristic feature or quality.
E.g.: He has that unmistakable tall lanky rangy loose-jointed graceful
closecropped formidably clean American look.
He's a proud, haughty, consequential, turned-nosed peacock. [19, 32]
Epithet is probably as well known as metaphor, because it is widely
mentioned-by the critics, scholars, teachers, and students discussing a literary
work. Epithet expresses characteristics of an object, both existing and imaginary.
Its basic feature is its emotiveness and subjectivity: the characteristic attached to
15

the object to qualify it is always chosen by the speaker himself. Our speech
ontologically being always emotionally coloured, it is possible to say that in epithet
it is the emotive meaning of the word that is foregrounded to suppress the
denotational meaning of the latter. [19, 31]
Epithet has remained over the centuries the most widely used stylistic
device, which is understandable - it offers ample opportunities of qualifying every
object from the author's partial and subjective viewpoint, which is indispensable in
creative prose, publicist style, and everyday speech. Through long and repeated use
epithets become fixed. Many fixed epithets are closely connected with folklore and
can be traced buck to folk ballads (e.g., true love, merry Christmas, etc.). A
number of them have originated in euphemistic writing of the late 16th and 17th
centuries (e.g., a valiant youth, a trembling maiden, dead silence, etc.).
Those which were first found in Homer's poetry and have been repeated since, are
known as Homeric epithets (e.g., swift-footed Achilles, rosy-fingered dawn).
[19, 31]
The structure and semantics of epithets are extremely variable which is
explained by their long and wide use. Semantically, there should be differentiated
two main groups, the biggest of them being affective (or emotive proper). These
epithets serve to convey the emotional evaluation of the object by the speaker.
Most of the qualifying words found in the dictionary can be and are used as
affective epithets (e.g., gorgeous, nasty, magnificent, atrocious, etc.).
The second group - figurative, or transferred, epithets - is formed of
metaphors, metonymies and similes (which will be discussed later) expressed by
adjectives. E.g. the smiling sun, the frowning cloud, the sleepless pillow,
the tobacco-stained smile, a ghost-like face, a dreamlike experience. Like
metaphor, metonymy and simile, corresponding epithets are also based on
similarity of characteristics of - two objects in the first case, on nearness of the
qualified objects in the second one, and on their comparison in the third. [19, 31]
In the overwhelming majority of examples epithet is expressed by adjectives
or qualitative adverbs (e.g., his triumphant look = he looked triumphantly).
16

Nouns come next. They are used either as exclamatory sentences (You, ostrich!)
or as postpositive attributes (Alonzo the Clown, Richard of the Lion Heart).
Epithets are used singly, in pairs, in chains, in two-step structures, and in
inverted constructions, also as phrase-attributes. All previously given examples
demonstrated single epithets. Pairs are represented by two epithets joined by a
conjunction or asyndetically as in wonderful and incomparable beauty or a tired
old town. Chains (also called strings) of epithets present a group of
homogeneous attributes varying in number from three up to sometimes twenty and
even more. E.g. You're a scolding, unjust, abusive, aggravating, bad old creature.
From the last example it is evident that if a logical attribute (which in our case is
the word old) is included into the chain of epithets it begins to shine with their
reflected light, i.e. the subjectivity of epithets irradiates onto the logical attribute
and adapts it for expressive purposes, along with epithets proper. [19, 32]
Two-step epithets are so called because the process of qualifying seemingly
passes two stages: the qualification of the object and the qualification of the
qualification itself, as in an unnaturally mild day, or a pompously majestic
female. As it can be seen from the examples, two-step epithets have a fixed
structure of Adv + Adj model. [19, 32]
Phrase-epithets always produce an original impression: the sunshine-inthe-breakfast-room smell, or a move-if-you-dare expression. Their originality
proceeds from the fact of the rare repetition of the once coined phrase-epithet
which, in its turn, is explained by the fact that into a phrase-epithet is turned a
semantically self-sufficient word combination or even a whole sentence, which
loses some of its independence and self-sufficiency, becoming a member of
another sentence, and strives to return to normality. The forcible manner of this
syntactical transformation is the main obstacle for repeated use of such phrasallystructured epithets. [19, 32]
A different linguistic mechanism is responsible for the emergence of one
more structural type of epithets, namely, inverted epithets They are based on the
contradiction between the logical and the syntactical: logically defining becomes
17

syntactically defined and vice versa. E.g. instead of this devilish woman, where
devilish is both logically and syntactically defining, and woman also both
logically and syntactically defined, W. Thackeray says this devil of a woman.
Here of a woman is syntactically an attribute, i.e. the defining, and devil the
defined, while the logical relations between the two remain the same as in the
previous example a woman is defined by the devil. [19, 32]
All inverted epithets are easily transformed into epithets of a more habitual
structure where there is no logico-syntactical contradiction, e.g. the giant of a
man (a gigantic man); the prude of a woman (a prudish woman), etc. When
meeting an inverted epithet do not mix it up with an ordinary of-phrase. Here the
article with the second noun will help in doubtful cases: the toy of the girl (the
toy belonging to the girl); the toy of a girl (a small, toy-like girl), or the kitten
of the woman (the cat belonging to the woman); the kitten of a woman (a
kittenlike woman). [19, 32]
To sum up, it should be noted that epithet is a descriptive word or phrase
added to or substituted for the name of a person or thing, highlighting a
characteristic feature or quality. Epithet has remained over the centuries the most
widely used stylistic device, which is understandable - it offers ample opportunities
of qualifying every object from the author's partial and subjective viewpoint, which
is indispensable in creative prose, publicist style, and everyday speech.

1.2.3. The Role of Repetition in Literature.

Repetition (rhetoric device) is just the simple repeating of a word, within a
sentence or a poetical line, with no particular placement of the words, this is to
make emphasis. This is such a common literary device that it is almost never even
noted as a figure of speech.
E.g.: Today, as never before, the fates of men are so intimately linked
to one another that a disaster for one is a disaster for everybody. [37,
308]
18

One of the most prominent places among the stylistic devices dealing with
the arrangement of members of the sentence decidedly belongs to repetition. The
repetition of a phoneme is present in alliteration, the repetition of a morpheme is in
rhyming, or plain morphemic repetition. As a syntactical stylistic device repetition
is recurrence of the same word, word combination, phrase for two and more times.
According to the place which the repeated unit occupies in a sentence (utterance),
repetition is classified into several types:
1. anaphora: the beginning of two or more successive sentences (clauses) is
repeated - a..., a..., a... . The main stylistic function of anaphora is hot so
much to emphasize the repeated unit as to create the background textile nonrepeated unit, which, through its novelty, becomes foregrounded.
2. epiphora: the end of successive sentences (clauses) is repeated - ...a, ...a,
...a. The main function of epiphora is to add stress to the final words of the
sentence.
3. framing: the beginning of the sentence is repeated in the end, thus forming
the frame for the non-repeated part of the sentence (utterance) - a... a. The
function of framing is to elucidate the notion mentioned in the beginning of
the sentence.
4. catch repetition (anadiplosis): the end of one clause (sentence) is repeated
in the beginning of the following one - ...a, a....
5. chain repetition presents several successive anadiploses - ...a, a...b, b...c, c.
The effect is that of the smoothly developing logical reasoning.
6. ordinary repetition has no definite place in the sentence and the repeated
unit occurs in various positions - ...a, ...a..., a... Ordinary repetition
emphasizes both the logical and the emotional meanings of the reiterated
word (phrase).
7. successive repetition is a string of closely following each other reiterated
units - ...a, a, a... This is the most emphatic type of repetition which signifies
the peak of emotions of the speaker. [37, 310-312]
19

Repetition is a major rhetorical strategy for producing emphasis, clarity,

amplification, or emotional effect. Within the history of rhetoric terms have been
developed to name both general and very specific sorts of repetition.
Adnominatio is repeating a word, but in a different form. Using a cognate
of a given word in close proximity.
E.g.: Mr. Oake, with his 5' 3" stature, really seemed more of an acorn. [38,
38]
Anadiplosis is the repetition of the last word of a preceding clause. The
word is used at the end of a sentence and then used again at the beginning of the
next sentence.
E.g.: This, it seemed to him, was the end, the end of a world as he had
known it... [38, 42]
Anaphora is the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of every
clause.
E.g.: We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds,
we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills,
we shall never surrender. [38, 45]
Antanaclasis is the repetition of a word whose meaning changes in the
second instance.
E.g.: Your argument is sound...all sound. [38, 46]
Antistasis is the repetition of a word in a contrary sense. Often, simply
synonymous with antanaclasis.
E.g.: While we live, let us live. [38, 46]
Coenotes is the repetition of two different phrases: one at the beginning and
the other at the end of successive paragraphs. A specific kind of symploce.
E.g.: O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: for his mercy endureth
for ever.
O give thanks unto the God of gods: for his mercy endureth for ever
O give thanks to the Lord of Lords: for his mercy endureth for ever.
[38, 94]
20

Conduplicatio is the repetition of a word in various places throughout a

paragraph.
E.g.: And the world said, disarm, disclose, or face serious consequences ...
and therefore, we worked with the world, we worked to make sure that
Saddam Hussein heard the message of the world. [38, 105]
Diacope is a rhetorical term meaning uninterrupted repetition of a word, or
repetition with only one or two words between each repeated phrase.
E.g.: All lost! To prayers, to prayers! All lost! [38, 168]
Diaphora is the repetition of a name, first to signify the person or persons it
describes, then to signify its meaning.
E.g.: For your gods are not gods but man-made idols. [38, 224]
Epanalepsis is the repetition of the initial word or words of a clause or
sentence at the end.
E.g.: The king is dead, long live the king. [38, 257]
Epistrophe is the repetition of a word or phrase at the end of every clause.
E.g.: What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny compared to what
lies within us. [38, 262]
Epizeuxis or palilogia is the repetition of a single word, with no other words
in between.
E.g.: Words, words, words. [38, 284]
Isocolon is a series of similarly structured elements having the same length.
The length of each member is repeated in parallel fashion.
E.g.: Veni, vidi, vici (I came, I saw, I conquered) [38, 258]
Mesarchia is the repetition of the same word or words at the beginning and
middle of successive sentences.
E.g.: And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my
servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein,
even they, and their children, and their children's children for ever:
and my servant David shall be their prince for ever. [38, 522]
21

Mesodiplosis is the repetition of a word or phrase at the middle of every

clause.
E.g.: We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed,
but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not
destroyed... [38, 534]
Palilogia is the repetition of the same word, with none between, for
vehemence. Synonym for epizeuxis.
E.g.: He, he it was who spelled my doom. [38, 612]
Paregmenon is a general term for the repetition of a word or its cognates in
a short sentence.
E.g.: It will destroy the wisdom of the wise. [38, 634]
Ploce is a general term for the repetition of a word for rhetorical emphasis.
E.g.: In thy youth learn some craft that in thy age thou mayest get thy living
without craft. [38, 647]
Polyptoton is repeating a word, but in a different form. Using a cognate of a
given word in close proximity.
E.g.: With eager feeding food doth choke the feeder. [38, 672]
Polysyndeton is employing many conjunctions between clauses.
E.g.: I said, Who killed him? and he said, I don't know who killed him
but he's dead all right, and it was dark and there was water standing
in the street and no lights and windows broke and boats all up in the
town and trees blown down and everything all blown and I got a skiff
and went out and found my boat where I had her inside Mango Key
and she was all right only she was full of water. [38, 678]
Repotia is the repetition of a phrase with slight differences in style, diction,
tone, etc.
E.g.: Joy spreads and sorrow spreads. [38, 711]
Symploce is the combination of anaphora and epistrophe: beginning a series
of lines, clauses, or sentences with the same word or phrase while simultaneously
repeating a different word or phrase at the end of each element in this series.
22

E.g.: Against yourself you are calling him,

against the laws you are calling him,
against the democratic constitution you are calling him. [38, 679]
Taking into consideration all the abovementioned information it should be
noted that repetition as stylistic device has its particular functions and effects.
To sum up, it should be noted that repetition is a major rhetorical strategy
for producing emphasis, clarity, amplification, or emotional effect. Within the
history of rhetoric terms have been developed to name both general and very
specific sorts of repetition.

1.2.4. The Importance of Phraseological Units Employed in Narrative.

Attempts have been made to approach the problem of phraseology in
different ways. Up till now, however, there is certain divergence of opinion as to
the essential features of phraseological units as distinguished from other wordgroups and the nature of phrases that can be properly termed phraseological
units. The habitual terms set-phrases, idioms, word-equivalents are even
today are treated differently by different linguists. Thus difference in terminology
reflects certain differences in the main criteria used to distinguish between free
word-groups and a specific type of linguistic units generally known as
phraseology. [11, 5]
There are different combinations of words. Some of them are free, e.g., to
read books (newspapers, a letter, etc.), others are fixed, limited in their
combinative power, e.g., to go to bed, to make a report. The combinations of
words which are fixed (setexpressions) are called phraseological units.
According to Professor A.Smirnitsky a phraseological unit is a combination
of words which is a word equivalent. [24, 77]
Professor Smirnitsky classifies phraseological units by notional elements
present in them, dividing them into those which have one notional element and
those which have two notional elements. [31, 254-255]
23

In a phraseological unit words are not independent. They form setexpressions, in which neither words nor the order of words can be changed.
Phraseological units are used by the speaker in a ready form, without any changes.
The whole phraseological unit has a meaning which may be quite different from
the meanings of its components, and therefore the whole unit, and not separate
words, has the function of a part of the sentence. [18, 25]
Cathegorial features of phraseologysm:
a) lexical meaning;
b) components;
c) existence of grammar categories. [18, 25]
Phraseological units consist of separate words and therefore they are
different from words, even from compounds. Words have several structural forms,
but in phraseological units only one of the components has all the forms of the
paradigm of the part of speech it belongs to.
Phraseological units have nonmotivated meaning as compared with free
word combinations.
In phraseological units there occur unique meanings, that is the meanings of
elements which they have only in a concrete given combination, e.g., the word salt
in the phraseological unit an old salt. [11, 8]
Phraseological units have morphological, syntactic, semantic and structural
peculiarities which distinguish them from free word combinations.
Free word combinations can never be polysemantic, while there are
polysemantic phraseological units, e.g.
to be on the go

1. to be busy and active

2. to be leaving
3. to be tipsy
4. to be near one`s end

have done with

1. make end of
2. give up
3. reach the end of
24

Phraseological units are formed from free word combinations. Word

combinations become set expressions and come to be used with a figurative
meaning. Their origin may be different. [11, 8]
Sources of phraseological units:
Some phraseological units are connected with some historical events, e.g., to
burn one`s boats, to bury the hatchet.
Often phraseological units are expressions taken from some literary work,
e.g., much ado about nothing.
Many phraseological units are professional expressions, e.g., to put the
finishing touches, to feel one`s pulse, to be in chancery, to have all the trumps in
one`s hand, to see rocks ahead, to die in the last ditch.
Many phraseological units are translated from foreign languages, e.g., the
apple of discord.
Sometimes phraseological units are formed as a result of shortening
proverbs, e.g., to catch at a straw (from a drowing man will catch at a straw); to
cry over spilt milk (from there is no use crying over spilt milk). [3, 118]
A common term applied to some kinds of phraseological units is

idiom.

[35, 81]
Sometimes phraseological units are partly changed by writers for stylistic
purpose. A part of the unit is used instead of the whole, or some components are
replaced by other words. But the meaning of the whole unit is always preserved.
All phraseological units, with the exception of some international ones, have a
purely national character, and therefore their translation is difficult.
Expressivity and emotiveness means that idioms are also characterized by
stylistic colouring. In other words, they evoke emotions or add expressiveness.
On the whole phraseological units, even if they present a certain pattern, do
not generate new phrases. They are unique. [29, 114]
Phraseological units have morphological, syntactic, semantic and structural
peculiarities which distinguish them from free word combinations:
Morphological peculiarities of phraseological units:
25

1. The first feature is the i n c o m p l e t n e s s o f t h e p a r a d i g m. In a

phraseological unit at least one of the components has an incomplete paradigm
(e.g. to go to the dogs = to be ruined). The verb to go may have different forms
(He has gone, is going, went, will go, etc), but the noun dogs can be used only in
this form (to the dogs). If the combination is considered a free combination, then
all the words will acquire complete paradigm.
2. The second distinctive feature as compared with free word combinations is that
a u x i l i a r y w o r d s c a n n o t b e c h a n g e d in phraseological units. In
the expression to go to the dogs only the definite article can be used. Or, in the
expression at a glance only the indefinite article can be used. Generally in
phraseological units there is only one form of the article that can be used.
3. The last morphological feature of phraseological units as distinguished from free
combinations is a r c h a i c w o r d f o r m s no longer in actual use (e.g., in
olden days, on bended knees). [24, 80-81]
Syntactic peculiarities of phraseological units:
1. The first and the most important feature of the phraseological unit is the u n i t y
o f s y n t a c t i c f u n c t i o n . No matter how many notional members the
phraseological unit contains it is one member of the sentence (e.g.: He (the subject)
lost his head (the predicate). Every construction with a direct object can be
transformed into a passive construction and the direct object may be made the
subject of the passive construction, but the transformation is impossible in the case
of the phraseological unit.
2. The second syntactic feature distinguishing a phraseological unit from a free
combination is that n o m e m b e r o f a p h r a s e o l o g i c a l u n i t h a s
any syntactic

ties with any other members of the se

ntence other than those

o f t h e w h o l e u n i t.

3. The third distinctive feature is that n o g e n u i n e p h r a s e o l o g i c a l u

n i t a l l o w s o f s y n o n y m s u b s t i t u t i o n. [24, 81]
Semantic peculiarities of phraseological units:
26

1. Phraseological units have n o n-m o t i v a t e d m e a n i n g as compared

with free word combinations (e.g.: at sixes and sevens).
2. In phraseological units there occur

unique

m e a n i n g s , that is the

meanings of elements which they have only in a concrete given combination (e.g.:
the meaning of the word salt in the phraseological unit an old salt has a unique
meaning, which occurs only in one combination. It means that no derivatives or
compounds are created from the word in the unique meaning). [24, 82]
Structural peculiarities of phraseological units:
1.The use of the first type of verb-equivalents only in the i m p e r a t i v e m o o d.
E.g.: Keep your hair on (keep your temper).
Shut your head (be silent).
2. The use of the second type of verb-equivalents only in the a c t i v e v o i c e.
E.g.: give a hand (help)
give ear to (listen or attend to)
3. The use of the third type of verb-equivalents only in the n e g a t i v e f o r m.
E.g.: not to mince matters (to speak plainly)
not to stir a finger (to make no effort; give no help).
4. The use of the fourth type of verb-equivalents in p a r e n t h e t i c a l and
i n t r o d u c t o- r y p h r a s e s.
E.g.: to say (speak, tell) the truth.
5. The use of the fifth type verb-equivalents only with the verb c a n.
E.g.: cannot say to a goose (is very timid)
cannot make head or tail of (cannot find any meaning in)
6. The use of noun-equivalents in p a r e n t h e t i c a l and i n t r o d u c t o r y
c l a u s e s.
E.g.: old man, my dear
7. The use of noun-equivalents in t h e p r e d i c a t i v e f u n c t i o n.
E.g.: white elephant
8. The use of adjective-equivalents in t h e p r e d i c a t i v e f u n c t i o n.
27

E.g.: spick and span (should be regarded as one part of speech and not as
homogenious parts). [16, 112]
The memorableness of a set expression, as well as its unity, is assisted by
various factors within the expression such as rhythm, rhyme, alliteration, imagery
and even the muscular feeling one gets when pronouncing them.
To sum up, it should be noted that words in a context may acquire
additional lexical meanings not fixed in the dictionaries, what is called contextual
meanings. What is known in linguistics as transferred meaning is practically the
interrelation between two types of lexical meaning: dictionary and contextual. The
principal field of investigation, i.e. stylistic devices and expressive means, touches
upon such general language problems as: the aesthetic function of language,
synonymous ways of rendering one and the same idea, emotional colouring in
language, the interrelation between language and thought, the individual manner of
an author in making use of language, etc.

28

Chapter II. FIGURATIVE USE OF WORDS IN SOMERSET

MAUGHAM`S SHORT STORIES

Chapter Two is a practical one and its main aim, as also of the entire Work is
to analyse figurative use of words in W. S. Maugham`s short stories. To achieve
the aim set it was necessary to solve the following tasks: to collect from
Maugham`s narrative the set of sentences containing different stylistic devices:
irony, epithets, repetition and phraseological units; to study the theory on the topic
and reveal the problems which were discussed in the theoretical sources; to
interpret the use of different figures of speech in Maugham`s short stories; to
reveal Somerset Maugham`s individual style of writing.
The pragmatic investigation of the figurative language of Somerset
Maugham was conducted on the basis of his short stories.

2.1. Style of Maugham`s Writing.

William Somerset Maugham is one of the best known English writers of the
20th century. He was not only a novelist, but also a one of the most successful
dramatist and short-story writers. Realistic portrayal of life, keen character
observation, and interesting plots coupled with beautiful, expressive language,
simple and lucid style, place Somerset Maugham on a level with the greatest
English writers of the 20th century.
Maugham's skill in handling plot has been compared with the manner of
Guy de Maupassant. His stories are told in clear, economical style with cynical or
resigned undertone. The many short stories and books by W. Somerset Maugham
contain a unique writing style. His writing style is simple yet it contains a complex
and insightful opinion, and narrative. [33, 3]
Predictably, critics have focused on what is traditional in Maughams
writing his handling of plot, surprise and suspense, his depiction of an
exceptionally international, socially wide range of characters and in the process
29

have tended to miss what is original about it. Something still less often commented
on in Maughams work is his way of putting storytellers and the power of narrative
into the foreground, repeatedly framing texts within texts. If he is not a modernist,
he is, at least in this respect, a proto-postmodernist. [2, 32]
There is something quietly unassuming and gently diffident about Somerset
Maugham's writing that must surely be a reflection of some sector of his soul,
despite the public extravagance of that portion of his wildly eclectic life. But even
then he realized the unfortunate tendency of success to corrupt the quietest of
souls.
All Maugham's work, no matter how fictionalized or fabricated the details of
any scene, character, or episode, seeks to convey the truth, whatever that might
turn out to be, and no matter how painful it might finally be to tell it. Truth has
consequences for the human mind that are as effective as any drug. The pattern of
truth, indeed, carves a new perception that is as physical a change as any other. [8,
17]
Maugham`s breakthrough came only when he was able to accept his
inadequacies as a writer. Once he had done that, Maugham observed, he could
focus on cultivating his strengths.
In the end, Maugham`s style was plain; his insights were rarely profound.
Yet in clear, economical prose, he could accurately describe the small details of the
everyday world.
His short stories tell of odd, unusual and surprising experiences with
dramatic, exciting intensity. His favorite method is narration through a third
person, or indirect narration, which enables him to pass his remarks without
apparent intrusion. [6, 288]
Maugham wrote with outstanding clarity and frankness in ways
contemporary readers on the whole found easier to assimilate. True, it can be hard
to get past some of the period- and class-based language he falls into. All this is
confidently set out on the basis of thorough research, some of which must have
been difficult to do. The materials are vast and widely scattered: Maughams
30

friendships were almost as many as his writings and few of those he knew,
especially once he became famous, failed to record their own versions of him in
letters and journals as well as published books. On the other hand, in a series of
bonfires at Cap Ferrat, he destroyed all the evidence about himself that he could
find while persuading many others to cooperate in the process and imposing strict
terms on his literary executors. So although the story is often based on reliable
sources, it inevitably also sometimes derives from third-hand anecdotes or from
fiction, especially Maughams own. The reader is not alerted to the differences,
and, while some of them can be identified from the book endnotes, these references
are patchy and incomplete. What reads like a thoroughly traditional, archive-based,
cradle-to-grave biography in fact includes a good deal of gossip and speculation.
[33, 48]
While, in part for legal reasons, he could be evasive about the specific ways
in which his fiction used real life especially, and often to their cost, real people
he was always open about how this operated in general terms.
For Maugham writing was the life he lived. Punctilious in ensuring that his
guests at Cap Ferrat were well looked after, he was rich enough not to have to look
after them himself and, having satisfied himself that each day had begun as
everyone wanted, went up to the rooftop workroom which was the most important
of his worlds. Maugham believed that there is a true harmony in the contradictions
of mankind and that the normal is in reality the abnormal. [8, 22]
Many critics praised Maughams clear-cut prose. At his best he is an
incomparable story-teller. He writes with lucidity and almost ostentatious
simplicity. Giving him his due for brilliance of style, a pointed ridicule of many
social vices, such as snobbery, money-worship, pretence, self-interest, etc., the
reader realizes, however, his cynical attitude to mankind. His ironical cynicism
combined with a keen wit and power of observation affords him effective means of
portraying English reality without shrinking before its seamy side. [30, 36]
To sum up, it should be noted that it is the rare writer who excels at all
aspects of the craft. There are masterful stylists who, at bottom, have remarkably
31

little to say. And there are vigorous thinkers whose sentences plod along like the
lumbering steps of a draft horse. As Maugham has shown, becoming a better writer
involves confronting readers` limitations - identifying those qualities that
stubbornly resist all our efforts to improve them. But even more important is the
next step: building on our strengths. Above all, this steady-eyed biography of an
extraordinary, extravagant, generous and bitter artist will not only fascinate its
readers but encourage some to go to his work for the first time.

2.2. The Pragmatic Analysis of the Use of Expressive Means in Maugham`s

Short Stories.
For the purpose of writing this part of the Diploma Paper several kinds of
expressive means were

selected. Thus, epithets, irony, repetition and

phraseological units are the most widely spread devices in Somerset Maugham`s
short stories that is why they became the research material for the pragmatic
investigation of the topic under study.

2.2.1. Rendering Epithets in Somerset Maugham`s Short Stories.

Greater part of epithets used in Somerset Maugham`s stories are simple, or
single ones. The analysis of some of them is presented below.
Let us consider the first example.
E.g.: He gave her a sidelong glance with his pale, blue eyes, but did not
reply. [47, 127]
There are two epithets in this sentence. One of them is a sidelong glance
and the other one is pale, blue eyes. The first epithet is a single one and is
expressed by means of the adjective sidelong, the other one within this sentence
is a chain epithet, and it is expressed by two adjectives pale and blue. In the
first case epithet adds expressiveness to the noun while in the second case epithet
is more descriptive.
32

The other example is:

E.g.: He looked at it with greedy eyes. [47, 127]
Within this sentence the word greedy is an epithet which qualifies the
noun eyes. It is a single epithet expressed by an adjective which means
hungry, ravenous what adds figurativeness to this expression.
The following instance is:
E.g.: She was dressed in black and wore round her neck a gold chain, from
which dangled a small cross. [47, 127]
A gold chain is an expression within the sentence above which contains a
single epithet gold expressed by an adjective. It does not give expressiveness to
this word but adds figurative meaning to it in spite of the fact that gold is a usual
qualifying material adjective.
The next example is:
E.g.: Mrs Davidson scanned his face. She had a dramatic eagerness to see
that she had achieved the desired effect. [47, 128]
The sentence under analysis contains an expression a dramatic eagerness
in which dramatic is an epithet expressed by an adjective. This phrase adds
emotiveness and expressiveness to the whole sentence. It means vivid, striking
enthusiasm or anxiety, that is why it is possible to speak about the use of the
figurativeness in this sentence.
Let us analyse the next sample sentence.
E.g.: "In our islands," Mrs Davidson went on in her high-pitched tones,
"we've practically eradicated the lava-lava. [47, 129]
Next sentence contains two epithets. They are as follows:
E.g.: But Mrs Davidson had given two or three of her birdlike glances at
heavy grey clouds that came floating over the mouth of the harbour.
[47, 130]
The first epithet is a single one because it is expressed by one adjective only,
and, besides, the adjective birdlike is, at the same time, an epithet, too. It
supposes comparativeness because it contains the second stem like. The second
33

expression contains two adjectives heavy and grey which are the usual
qualifying words, but the whole expression heavy grey clouds became a set
expression, or a stable one, that is why it is quite evidently that we deal with an
epithet within this sentence. This epithet is a compound one because it comprised
more than one word (quality), or, namely, it is a chain epithet because one
adjective follows another and they both qualify a noun which follows them.
The following sentence comprises a simple, but not single epithet five
minutes` walk.
E.g.: The house they sought was about five minutes' walk from the wharf.
[47, 131]
Despite five minutes` is a two-word expression, semantically it is equal to
one expression because as a characteristics to something they cannot be used
separately because they lose the sense in this case. When the distance is
characterized by means of time which is necessary to reach there, pragmatically it
is usually equivalent to one word. Besides, quite often this two-word expression is
written as five-minutes (walk) what proves statement above. In spite this
expression may seem as a usual set expression, it this case it is an epithet because it
adds figurativeness and comparativeness to the epithet expressed by the ordinal
numeral five and the possessive case of the noun minutes.
Compound epithets are those ones which contain more than one word.
Thus, as it can be seen from the diagram below they include pair epithets, chain
epithets, two-step epithets and phrase or sentence epithets.
The sentences below contain all of these epithets, but they have not been
grouped according to the mentioned element. Examples are listed by the pages in
the literary source.
So, the following instance is:
E.g.: he was a man of forty, thin, with a pinched face, precise and rather
pedantic; [47, 126]
We deal with a chain epithet in this sentence. It consists of four words which
are the characteristics of a man. The first part of the epithet a pinched face is
34

expressed by the verbal adjective pinched which means tired. As the author
used the word pinched but not the usual tired, he wanted to show that this man
of forty was very tired, adding expressiveness to such characteristics. The second
part of this chain epithet characterizes the man in general, not only his face. But,
using such characteristics as precise and rather pedantic which are very close
in their meaning, Maugham deepens his characteristic features. This epithet is
expressed by means of two adjectives, one of which is in positive, and the other is
in a comparative degree. The adjective rather pedantic strengthens the previous
one precise because they are very close to their meanings.
The following example is:
E.g.: and he spoke with a Scots accent in a very low, quiet voice. [47,
126]
Low and quiet are the adjectives which qualify the noun voice. These
adjectives are of usual use, but, taking into consideration the fact that the whole
phrase became a set expression, it is possible to say that it became an epithet,
moreover, it is a chain epithet, because two adjectives are used in turn here and
both are the characteristics of a noun they precede.
Next sentence also contains a chain epithet but the adjectives which make up
an epithet is a postpositional one because it follows, not precedes the noun it
qualifies.
E.g.: The coconut trees, thick and green, came nearly to the water's edge,
and among them you saw the grass houses of the Samoans; [47, 127]
Thick and green are the usual characteristics of trees, but putting them
after the noun they characterise the author shows his admiration, expressiveness
and anxiety. Such figurative use of the usual adjectives points to the presence of an
adjective in this sentence.
The next sample sentence also contains a chain epithet.
E.g.: The most remarkable thing about her was her voice, high, metallic,
and without inflection; [47, 127]
35

The noun voice is a word which is qualified by means of two adjectives

high and metallic. As it was in a previous example, these two adjectives are of
usual use, but putting them in postposition the author underlines namely these
characteristics. So the emotional use of the usual adjectives lets us to speak about
the presence of an epithet in the analysed sentence.
Let us consider the following example:
E.g.: "They say this is a terribly difficult place to work in. [47, 127]
The bolded word-combination within this sentence is a compound epithet.
Moreover, it is a two-step construction because it is expressed by means of the
adjective difficult which in its turn is characterized by means of the adverb
terribly. Here the qualification of the object and the qualification of the
qualification itself take place.
As Somerset Maugham`s literary language is quite simple itself, such kinds
of epithets as phrase and sentence ones are very rarely used in his works. They
occupy the 5th position among the six what proves their poor spread.
Now, let us appeal to the following example.
E.g.: It was a sing-song whine, with the quavering intonations of a beggar,
and it filled Mackintosh with disgust. [47, 20]
The bolded words in this sentence form the phrase epithet. The noun wine
is a principal word in this expression which is characterized by the compound
adjective sing-song. The adjective itself is formed of the verb sing and the
noun song, and only due to the syntactical characteristics this compound word
became an adjective. It is quite an emotive characteristics of a wine, that is why it
can be appreciated as an epithet.
The next expression is the most successful example of a phrase epithet
because it is structurally correct as it is necessary for this kind of epithets.
E.g.: To Bateman it seemed a happy-go-lucky way of doing things. [47, 47]
The noun way is characterised by means of a long structure a happy-golucky which contains three words linked together by means of defies. Moreover,
it is quite difficult to understand the meaning or translation of this expression even
36

if we understand each word within it because the translation of its separate parts
does not give the real final meaning of the whole phrase. It looks like a play of
words. The first and last words in this phrase happy and lucky are the
adjectives while its middle (second) element (go) is a verb. Qualifying the way
in such an interesting and unusual way it becomes an epithet.
Let us consider the following instance.
E.g.: He was a good foot shorter than the mate and no match for him, but
he was used to dealing with native crews, and he had his knuckleduster handy. [47, 119]
Knuckle-duster is an epithet which characterizes the noun handy. It is
expressed by a compound word which consists of two nouns knuckle and
duster making all together an adjective. This phrase is too specific, because its
both elements are too different in their meaning and it is difficult to come across
with this phrase in any other literary source. But, in any case, it is a phrase epithet.
The next example is:
E.g.: Terrible, ain't it, bein' cooped up in a one-horse burg like this?"
answered Miss Thompson. [47, 138]
This sentence contains an expression which can be defined as a phrase
epithet. The noun burg is characterized by the compound word one-horse, the
first part of which is a numeral and the other is a noun. The phrase one-horse
characterizes the burg as something small, weak or poor. So, the figurative
meaning of this phrase takes place in this sentence.
The last sample within this group is as follows:
E.g.: Dr Macphail learnt the first results of the missionary's activity from
the half-caste trader in whose house they lodged. [47, 144]
The phrase epithet in this sentence is a compound word half- caste both
parts of which are the nouns. All together they form a substantivized adjective
which characterizes the noun trader to which it refers. Such combination of quite
different in their meaning words occurs very rarely but they make up a phrase
epithet.
37

Reversed or inverted epithets are those ones which are based on the
contradiction between the logical and syntactical: logically defining becomes
syntactically defined and vice versa. Presented below sentences confirm this
statement.
E.g.: He was touched by the higgledy-piggledy way in which those people
lived; [47, 85]
This sample sentence comprises the phrase higgledy-piggledy way the
first element of which means topsy-turvy and the second one means the same.
They are the synonyms between themselves. Moreover, they both have absolutely
the same synonyms listed in a dictionary. It is even a kind of jokey expression
which does not have the direct meaning. So, its meaning is inverted, that is why it
is possible to speak about this figurative expression as an inverted epithet.
The other example is:
E.g.: What had a stranger to do with this love-sick pair? [47, 113]
By means of the use of the expression love-sick pair the author wants to
say about two beloved people whose love is strange and not stable, that is why it is
characterized as love-sick. The first element within this epithet is a noun while
the other is an adjective. The reversed sense of this epithet consists in the fact that
love cannot be sick, it can only be or not to be. For the purpose not to describe all
the details of an unusual love between two people Maugham uses this descriptive
word which is considered as an epithet.
Let us consider the following epithet within this sentence.
E.g.: He was a mirth-loving man, and perhaps that accounted not a little
for his successful amours; [47, 114]
The author characterizes a man as a mirth-loving using rarely used word
mirth instead of the more usual one peace. It can be supposed that in such a
figurative way the author attracts the readers` attention namely to this feature of the
man`s character, may be because he considered it as the most important for him. In
any case, this emotional descriptive word has the inverted meaning because the
38

hero under description behaved in a described situation quite unusual despite this
feature of his character.
The following long sentence comprises the expression an alarming
experience which is considered to be an epithet here.
E.g.: As he walked past them backwards and forwards for the sake of
exercise, he had heard Mrs Davidson's agitated whisper, like the
distant flow of a mountain torrent, and he saw by his wife's open
mouth and pale face that she was enjoying an alarming experience.
[47, 128]
Alarming is a descriptive word which means upsetting, frightening,
shocking. Experience cannot have such characteristics, that is why this epithet
can be called as an inverted structure. Of course, the author supposed a negative
experience using these words.
The last example within this group of instances is as follows:
E.g.: What the devil are you doing? he cried. Stop that damned
machine. [47, 161]
The bolded within this sentence expression damned machine is an inverted
structure because the descriptive word damned (which is an epithet at the same
time) is a negative characteristics of something, but it cannot really specify
machine. But there exists a set expression which came from the folklore and is
used in such a way as it is in the sentence above.
To sum up, it should be noted that all the kinds of epithets (simple,
compound, phrase and reversed) are successfully used in W.S.Maugham`s short
stories. Single epithets are the most widely spread in his works. They make up
34% of the total amount of samples. Each kind of a compound epithet is used in a
significantly smaller amount in comparison with simple one, but all together, of
course, prevail in Maugham`s stories. Sentence epithets occur very rare in
S.Maugham`s stories. Reversed epithets are also not often used by Somerset
Maugham in his stories, but, if they are used they are beautiful and expressive.
They make up 12% of the total amount of the analysed sentences.
39

2.2.2. Employment of Irony in Maugham`s Narrative.

Somerset Maugham`s short stories gained the greatest popularity. And it is
right time to speculate upon one of the stories - The Escape.
It is about a man (Roger) and a woman (Ruth), their complicated relations
and scheming in order to achieve different aims. So they are the main characters.
The author hides behind the narrator who is the secondary character.
The essence of The Escape is that Roger and Ruth have diverse
approaches towards the relations. Of course, the men and the women like the first
step: flowers, attentiveness, passion. But then their paths diverge. The romance
disappears, the man looks for the way out, he craves for new emotions, but the
woman deems that the relations should develop into the marriage. And The
Escape is the example of such a mismatch.
From the very beginning the narrator convinces us that if a woman once
made her mind to marry a man nothing but instant flight could save him.
The story begins with a funny anecdote, stating that If a woman once made
up her mind to marry a man, nothing but instant flight could save him. [47, 5]
Marriage is described as the inevitable loom menacingly before [47, 5] men or
danger [47, 5] that urges men to perform an immediate action. [47, 5] This
suggests his negative attitudes towards marriage and, more importantly, expresses
the difference of men and women in love. Men are not marrying creatures while
women usually expect to lead a love affair to marriage. Ruth Barlow is
characterized by a gift, [47, 35] a gift for pathos. [47, 27]
One of his friends seeing the unavoidable hazard before him, took ship and
spent a year traveling round the world. He hoped the woman who was considered
to be his bride would forget him being fickle, but he was mistaken; when he got
back thinking himself safe, the woman, from whom he had fled, was waiting for
him on the dockside.
This funny thing supports the idea that the inevitable loom of the marriage
frightens some men and they try to evade it. This portion of the text is some kind
of preamble, it prepares the reader for the following plot-development and presents
40

a piece of narration. Its syntax is complicated, there are compound sentences with
many subjects and verbs of action not to loose the thought. The epithets instant
flight, [47, 38] the inevitable loom, [47, 105] menacingly [47, 27] show us
fear and trembling of such men. They do not know and do not respect women, the
epithet fickle [47, 29] confirms it, that why they are afraid of difficulties of the
marriage. And through these stylistic devices we feel the authors tone, it is
humorous, but this humor is with bitter flavor, so its natural to begin to reflect
once more on the essential principles of the relations between the man and woman,
but the story continues, lets turn to the text again.
Further on the narrator says that he knows only one man who escaped
successfully. Once upon a time his friend, Roger Charing told him he was going to
marry. Roger was tall and handsome, rich, experienced middle-aged man. Of
course, many women wanted to marry him. But he was happy to live the life of an
unmarried man: the epithets sufficient experience, [47, 34] careful [47, 112]
give the direct description of his lifestyle.
But then he met Ruth Barlow. He fell in love with her. He immediately
wanted to look after her and make her happy. Ruth was twice a widow, she was
younger than Roger. She was quite good-looking and she had big, beautiful, dark
eyes and she had the gift of pathos. When a man saw those big, sad eyes, he
wanted to help Ruth. The epithet defenseless [47, 22] expose the power of her
look.
It was Ruths mode to get what she wanted because she had no other means.
This gift helped Ruth to reach her goals. The metaphor the gift of pathos, the
epithets splendid dark eyes, [47, 44] the most moving eyes, [47, 105] big and
lovely eyes [47, 68] and the repetition of the word eyes make the reader pay
attention to this peculiarity and makes an impression that other than the pathetic
look, this woman is a hollow. Her sympathetic appearance, splendid dark eyes
and they were the most moving I ever saw, they seemed to be ever on the point of
filling with tears, [47, 27] conspires with a pitiful background, twice a widow,
41

[47, 33] to render Ruth the vulnerability, which strips men off their usual
sensibility.
And Ruth made her mind to marry Roger: he was rich, considerate, tactful
and was glad to take care of her, so he was the best variant for her. He did not let
down and made a proposal of marriage to her. They were going to marry as soon as
possible.
Though appearing as naive and harmless, Ruth is led to gradually reveal her
true character. Despite the absolute sympathy Roger has towards her, the narrator
perceive her as stupid, scheming and unemotional. Her cheating on the card game
and overlooking to pay the money she lost expose her dishonesty and affected
manners. Ruth is a dull and narrow-minded woman, as she had never had any
conversation. [47, 11]
The turning-point of this story is when Roger, out of the blue, falls out of
love with Ruth. His ingenious (and somewhat artificial) effort to run away from
that happy ending [47, 14] contributes to unveil Ruth's fake personality. The
seemingly endless hunt for a suitable [47, 31] house turns the adorably looking
Ruth to a silent and scornful [47, 35] woman with sullen [47, 38] eyes. She
finally gives up her patience of an angel, [47, 64] breaks up with Roger and
rushes herself into an instant marriage with someone who is anxious to take care
of me. [47, 23] This uncommon situation confirms the narrator's judgment on
women as fickle [47, 6] at the beginning of this story.
While reading the reader came across a lot of pure literary words (gift,
splendid, wonderful, hazards, sadness, lovely) and some clichs (the world was
too much for her, [47, 54] stand between the hazards of life and this helpless
little thing, [47, 33] how wonderful it would be to take the sadness out of those
big and lovely eyes [47, 98]) which are peculiar to the description of ordinary
situations concerning love affairs, so it is possible to recognize what kind of story
The Escape is. The narrator provokes the reader to perceive it ironically.
Through Rogers vision, Ruth was very unlucky. Indeed, she seemed to be
very miserable, everything was wrong with her. If she married a husband he beat
42

her; if she employed a broker he cheated her; if she engaged a cook she drank. She
never had a little lamb but it was sure to die.
The epithets helpless little thing, [47, 38] rotten time, [47, 41]
unfortunate, [47, 101] poor dear, [47, 77] the metaphor a little lamb, [47, 24]
parallel constructions if she married [47, 29] and pure literary words such as
sufferings, hazards, sadness display hopelessness of Ruths life. Roger took
an interest in her destiny and was ready to relieve it: the repetition of the pronouns
she and her in Rogers speech, the epithet dreadfully sorry [47, 31] prove
my assumption. The epithets very happy [47, 74] and pleased [47, 69] make us
believe that it wasnt a nuisance for him.
But according to the narrators opinion, Ruth was two-faced woman of few
ideas: he called her stupid and scheming. The epithets stupid, [47, 25]
scheming, [47, 47] the similie as hard as nails [47, 56] add some points to her
description, so the method of character-drawing here is direct.
Readers see two people, Roger and Ruth, as the future family, so this is the
idea of this portion of the text. The author describes the first part of their relations
which were rather standard. As thousands of men and women, they met, fell in
love and decided to be together.
But then, on a sudden, Roger fell out of love. This was the second part of
their relations. There was no evident reason. Perhaps, his heart-strings were no
longer touched by Ruths pathetic look. Roger became acutely conscious that Ruth
had a mind to marry him.
He gave a solemn oath that nothing would induce him to marry Ruth. But he
was in a quandary. He was aware that Ruth would assess her feelings at an
immoderately high figure if he asked her to release him. Besides, he did not want
people to say that he jilted a woman.
The epithets acutely conscious, [47, 82] a solemn oath [47, 27] and an
immoderately high figure [47, 47] stress the importance, significance of his
decision; as to the epithet pathetic look [47, 23] and the metaphor heart-strings
[47, 100] (at the same time it is a clich), they produce the humorous effect.
43

Falling out of love is the most terrible thing. Recently it was an acute
pleasure for Roger to do everything for Ruth. He was charmed, but, as it can be
supposed, it was not a serious and profound feeling Roger lost it too easily.
It is obvious Ruth was narrow-minded woman and she did not really love
Roger. But there are some arguments to be said in her defense, she lonely and
wanted to be protected. Probably she would be a good wife.
The repetition of the expression to have a mind to [47, 76] reveals the
conflict of Rogers and Ruths interests. Ruth desired to have relations of long
duration - she cried for the moon. On the contrary, Roger wanted to escape with no
loss. And again readers are the witnesses of the usual continuation of the love
story. Its rather banal.
Roger kept his own counsel he remained attentive to all her wishes. It was
decided that they would be married as soon as they found a suitable house. Roger
applied to the agents and visited with Ruth house after house. It was very hard to
find a satisfactory one. Sometimes houses were too large, sometimes they were too
small, sometimes they were too expensive and sometimes they were too stuffy,
sometimes they were too airy.
The idea is that only such dishonest, shabby act as the flat-chase tactics
seemed to be appropriate for Roger. It was like a committing a crime. Rogers
behavior was not fair, it was even disgraceful, but unfortunately such conduct is
not uncommon, the men trick the women very often, because their attitude towards
the relations differ.
Parallel constructions sometimes they were too large, sometimes they were
too small, sometimes they were too expensive and sometimes they were too
stuffy, [47, 62] the metaphor house-hunting, [47, 48] the epithet innumerable
kitchens [47, 56] describe Rogers scheme.
At last Ruth revolted. She asked Roger if he wanted to marry her. There was
an unaccustomed hardness in her voice, but it did not effect the gentleness of his
reply. Roger persuaded her that they would be married the very moment they
found a suitable house.
44

Ruth took to her bed. She did not want to see Roger, but he was as ever
assiduous and gallant. Every day he sent her flowers, wrote that he had some more
houses to look at. The epithets assiduous, [47, 57] gallant [47, 60] display his
dissimulation.
A week passed and he received the letter: Ruth let him know that she was
going to get married and claimed that Roger did not love her.
He answered that her news shattered him, but her happiness had to be his
first consideration. He sent Ruth seven orders to view. He was quite sure she
would find among them a house that would exactly suit her.
This is the end of the story. At that moment there was no love, there was no
even the sympathy between them. They became the enemies. It was Rogers
victory. He achieved measurable gains at this story. In this portion of the text the
tone changes, it is still ironical, but there appears some serious element.
This story carries readers with its eternal intrigue the war between male
and female, playing games between the sexes. Readers may be in earnest about it
or may try to ignore it, but it really takes place and this problem will exist until the
end of human history.
Two short stories by William Somerset Maugham, The Escape and The
Luncheon, both describe grieving experience of men towards women.
Similarly, the other short story, The Luncheon, expresses equal disdain of
the author towards women. This woman immediately strikes the readers with her
artifice: she knows how to present lavish praise to a young and inexperienced
writer, inducing him to spare her a suspicious meeting. Considering that men
always pay for the meals, her request to have a little luncheon [47, 32] at Foyot,
a place for the elite's, indicates her rudeness.
The narrator's first impression about this woman was her having more
teeth, white and large even, than were necessary for any practical purpose, being
talkative [47, 48] and imposing rather than attractive [47, 49] - neither
favorable nor positive.
45

The woman says repeatedly that she prefers simple and light meals, I never
eat anything for luncheon. [47, 78] I never eat more than one thing. [47, 67] I
never drink anything for luncheon [47, 52] but turns out to have a very good
appetite, especially for most expensive things. She comfortably consumes caviar,
salmon, white wine, asparagus, ice-cream coffee, and a peach and talks in an
exalted mood about art, literature and music. The narrator, on the other hand, eats
only a miserable little chop [47, 30] while sketching out a plan in case he could
not afford the bill. However, the woman is nonchalant and thoughtless enough to
ignore that; she continues to rebuke him for ruining your palate by all the meat
you eat. [47, 79] Her impoliteness also reveals through her vulgar eating manner,
I watch the abandoned woman thrust them down her throat in large voluptuous
mouthfuls..., [47, 107] and then reaches the top when she implies the narrator
mean after robbing [47, 112] him with an excessively luxurious meal, sparing
him so little to give the waiter an adequate tip.
Apart from ill-mannered, the woman is also unsophisticated. She responds to
the narrator's ironical saying I'll eat nothing for dinner tonight [47, 104] with a
loud laughter, thinking that he was quite a humorist. [47, 122]
All by all, in various literary works, Somerset Maugham built up a negative
image of women: insipid and mercantile, through which he expressed his contempt
and indifference for women.
Let's get straight to the point with some examples showing Maugham's vast
range of subjects and characters.
Sometimes he can be quite funny, positively hilarious actually. Fine
examples are The Verger, The Treasure and The Consul as well as The Vessel of
Wrath, The Creative Impulse and Jane. The former three are short pieces,
exquisitely written and intended solely to entertain the reader, while the latter three
are much longer and contain a damning satire of the English society and morals
from the beginning of the 20th century.
One of the most remarkable things about Maugham is that even in his
aforementioned shortest stories he manages to be at his best quite so often. I do not
46

think there are many authors who can give the reader a story with perfect structure,
written in a fine style with sense for drama and climax and even traces of
characters' depth just in few pages. If examples are necessary, take a look at A
Friend in Need, which has one the most chilling ends you ever read, or The Bum,
which is extremely poignant and deeply moving tale about human weakness. Also
The Taipan may well serve as a perfect example of the great force that human
psyche has and even ventures slightly in its exploration; all this is perfectly
finished in just a few pages; originally written, by the way, not as a short story but
as part of one of Maugham's travel books, On A Chinese Screen (1922).
But for Maugham's real very best in the genre readers have to go for his
longest stories. There he explores human feelings and passions so deep, so
unpredicted, so dark and so frightening, that it really is not only terrific to read
them but sometimes it is terrifying indeed. The Force of Circumstance, Flotsam
and Jetsam, Footprints in the Jungle and The Door of Opportunity are such stories
and they are very appropriately mingled with shorter and lighter ones. They
contain some of Maugham's finest and most powerful writing, some of his most
memorable and most astonishingly alive characters. It is simply unbelievable what
a turmoil of violent passions could be hidden behind every man who looks quite
ordinary at first glance. And sometimes the final words of some of those stories are
really haunting:
E.g.: I'll tell you what, there's one job I shouldn't like, he said
What is that?
God's, at the Judgment day, said Gaze. No, sir. [47, 187]
The stories Lord Mountdrago and Virtue deserve special attention. The first
is one of the very few examples in all of Maugham's oeuvre where he explores the
rather creepy world of the supernatural and inexplicable phenomena. Despite the
somewhat untypical subject, Maugham is very persuasive about what happens to
Lord Mountdrago and, in the end, quite mystical. As for Virtue, this certainly is
one of the finest examples of the famous cynicism of Maugham. He may not be
right about his fellows and the dark motives behind their feelings, he always
47

claimed that his view is partial and it may not be a true one, but he is
extraordinarily convincing. Very rarely it is possible to read about characters in
fiction who are so real and so believable, who are able to materialize quite easily in
flesh and blood and character before your eyes. And yet, even in his most serious
stories the humour and the gift for epigram doe not desert Maugham who was also
very successful dramatist. Again Virtue may provide a perfect example. Again, the
philosophy concerning women expressed so exactly and so completely in just one
sentence as it is here:
E.g.: I prefer a loose woman to a selfish one and a wanton to a fool. [47,
204]
Maugham's Collected Short Stories is an amazing journey through human
mind and soul written in a hugely readable style as close to perfection as it is
possible. Such literature as Maugham's short stories has the tremendous power to
change its readers and their whole outlook. And it continues doing so with every
re-reading even of quotes excerpts.
E.g.: Now it is a funny thing about life, if you refuse to accept anything but
the best you very often get it. [47, 204]
And what most of readers willingly accept is just the good which is quite far
from the best. So, how many of readers really have that rare gift, a real sense of
humor:
E.g.: Life is really very fantastic, and one has to have a peculiar sense of
humor to see the fun of it. [47, 205]
If somebody is often angry at another person then it is necessary to keep in
mind the following:
E.g.: ...but if the folly of men made one angry one would pass one's life in a
state of chronic ire. [47, 208]
Sometimes it happens so that somebody does not recognize an old
acquaintance. In this case it is necessary to be diplomatic because:

48

E.g.: People are always a little disconcerted when you don't recognize
them, they are so important to themselves, it is a shock to discover of
what small importance they are to others. [47, 208]
How about the courage? Is it really true that:
E.g.: Courage is the obvious virtue of the stupid. [47, 211]
Maugham`s stories make readers to think over and answer the questions:
How about us? Are we all ourselves or are we only what we pretend to be? In front
of others? In front of ourselves? In front of God? Was she an exception because:
E.g.: She managed (as so few people do) to look exactly what she was. [47,
188]
The worst of having so much tact was that you never quite knew
whether other people were acting naturally or being tactful too. [47,
57]
The reader may agree or disagree, be enchanted or appalled, like it or dislike
it, love it or hate it. These quotes make you think and that is the important thing.
They may even urge the reader to read and that would be a really great thing. And
to finish with a quote:
E.g.: Most people would rather die than think; in fact they do so. [47, 84]
The complex structure of Somerset Maugham's short story The Ant and the
Grasshopper seems meaningful, so, it is necessary to invite its analysis.
The Ant and the Grasshopper is a frame story. It differs, though, from
other frame stories in that the inner story is itself subdivided into (1) a frame, and
(2) a flashback. In effect, it has three distinct levels - an Outer Frame, an InnerStory Frame, and a Flashback, of which the last two levels together constitute the
inner story.
The three components of the story's structure - the two frames and the
flashback - are distinguished from each other by a change of topic, participants,
time of action, scene of action, focus, and register. In addition, the text contains
linguistic signals that mark the transition from one section to another.
49

The Transitions, from one section of the story to another, are in each case
clearly marked.
The first transition occurs at the words I could not help thinking of this
fable when the other day I saw George Ramsay lunching by himself in a
restaurant. [47, 95] This sentence introduces a new topic, a new participant
(George, who is also the new focus of interest), a specific scene (the restaurant),
and a specified time (the other day [47, 96]).
The second transition occurs at the words I suppose every family has a
black sheep. Tom had been a sore trial to his for twenty years [47, 114]. These
works introduce a new topic, a new focus (Tom), a change of time, and a change of
register - from dialogue to narrative.
The third transition occurs at the words Poor George! I sympathised with
him [47, 130]. These words bring the reader back to the restaurant scene, and
focus again on George, and present a single continuous action.
The fourth and final transition occurs at the words George never forgave
me, [47, 137] which take the reader away from the restaurant scene and very
much forward in time. The very next sentence, as well as all the following
sentences, is in the present tense, which is a further indication of time change: But
Tom asks me to excellent dinners. . . . [47, 141]
The story's complex structure is both an end in itself and a means to an end.
It is an end in itself in that it is sophisticated, and sophistication is always pleasing
to the cultivated mind. It is a means to an end in that it creates suspense, creates
irony, facilitates abrupt changes of attitude from section to section, and adds
another dimension of meaning to the story.
The narrator expresses doubt concerning the value of the fable, which
teaches that in an imperfect world industry is rewarded and giddiness punished.
[47, 145]
To sum up, it should be noted that W. Somerset Maugham is recognised as
the master of short story writing and recommended reading for the aspiring short
story writer. He has the ability to introduce his subject, set a scene at the
50

beginning, progress effortlessly through a plot which entertains and enthralls, then
bring the reader to a well rounded ending leaving a smile or a few moments
thought

and

never

disappointment.

Although

Maugham's

humour

has an irony which appeals to the reader and is often sardonic, his apparent
cynicism is broken by a surprising open mindedness at times. Yet Maugham
himself uses humour as he asks us to share his impatience with such narrowness.

2.2.3. Repetition as a Stylistic Device in Maugham`s Short Stories.

For the purpose to show the use of repetition as stylistic device by Somerset
Maugham in his works we carried out the pragmatic analysis of his work under the
title The Moon and Sixpence. Further the analysis of the author`s figurative
language is presented.
E.g.: The artist, painter, poet, or musician, by his decoration, sublime or
beautiful, satisfies the aesthetic sense; but that is akin to the sexual
instinct, and shares its barbarity. [47, 3]
The instance above contains the words which are underlined which are
considered to be repetition in spite of the fact that they are all different and none of
word is repeated. The words artist, painter, poet and musician follow each
other in turn. So, it is possible to speak about the presence of isocolon a kind of
repetition which is a series of similarly structured elements having the same
length.
E.g.: The most insignificant of Strickland's works suggests a personality
which is strange, tormented, and complex; [47, 3]
The same concerns this example, too. Three words which come one after
another here are quite different strange, tormented, complex. They are not
even synonymous but they are the characteristics of a personality. So, it is possible
to say that it this is the writer`s stylistic device which he used as repetition.
Namely, it is isocolon, as it in the previous example is.
51

E.g.: art is a manifestation of emotion, and emotion speaks a language

that all may understand. [47, 3]
Two similar words emotion are used within this sentence. One of them is
used at the end of the first clause and the other at the beginning of the second
one. Thus, a kind of repetition called anadiplosis is used in this sentence. It is a
kind of repetition where the repetition of the last word of a preceding clause.
E.g.: And when such as had come in contact with Strickland in the past,
writers who had known him in London, painters who had met him in
the cafes of Montmartre, discovered to their amazement that where
they had seen but an unsuccessful artist, like another, authentic
genius. [47, 4]
Two similarly structured phrases are present in this sentence which can be
decided to be repetition despite of the different lexical content within them.
Writers are compared to painters. In spite of the fact that first of them knew Mr.
Strickland but the other met him, it is possible to speak about repetition here
because two approximately similar actions are compared. Besides the element
who had him are entirely concur with each other. So, it is possible to suppose
that repotia as a variant of repetition is used here. It should be noted that repotia is
the repetition of a phrase with slight differences in style, diction, tone, etc.
E.g.: there was much in his life which was strange and terrible, in his
character something outrageous, and in his fate not a little that was
pathetic. [47, 4]
The instance under analysis comprises a phrase in which two different words
are linked by means of the conjunction and. This expression is underlined as
repetition. And it is really so because if a series of similarly structured elements
having the same length are compared within one sentence it means that isocolon as
a kind of repetition takes place here.
E.g. In due course a legend arose of such circumstantiality that the wise
historian would hesitate to attack it. But a wise historian is precisely
what the Rev. Robert Strickland is not. [47, 4]
52

The word-combination the wise historian is repeated twice into two

separate sentences, but which follow each other. Thus, it is possible speak about
the presence of antistasis as a type of repetition. This stylistic device is the
repetition of a word in a contrary sense as it is in the analysed sentence.
E.g.: Mr. Strickland has drawn the portrait of an excellent husband and
father, a man of kindly temper, industrious habits, and moral
disposition. [47, 5]
The underlined words are the characteristics of a man who is an excellent
husband, father and a man. Despite the words are different they have common
feature they characterize a man (male characteristics). That is why it is possible
to say that repetition in a form of isocolon occurs in this sentence. As it was
mentioned above, isocolon is a series of similarly structured elements having the
same length as it is in the analysed sample.
E.g.: His decent reticence is branded as hypocrisy, his circumlocutions are
roundly called lies, and his silence is vilified as treachery. [47, 6]
Repetition is present in this sample sentence, too. Moreover, the repeated
unit is the same in all three cases. This element is the possessive pronoun his. In
all three cases it starts the clauses that is why we insist on the presence of
mesarchia in this sentence. Mesarchia is the repetition of the same word or words
at the beginning and middle of successive sentences.
E.g.: And on the strength of peccadillos, reprehensible in an author, but
excusable in a son, the Anglo-Saxon race is accused of prudishness,
humbug, pretentiousness, deceit, cunning, and bad cooking. [47, 6]
As it can be observed, a lot of words follow each other in chain in the
example above. All they are different but all they are the characteristics given by
the author to the Anglo-Saxon race. And that is the only their common element.
Having a series of similarly structured elements having the same length within this
sentence it is possible to insist on the presence of isocolon as a kind of repetition in
this sentence.
E.g.: for every day I have got up and I have gone to bed. [47, 7]
53

Two different actions are compared in this sentence I have got up I

have gone to bed, but they are repeated every day that is why it is possible to say
that repetition takes place in this sentence. When the word is repeated, but in a
different form it means that adnominatio is present in this sentence.
E.g.: And the successful books are but the successes of a season. [47, 7]
When such kind of repetition takes place we have the right to speak about
the presence of paregmenon in a sentence. Paregmenon is a general term for the
repetition of a word or its cognates in a short sentence, as it the sentence above is.
E.g. they are like poor wantons attempting with pencil, paint and
powder, with shrill gaiety, to recover the illusion of their spring. [47,
7]
The common element within the underlined group of words is the
preposition with but its repeating is not principal in this case. Three different
things are repeated in this sentence but they refer to one group according to the
common feature all they are used by the artist for painting. Taking into
consideration all abovementioned, it is possible to insist on the presence of
adnominatio in the sentence under the discussion. As all the previous ones,
adnominatio is also a form of repetition as stylistic device.
E.g.: Some advertised badly and some well. Some were modern and some
were old-fashioned. [47, 10]
The indefinite pronoun some is repeated four times within these two
sentences which are linked together because the second sentence continues the
previous one. This word is applied to the people who were present at a coffeeparty. The author does not say about somebody concrete but tells the reader about
the groups of people who are quite different due to the way they are dressed and
also due to their attitude to fashion. In two cases the word some is used without
additional characteristics while the other two widen the information about these
groups of people who are dressed badly and the other well, some are modern, the
other old-fashioned. But, in any case, repetition as stylistic device is present in
the sentence under discussion. Namely, it is conduplicatio because the repetition
54

of a word in various places throughout a paragraph takes place what is

characteristic to this kind of repetition.
E.g.: Now and then she invited members of it to her house if they showed an
appreciation of her talent and entertained with proper lavishness. [47,
11]
Two antonymous by the meaning words now and then are used within
one phrase at the beginning of the sentence. It is possible to suppose that,
according to the context of the sentence they are not opposed to each other, but
used as repetition. That is why it can be said that isocolon as a type of repetition is
used in this sentence. It is always present in a sentence when a series of similarly
structured elements having the same length occur in a clause.
E.g.: There was a high dado of white wood and a green paper on which
were etchings by Whistler in neat black frames. The green curtains
with their peacock design, hung in straight lines, and the green carpet,
in the pattern of which pale rabbits frolicked among leafy trees,
suggested the influence of William Morris. [47, 12]
The adjective green is repeated three times in the instance above to express
the quality of colour of some objects in a room environment. Paper, curtains
and carpet are green. As it can be observed, this colour adjective is present in two
long sentences which form a reading paragraph. So, this word appears in different
places of the sentences, that is why we deal with conduplicatio as a form of
repetition as stylistic device.
E.g.: I fancy she's rather simple, poor dear, and she thinks we're all
wonderful. [47, 12]
Again, three different words simple, poor and dear are organized in
repetition as stylistic device, and that is isocolon - a series of similarly structured
elements having the same length.
E.g.: and the books that came down from Mudie's Library brought with
them not only their own romance, but the romance of London. [47, 12]
55

The word romance is repeated twice in this sentence. Moreover, it is placed

by the author at the end of the first clause while in the second clause it is situated at
the beginning. When such combination takes place in a sentence, it is necessary to
speak about the presence of conduplicatio as a kind of repetition in this sentence.
This kind of repetition occurs in a sentence when a word is used in various places
throughout a paragraph.
E.g.: The meals in the artistic little dining-room were pleasant; the table
looked nice, the two maids were trim and comely; the food was well
cooked. [47, 14]
This long sentence is a compound one. It contains three separate clauses.
The word were/was is also repeated three times within this sentence. Moreover, it
occurs in different places within them, So, as it was in a previous instance, we deal
with conduplicatio in this sentence which is a kind of repetition when a word is
used in various places throughout a paragraph.
E.g.: It was the kind of party which makes you wonder why the hostess has
troubled to bid her guests, and why the guests have troubled to come.
[47, 16]
Repeating of two similar units have/has troubled takes place in the
sample under study. In both cases it occurs in the middle of each of the clauses,
that is why it is possible to certify that mesodiplosis is used by the author in this
sentence. Mesodiplosis is the repetition of a word or phrase at the middle of every
clause.
E.g.: The women were too nice to be well dressed, and too sure of their
position to be amusing. [47, 16]
Within this instance the word too is repeated twice, moreover, in the first
case it is used in the middle and in the second one at the beginning. When such
situation exists it means that mesarchia as the author`s stylistic device occurs in a
sentence. This kind of repetition is used when the same word or words occur at the
beginning and middle of successive sentences.
56

E.g.: Each one talked to his neighbour; to his neighbour on the right during
the soup, fish, and entree; to his neighbour on the left during the
roast, sweet, and savoury. [47, 16]
The phrase to his neighbour is used three times within the sentence under
discussion, and in all the three cases it is placed at the beginning of each clause. In
such a situation it is possible to say about the presence of anaphora as a kind of
repetition. The use of anaphora supposes repetition of a word or phrase at the
beginning of every clause.
E.g.: They talked of the political situation and of golf, of their children and
the latest play, of the pictures at the Royal Academy, of the weather
and their plans for the holidays. [47, 17]
The preposition of, which is used 5 times in the instance above, is repeated
in different places twice in the middle, and three times at the beginning of the
clause. This means that mesarchia as a stylistic device is used in this sentence. This
kind of repetition supposes repetition of the same word(s) at the beginning and
middle of successive sentences.
E.g.: he was just a good, dull, honest, plain man. [47, 17]
This short clause comprises a phrase which contains four different words
which are the characteristics of a man under description. In such a case it is
possible to speak about the repetition here. If such situation is present in a sentence
it means that isocolon is used there. As it was stated above, isocolon is a series of
similarly structured elements having the same length.
To sum up, it should be noted that repetition is not so widely used stylistic
device in Maugham`s work under study what can be explained by themes arisen by
the author and the style of narration. It is possible to suppose that repetition as
stylistic device is more widely spread in the author`s short humorous stories. But,
in any case, repetition is present in the abovementioned literary work, too.

57

2.2.4. The Use of Phraseological Units in Maugham`s Short Stories.

2.3. The Statistical Results of Investigation.

58

BIBLIOGRAPHY:
1. A Handbook of Rhetorical Devices. London: Longman, 1982.
2. Aldington, R. W. Somerset Maugham: An Appreciation. New York:
Cambridge University Press, 1989.
3. Antrushina, G.B. English Lexicology. Moscow: Higher School publishing
house, 1985.
4. Arnold, I.V. The English Word. 2nd ed. Moscow: Higher School publishing
house, 1973.
5. Bason, F.T. A Bibliography of the Writings of William Somerset Maugham.
London: Ann Arbor, 1971.
6. Birkerts, Sven. Literature: The Evolving Canon. Boston: Allyn and Bacon,
1993.
7. Boers, F. Ways of teaching L2 figurative phrases: an assessment. Brussels:
Erasmus University Press, 1988.
8. Brown, I. International Profiles: W. Somerset Maugham. London: Oxford
Universaity Press, 1970.
9. Clickberg, C.I. The Ironic Version in Modern Literature. Amsterdam - the
Hague, 1989.
10.Collins, A.A. Discourse Concerning Ridicule and Irony in Writing. London:
Collins, 1979.
11.Eisman, W. Studies of Phraseology and Paremiology. London: Macmillan,
1994.
12.Elyanova, N.M. Popular Phrases: Their Origin and Meaning. Leningrad:
the Leningrad State University Publishers, 1971.
13.Feldman, R. A Word Treasury of Folk Wisdom. New York: Harper Collins
Publishers, 1983.
14.Galperin, I.R. Stylistics. Moscow: Higher School publishing house, 1985.
15.Gentner, D., & Bowdle, B. Convention, Form, and Figurative Language
Processing. Metaphor and Symbol, 2001, 16: 223-41.
59

16.Ginsburg R.S., Khidekel S.S., Knuareva G.Y., Sankin A.A. A Course in

Modern English Lexicology. Moscow: Higher School publishing house,
1979.
17.Glucksberg, S. Understanding Figurative Language. Oxford and New York:
Oxford University Press, 2001.
18.Howarth, P. Phraseology and second language proficiency. Applied
Linguistics, 1998 19 (1).
19.Kukharenko, V.A. Practical Lessons on the Stylistics of the English
Language. Vinnitsa: Nova Kniga, 2000.
20.Levinson, S. Pragmatics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983.
21.Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. 7th ed. Kennedy,
X.J. and Gioia, Dana. (Eds.) New York: Longman, 1999.
22.Menard, W. The Two Worlds of Somerset Maugham. Los Angeles: Los
Angeles University Press, 1965.
23.On Expressive Language. Worster, Werner H. (Ed.). Mass.: Clark
University Press, 1955.
24.Orembovskaya T., Gvardjaladze T. English Lexicology. Moscow: Higher
School publishing house, 1982.
25.Phraseological Units in the Context of British and American Culture. In:
Interaction of Linguistic Levels in the Sphere of Phraseology. Volgograd,
1996.
26.Pfeiffer, K.G. Somerset Maugham: A Candid Portrait. London: Routledge,
1959.
27.Pollio, M., Pollio, H. The Development of Figurative Language in School
Children. - Research, 1974, N 3, pp. 138-143.
28.Raphael, F. Somerset Maugham and His World. London: Heinle&Heinle,
1976.
29.Richards, I. The Philosophy of Rhetorics. New York: Oxford University
Press, 1965.
60

30.Sanders, C. W. Somerset Maugham: An Annotated Bibliography of Writings

About Him. De Kalb, Illinois, 1970.
31.Smirnitsky, A.I. Lexicology of the English Language. Moscow: Higher
School publishing house, 1956.
32.Ullmann, S. Semantic Universals. - In: Universals of language. Geenberg, J.
(Ed.) Cambridge: Mass, 1966.
33.W. Somerset Maugham: The Critical Heritage. Curtis, Antony, Whitehead,
John (Eds). London: Routledge, 1997.
34.Wettstein, Howard K, French, Peter, Peckham, Stephen. Figurative
Language. Willey, 2001.
35.Word-groups and Phraseological Units. London: Longman, 1992.
DICTIONARIES:
36.Collins Cobuild Advanced Learner`s English Dictionary. London: Collins,
1979.
37.Crystal, David. Encyclopedia of Literary Terms. London: Oxford University
Press, 1988.
38.Cuddon, J.A. Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory. London:
Penguin, 2000.
39.Encarta Dictionary Tools. Electronic version on CD. New York, 2003.
40.Fowler, H.W. Modern English Usage. New York: Macmillan, 2000.
41.Oxford Advanced Learners` Dictionary. Oxford: Oxford University Press,
1995.
42.Radford, E. Crowther`s Encyclopaedia of Phrases and origins. London,
1972.
43.The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. 4th ed. New
York: the Houghton Miffin Company, 2000.
44.The

BBI

Dictionary

of

English

Word

Combinations.

Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Co, 1997.

45.Wikipedia. Electronic encyclopedia on CD, New York, 2001.
61

46.

. ., 1989.
INVESTIGATED MATERIAL:
47.Maugham, W. Somerset. The Selected Stories. London: Penguin Books,
1985.

62

APPENDIX

63

Table 1.1 Main Lexical Stylistic Devices

Lexical Stylistic
Device
allegory

Definition

Example

Allegory is a poem in the She is a flame in the heart

form of a narrative or story of a lily.
that has a second meaning
beneath the surface one.
An allegory is a
figurative
mode
of
representation conveying a
meaning other than the
literal.

anticlimax

antonomasia

antithesis

Anticlimax is a figure of
speech which expresses an
ordinary or unsatisfying
event that follows an
increasingly
exciting,
dramatic, or unusual series of
events or a period of
increasing anticipation and
excitement.

We were all in ll t one

another, it was the morning
of life, it was bliss, it was
frenzy, it was everything
else of that sort in the
highest degree.

Antonomasia is a lexical SD Her husband is an Othello.

in which a proper name is
used instead of a common
noun or vice versa.
Antithesis is a figure of Mrs. Nork had a large
speech which denotes any home and a small husband.
active
confrontation,
emphasized co-occurrence of
notions, really or presumably
opposed by means of
dictionary or contextual
64

antonyms.

epithet

hyperbole

imagery

irony

metaphor

metonymy

Epithet is a descriptive word He's a proud, haughty,

or phrase added to or consequential,
turnedsubstituted for the name of a nosed peacock.
person or thing, highlighting
a characteristic feature or
quality
Hyperbole is a stylistic The girls were dressed to
device in which emphasis is kill.
achieved through deliberate
exaggeration.
Imagery is a broad term She felt as if she had just
referring to the comparison inherited five million taxof something known a free dollars.
description of an object or
action with something to be
communicated a situation
or emotional state.
Imagery is frequently written
using similes, metaphors or
personification.
Irony is a figure of speech His head was always most
which is a subtle from a valuable when he had lost
humour which involves it.
saying things that are not
really meant.
Metaphor is a figure of
speech which involves an
implied comparison between
two relatively unlike things
using a form of be. The
comparison is not announced
by like or as.

She was handsome in a

rather leonine way. Where
this girl was a lioness, the
other was a panther - lithe
and quick.

Metonymy is a figure of
speech in which an attribute
of something is used to stand
for the thing itself, such as
laurels when it stands for
glory or brass when it

She saw around her,

clustered about the white
tables,
multitudes
of
violently red lips, powdered
cheeks, cold, hard eyes,
self-possessed
arrogant

65

stands for military officers

oxymoron

periphrasis

personification

play on words (pun)

simile

symbol

synecdoche

faces, and insolent bosoms.

Oxymoron is a stylistic Sprinting

towards
the
device the syntactic and elevator he felt amazed at
semantic structures of which his own cowardly courage.
come to clashes.
Periphrasis is a stylistic
device
which
basically
consists
of
using
a
roundabout
form
of
expression instead of a
simpler one, i.e. of using a
more or less complicated
syntactical structure instead
of a word.

His face was red, the back

of his neck overflowed his
collar and there had
recently been published a
second edition of his chin.

Personification is a figure of A chestnut tree pushed

speech which gives the green boughs against the
qualities of a person to an window.
animal, an object, or an idea.
Play on words is a humorous "Have you been seeing any
use of words that involves a spirits?" "Or taking any?" word or phrase that has more added Bob Alien.
than one possible meaning
Simile is a figure of speech She has always been as live
which involves a direct as a bird.
comparison between two
unlike things, usually with
the words like or as.
Symbol
is
iconic To-night you shall be the
representations that carry soul of my trombone. Wait
particular
conventional only.
meanings.
Synecdoche is a figure of
speech in which the word for
part of something is used to
mean the whole, for example,
sail for boat, or vice
versa.
66

His mind was alert and

people asked him to dinner
not for old times' sake, but
because he was worth his
salt.

understatement

Understatement
is
a Her family is one aunt
statement, or a way of about a thousand years old.
expressing yourself, that is
deliberately less forceful or
dramatic than the subject
would seem to justify or
require.

Table 1.2 Main Syntactical Stylistic Devices

Syntactical Stylistic
Device
aposiopesis

climax

inversion

litotes

Definition

Example

Aposiopesis (break - in - the

narrative) is a sudden break
in the narration has the
function to reveal agitated
state of the speaker.
Climax (gradation) is an
ascending series of words or
utterances in which intensity
or significance increases step
by step.
Inversion is a syntactical
stylistic device in which the
direct word order is changed
either completely so that the
predicate
precedes
the
subject (complete inversion),
or partially so that the object
precedes
the
subjectpredicate
pair
(partial
inversion)

On the hall table there were

a
couple
of
letters
addressed to her. One was
the bill. The other...
Every racing car, every
racer, every mechanic,
every ice - cream van was
also
plastered
with
advertising.
Of all my old association,
of all my old pursuits and
hopes, of all the living and
the dead world, this one
poor soul alone comes
natural to me.

Litotes is a
two- It was not unnatural if
component
structure
in Gilbert felt a certain
which two negations are embarrassment.
joined to give a possessive
evaluation.
The first component is
always the negative particle
not, while the second,
always negative in semantics,
varies in form from a
negatively affixed word (as
above) to a negative phrase
67

Repetition

Repetition is recurrence of
the same word, word
combination, phrase for two
and more times.
is a powerful mean of
emphasis

I really don't see anything

romantic in proposing. It is
very romantic to be in love.
But there is nothing
romantic about a definite
proposal.

Scheme 1.1 Classification of Expressive Means of the Language

EXPRESSIVE MEANS

Phonetic
Expressive
Means and
Stylistic Devices

Lexical Stylistic
Devices
Anticlimax
Periphrasis

Onomatopoeia

Syntactical
Stylistic Devices
Inversion
Detachment
Parallelism

Imagery
Alliteration
Metaphor
Rhyme

Chiasmus
Repetition

Metonymy
Enumeration

Rhythm
Irony

Suspense

Zeugma

Climax

Pun

Antithesis

Epithet

Asyndeton

Oxymoron
Antonomasia
Simile

Clich

Epigram

Gap-sentence-link
Ellipsis

Hyperbole

Proverb

Polysyndeton

68

Aposiopesis
Question-in-thenarrative
Represented speech
Rhetorical questions

Diagram 1.1 Figures of Speech Referring to the Lexical Stylistic Devices

69

Epithet
is a figure of
speech which is
used as a way of
criticizing or
praising someone

Oxymoron
is a figure of
speech
in which emphasis
is achieved
through deliberate
exaggeration

Hyperbole
is a figure of
speech in which
emphasis is
achieved through
deliberate
exaggeration

Synechdoche
is a figure of
speech in which
the word for part
of something is
used to mean the
whole

Figures of speech referring to

the lexical stylistic devices

Pun
is a humorous use
of words that
involves a word or
phrase that has
more than one
meaning

Metaphor
is a figure of speech
which involves an
implied comparison
between two
relatively unlike
things using a form
of be.

Irony
is a subtle from a
humour which
involves saying
things that are not
really meant
Understatement
is a statement that
is deliberately less
forceful or
dramatic than the
subject would
seem to justify or
require

Metonymy
is a figure of
speech which is
based on
contiguity
(nearness) of
objects

Diagram 1.2 Figures of Speech Referring to the Lexico-Syntactical Stylistic

70

Devices

Simile
is a figure of speech
which involves a
direct comparison
between two unlike
things, usually with
the words 'like' or
'as'

Repetition
is a common literary
device which is the the
simple repeating of a
word, within a
sentence or a poetical
line, with no particular
placement of the words
to make emphasis

Anticlimax
is a figure of speech
which expresses an
ordinary or
unsatisfying event that
follows an increasingly
exciting, dramatic, or
unusual series of
events or a period of
increasing anticipation
and excitement

Antithesis
is a figure of speech
which denotes any
active confrontation,
emphasized cooccurrence of notions,
really or presumably
opposed by means of
dictionary or
contextual antonyms

Figures of speech referring

to the lexico-syntactical
stylistic devices

Periphrasis
is a stylistic device
which basically
consists of using a
roundabout form of
expression instead of a
simpler one, i.e. of
using a more or less
complicated syntactical
structure instead of a
word

Climax
is a figure of speech in
which each next word
combination (clause,
sentence) is logically
more important or
emotionally stronger
and more explicit

Litotes
is a two-component
structure in which
two negations are
joined to give a
positiive evaluation

Diagram 1.3 Direct Stylistic Means of Expressing Quality in English

71

Literature

Direct stylistic means of expressing

quality in English literature

Epithet
The chairman turned
in disorder, and with
a dazed stare saw
Mr.Lever coming
towards them in his
lumbering
quickness.

Personification

Simile

The talk was

strange, slight talk
which governs the
British Empire,
which governs it in
secret, and yet
would enlighten an
English.

Seen from the front

he looked like a
mild, self-indulgent
bachelor, with
rooms in the Albany
which he was.

Diagram 1.4 Indirect Stylistic Means of Expressing Quality in English

72

Literature

Indirect stylistic means of expressing quality

in English literature
Metaphor
Here he was
interrupted
and even
agitated for a
moment by the
removal of his
plate, but he
recaptured the
valuable
thread of his
thoughts.
Here he was
interrupted
and
even
agitated for a
moment by the
removal of his
plate, but he
recaptured the
valuable
thread of his
thoughts

Symbol
The
golden
gates
closed
behind
him, and
he went at
a brick
walk
through
the damp,
dark
streets in
search of
a penny
omnibus.

Allegory
I don`t
know his
real
name,
said the
priest
placidly,
but I
know
something
of his
fighting
weight.

Metonymy
You see,
colonel,
he said, I
was shut up
in that
small room
there doing
some
writing,
when I
heard a
pair of feet
in this
passage.

Irony
His head
was
always
most
valuable
when he
had lost it.

Antithesis

Mrs.
Nork had
a large
home and
a small
husband.

Hyperbole
Father
Brown
seemed
rather to
like the
saturnine
candour
of the
soldier.

Scheme 1.2 Classification of Syntactical Stylistic Devices

73

Oxymoron
Stand
still, he
said, in a
hacking
whisper.

Classification of Syntactical Stylistic

Devices

patterns of
syntactical
arrangement

inversion
detachment
parallelism
chiasmus
repetition
enumeration
suspense
climax
antithesis

peculiar
linkage

asyndeton
polysyndeton
gap sentence link

colloquial
constructions

stylistic use
of structural
meaning

ellipsis
aposiopesis
question in - the
narrative
represented
speech

rhetorical
questions
litotes

Scheme 1.3 Kinds of Epithets

74

PAIR
wonderful and incomparable
beauty

SINGLE

CHAIN

true love

a scolding, unjust, abusive,

aggravating, bad old creature

KINDS OF EPITHETS
INVERTED
CONSTRUCTIONS
this devilish woman

TWO-STEP
CONSTRUCTIONS
an unnaturally mild day

PHRASE
ATTRIBUTES
the sunshine-in-thebreakfast-room smell

75

The elements of irony

The element
of
innocence
or
confident
unawareness

The contrast
of reality
and
appearance

The comic
element

The element
of
detachment

The
aesthetic
element

TYPES OF IRONY
ACCORDING TO THE CONTENT
General irony
is a stylistic device in
which the contextual
evaluative meaning of
a word is directly
opposite
to
its
dictionary meaning.

Dramatic irony
is a statement or action
whose
apparent
meaning is underlain
by a contrary meaning.

Romantic irony
is the irony of the
fully-conscious artist
whose art is the
ironical presentation of
the ironic position of
the
fully-conscious
artist.

TYPES OF IRONY
ACCORDING TO THE FORM

Verbal irony
is a type of irony when it is
possible to indicate the exact word
in whose meaning we can trace
the contradiction between the said
and implied.

Situational irony
is a type of irony, intuitively
feeling the reversal of the
evaluation,
formed
by
the
contradiction of the speaker`s
considerations and the generally
accepted moral and ethical codes.

76

Scheme 1.4 Kinds of Repetition

adnominatio

anaphora
anadiplosis

antanaclasis

coenotes
antistasis

conduplicatio

diacope

KINDS OF REPETITION

diaphora

epizeuxis or palilogia

epistrophe

epanalepsis
isocolon

mesodiplosis
mesarchia
paregmenon

77

Sentences containing IRONY

1. I forget who it was that recommended men for their soul's good to do each
day two things they disliked ... it is a precept that I have followed
scrupulously; for every day I have got up and I have gone to bed. [35, 7]
2. Impropriety is the soul of wit. [35, 11]
3. Conscience is the guardian in the individual of the rules which the
community has evolved for its own preservation. [35, 11]
4. She saw shrewdly that the world is quickly bored by the recital of
misfortune, and willingly avoids the sight of distress. [35, 14]
5. It is not true that suffering ennobles the character; happiness does that
sometimes, but suffering, for the most part, makes men petty and vindictive.
[35, 14]
6. I don't think of the past. The only thing that matters is the everlasting
present. [35, 14]
7. Life isn't long enough for love and art. [35, 15]
8. The writer is more concerned to know than to judge. [35, 18]
9. A woman can forgive a man for the harm he does her...but she can never
forgive him for the sacrifices he makes on her account. [35, 18]
10.Sometimes people carry to such perfection the mask they have assumed that
in due course they actually become the person they seem. [35, 19]
11.A man marries to have a home, but also because he doesn't want to be
bothered with sex and all that sort of thing. [35, 20]
12.An unfortunate thing about this world is that the good habits are much easier
to give up than the bad ones. [35, 22]
13.Any nation that thinks more of its ease and comfort than its freedom will
soon lose its freedom; and the ironical thing about it is that it will lose its
ease and comfort too. [35, 24]

78

14.Anyone can tell the truth, but only very few of us can make epigrams. [35,
25]
15.At a dinner party one should eat wisely but not too well, and talk well but
not too wisely. [35, 25]
16.Beauty is an ecstasy; it is as simple as hunger. There is really nothing to be
said about it. It is like the perfume of a rose: you can smell it and that is all.
[35, 36]
17.Considering how foolishly people act and how pleasantly they prattle,
perhaps it would be better for the world if they talked more and did less. [35,
38]
18.Death doesn't affect the living because it has not happened yet. Death doesn't
concern the dead because they have ceased to exist. [35, 38]
19.Death is a very dull, dreary affair, and my advice to you is to have nothing
whatsoever to do with it. [35, 38]
20.Every production of an artist should be the expression of an adventure of his
soul. [35, 41]
21.Excess on occasion is exhilarating. It prevents moderation from acquiring
the deadening effect of a habit. [35, 42]
22.Excess on occasion is exhilarating. It prevents moderation from acquiring
the deadening effect of habit. [35, 44]
23.Few misfortunes can befall a boy which brings worse consequence than to
have a really affectionate mother. [35, 45]
24.Habits in writing as in life are only useful if they are broken as soon as they
cease to be advantageous. [35, 45]
25.Have common sense and stick to the point.[35, 47]
26.I can imagine no more comfortable frame of mind for the conduct of life
79

than a humorous resignation. [35, 48]

27.I do not believe they are right who say that the defects of famous men
should be ignored. I think it is better that we should know them. Then,
though we are conscious of having faults as glaring as theirs, we can believe
that that is no hindrance to our achieving also something of their virtues.
[35, 50-51]
28.I made up my mind long ago that life was too short to do anything for
myself that I could pay others to do for me. [35, 51]
29.I would sooner read a time-table or a catalogue than nothing at all. They are
much more entertaining than half the novels that are written. [35, 52]
30.I'll give you my opinion of the human race in a nutshell... their heart's in the
right place, but their head is a thoroughly inefficient organ. [35, 52]
31.If a nation values anything more than freedom, it will lose its freedom, and
the irony of it is that if it is comfort or money that it values more, it will lose
that too. [35, 55]
32.If you don't change your beliefs, your life will be like this forever. Is that
good news? [35, 55]
33.If you want to eat well in England, eat three breakfasts. [35, 57]
34.Imagination grows by exercise, and contrary to common belief, is more
powerful in the mature than in the young. [35, 57]
35.Impropriety is the soul of wit. [35, 57]
36.In Hollywood, the women are all peaches. It makes one long for an apple
occasionally. [35, 58]
37.In the country the darkness of night is friendly and familiar, but in a city,
with its blaze of lights, it is unnatural, hostile and menacing. It is like a
monstrous vulture that hovers, biding its time. [35, 58]

80

38.It is a funny thing about life; if you refuse to accept anything but the best
you very often get it. [35, 59]
39.It is an illusion that youth is happy, an illusion of those who have lost it. [35,
60]
40.It is not true that suffering ennobles the character; happiness does that
sometimes, but suffering for the most part, makes men petty and vindictive.
[35, 61]
41.It is not wealth one asks for, but just enough to preserve one's dignity, to
work unhampered, to be generous, frank and independent. [35, 62]
42.It is salutary to train oneself to be no more affected by censure than by
praise. [35, 65]
43.It is unsafe to take your reader for more of a fool than he is. [35, 65]
44.It is well known that Beauty does not look with a good grace on the timid
advances of Humour. [35, 65]
45.It seems that the creative faculty and the critical faculty cannot exist together
in their highest perfection. [35, 67]
46.It was such a lovely day I thought it a pity to get up. [35, 67]
47.It wasn't until late in life that I discovered how easy it is to say "I don't
know." [35, 68]
48.It's a funny thing about life; if you refuse to accept anything but the best,
you very often get it. [35, 69]
49.It's no good trying to keep up old friendships. It's painful for both sides. The
fact is, one grows out of people, and the only thing is to face it. [35, 69]
50.It's very hard to be a gentleman and a writer. [35, 70]
51.Let us develop the resources of our land, call forth its powers, build up its
81

institutions, promote all its great interests, and see whether we also, in our
day and generation, may not perform something worthy to be remembered.
[35, 72-73]
52.Like all weak men he laid an exaggerated stress on not changing one's mind.
[35, 73]
53.Love is only a dirty trick played on us to achieve continuation of the species.
[35, 75]
54.Marriage is a very good thing, but I think it's a mistake to make a habit out
of it. [35, 75]
55.Men have an extraordinarily erroneous opinion of their position in nature;
and the error is ineradicable. [35, 77]
56.Money is like a sixth sense without which you cannot make a complete use
of the other five. [35, 77]
57.Money is the string with which a sardonic destiny directs the motions of its
puppets. [35, 77]
58.My own belief is that there is hardly anyone whose sexual life, if it were
broadcast, would not fill the world at large with surprise and horror. [35, 78]
59.No egoism is so insufferable as that of the Christian with regard to his soul.
[35, 80]
60.Old age has its pleasures, which, though different, are not less than the
pleasures of youth. [35, 81]
61.Old age is ready to undertake tasks that youth shirked because they would
take too long. [35, 81]
62.Only a mediocre person is always at his best. [35, 84]
63.People ask for criticism, but they only want praise. [35, 84]

82

64.Perfection has one grave defect: it is apt to be dull. [35, 85]

65.Perfection is a trifle dull. It is not the least of life's ironies that this, which
we all aim at, is better not quite achieved. [35, 85]
66.Sentimentality is only sentiment that rubs you up the wrong way. [35, 87]
67.Sentimentality is the only sentiment that rubs you the wrong way. [35, 87]
68.She had a pretty gift for quotation, which is a serviceable substitute for wit.
[35, 88]
69.She plunged into a sea of platitudes, and with the powerful breast stroke of a
channel swimmer made her confident way towards the white cliffs of the
obvious. [35, 88]
70.The ability to quote is a serviceable substitute for wit. [35, 89]
71.The artist produces for the liberation of his soul. It is his nature to create as it
is the nature of water to run down the hill.[35, 89]
72.The common idea that success spoils people by making them vain, egotistic
and self-complacent is erroneous; on the contrary it makes them, for the
most part, humble, tolerant and kind. [35, 90]
73.The crown of literature is poetry.[35, 90]
74.The essence of the beautiful is unity in variety. [35, 91]
75.The great American novel has not only already been written, it has already
been rejected. [35, 92]
76.The love that lasts longest is the love that is never returned. [35, 94]
77.The most useful thing about a principle is that it can always be sacrificed to
expediency. [35, 95]

83

78.The trouble with young writers is that they are all in their sixties.[35, 97]
79.The world in general doesn't know what to make of originality; it is startled
out of its comfortable habits of thought, and its first reaction is one of anger.
[35, 99]
80.The world is quickly bored by the recital of misfortune, and willing avoids
the sight of distress. [35, 100]
81.The writer is more concerned to know than to judge. [35, 100]
82.The writer of prose can only step aside when the poet passes. [35, 100]
83.There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what
they are. [35, 100]
84.There are three rules for writing the novel. Unfortunately, no one knows
what they are. [35, 102]
85.There are two good things in life - freedom of thought and freedom of
action. [35, 105]
86.There is no explanation for evil. It must be looked upon as a necessary part
of the order of the universe. To ignore it is childish, to bewail it senseless.
[35, 108]
87.Things were easier for the old novelists who saw people all of a piece.
Speaking generally, their heroes were good through and through, their
villains wholly bad. [35, 110-111]
88.To eat well in England, you should have a breakfast three times a day. [35,
112]
89.Tolerance is another word for indifference. [35, 112]
90.Tradition is a guide and not a jailer. [35, 112]
91.We are not the same persons this year as last; nor are those we love. It is a
84

happy chance if we, changing, continue to love a changed person. [35, 113]
92.We have long passed the Victorian Era when asterisks were followed after a
certain interval by a baby. [35, 113]
93.We know our friends by their defects rather than by their merits. [35, 115]
94.We learn resignation not by our own suffering, but by the suffering of
others. [35, 115]
95.What has influenced my life more than any other single thing has been my
stammer. Had I not stammered I would probably... have gone to Cambridge
as my brothers did, perhaps have become a don and every now and then
published a dreary book about French literature. [35, 115-116]
96.What makes old age hard to bear is not the failing of one's faculties, mental
and physical, but the burden of one's memories. [35, 116]
97.When I read a book I seem to read it with my eyes only, but now and then I
come across a passage, perhaps only a phrase, which has a meaning for me,
and it becomes part of me. [35, 117]
98.When you are young you take the kindness people show you as your right.
[35, 117]
99.When you choose your friends, don't be short-changed by choosing
personality over character. [35, 119]
100.

Writing is the supreme solace. [35, 120]

101.
You are not angry with people when you laugh at them. Humor
teaches tolerance. [35, 120]
102.
You can do anything in this world if you are prepares to take the
consequences. [35, 122]
103.
You know that the Tasmanians, who never committed adultery, are
now extinct. [35, 122]
85

104.
You know what the critics are. If you tell the truth they only say
you're cynical and it does an author no good to get a reputation for cynicism.
[35, 124]
105.
Do you know that conversation is one of the greatest pleasures in life?
But it wants leisure. [35, 124]
106.

The tragedy of love is indifference. [35, 125]

107.
She gathered herself together. No one could describe the scorn of her
expression or the contemptuous hatred she out into her answer.
"You men! You filthy dirty pigs! You're all the same, all of you. Pigs! Pigs!"
[35, 125-126]
108.
If a nation values anything more than freedom, it will lose its freedom;
and the irony of it is that if it is comfort or money that it values more, it will
lose that too. [35, 127]
109.
He knew that women appreciated neither irony nor sarcasm, but
simple jokes and funny stories. He was amply provided with both. [35, 128]
110.
Now the world in general doesn't know what to make of originality; it
is startled out of its comfortable habits of thought, and its first reaction is
one of anger. [35, 131]
111.
The trouble with our younger authors is that they are all in the sixties.
[35, 132]
112.

It is unsafe to take your reader for more of a fool than he is. [35, 133]

113.
What makes old age hard to bear is not the failing of one's faculties,
mental and physical, but the burden of one's memories. [35, 133]
114.
What has influenced my life more than any other single thing has been
my stammer. Had I not stammered I would probably... have gone to
Cambridge as my brothers did, perhaps have become a don and every now
and then published a dreary book about French literature. [35, 135-136]
115.
Dying is a very dull, dreary affair. And my advice to you is to have
nothing whatever to do with it. [35, 136]
116.
To eat well in England, you should have a breakfast three times a day.
[35, 137]
86

117.
Money is the string with which a sardonic destiny directs the motions
of its puppets. [35, 137]
118.
My own belief is that there is hardly anyone whose sexual life, if it
were broadcast, would not fill the world at large with surprise and horror.
[35, 140]
119.
You know, there are two good things in life, freedom of thought and
freedom of action. [35, 142]
120.
It is an illusion that youth is happy, an illusion of those who have lost
it; but the young know they are wretched, for they are full of the truthless
ideals which have been instilled into them, and each time they come in
contact with the real they are bruised and wounded. [35, 142-143]
121.
Like all weak men he laid an exaggerated stress on not changing one's
mind. [35, 144]
122.
Art... is merely the refuge which the ingenious have invented, when
they were supplied with food and women, to escape the tediousness of life.
[35, 145]
123.
I do not confer praise or blame: I accept. I am the measure of all
things. I am the centre of the world. [35, 145]
124.

Men seek but one thing in life their pleasure. [35, 148]

125.

People ask you for criticism, but they only want praise. [35, 150]

87

Sentences containing EPITHETS

1. He gave her a sidelong glance with his pale, blue eyes, but did not reply.
[35, 127]
2. He looked at it with greedy eyes. [35, 127]
3. She was dressed in black and wore round her neck a gold chain, from which
dangled a small cross. [35, 127]
4. Mrs Davidson scanned his face. She had a dramatic eagerness to see that
she had achieved the desired effect. [35, 128]
5. "In our islands," Mrs Davidson went on in her high-pitched tones, "we've
practically eradicated the lava-lava. [35, 129]
6. But Mrs Davidson had given two or three of her birdlike glances at heavy
grey clouds that came floating over the mouth of the harbour. [35, 130]
7. The house they sought was about five minutes' walk from the wharf. [35,
131]
8. he was a man of forty, thin, with a pinched face, precise and rather
pedantic; [35, 126]
9. and he spoke with a Scots accent in a very low, quiet voice. [35, 126]
10. The coconut trees, thick and green, came nearly to the water's edge, and
among them you saw the grass houses of the Samoans; [35, 127]
11.The most remarkable thing about her was her voice, high, metallic, and
without inflection; [35, 127]
12. "They say this is a terribly difficult place to work in. [35, 127]
13.

It was a sing-song whine, with the quavering intonations of a beggar, and

it filled Mackintosh with disgust. [35, 20]

14. To Bateman it seemed a happy-go-lucky way of doing things. [35, 47]

15. He was a good foot shorter than the mate and no match for him, but he was
used to dealing with native crews, and he had his knuckle-duster handy.
[35, 119]
16. Terrible, ain't it, bein' cooped up in a one-horse burg like this?" answered
Miss Thompson. [35, 138]
88

17.Dr Macphail learnt the first results of the missionary's activity from the halfcaste trader in whose house they lodged. [35, 144]
18. He was touched by the higgledy-piggledy way in which those people lived;
[35, 85]
19. What had a stranger to do with this love-sick pair? [35, 113]
20. He was a mirth-loving man, and perhaps that accounted not a little for his
successful amours; [35, 114]
21.As he walked past them backwards and forwards for the sake of exercise, he
had heard Mrs Davidson's agitated whisper, like the distant flow of a
mountain torrent, and he saw by his wife's open mouth and pale face that she
was enjoying an alarming experience. [35, 128]
22."What the devil are you doing?" he cried. "Stop that damned machine."
[35, 161]

89

Sentences containing REPETITION

1. The artist, painter, poet, or musician, by his decoration, sublime or beautiful,
satisfies the aesthetic sense; but that is akin to the sexual instinct, and shares
its barbarity. [35, 3]
2. The most insignificant of Strickland's works suggests a personality which is
strange, tormented, and complex; [35, 3]
3. art is a manifestation of emotion, and emotion speaks a language that all
may understand. [35, 3]
4. And when such as had come in contact with Strickland in the past, writers
who had known him in London, painters who had met him in the cafes of
Montmartre, discovered to their amazement that where they had seen but an
unsuccessful artist, like another, authentic genius. [35, 4]
5. there was much in his life which was strange and terrible, in his character
something outrageous, and in his fate not a little that was pathetic. [35, 4]
6. In due course a legend arose of such circumstantiality that the wise historian
would hesitate to attack it. But a wise historian is precisely what the Rev.
Robert Strickland is not. [35, 4]
7. Mr. Strickland has drawn the portrait of an excellent husband and father, a
man of kindly temper, industrious habits, and moral disposition. [35, 5]
8. His decent reticence is branded as hypocrisy, his circumlocutions are
roundly called lies, and his silence is vilified as treachery. [35, 6]
9. And on the strength of peccadillos, reprehensible in an author, but excusable
in a son, the Anglo-Saxon race is accused of prudishness, humbug,
pretentiousness, deceit, cunning, and bad cooking. [35, 6]
10. for every day I have got up and I have gone to bed. [35, 7]
11.And the successful books are but the successes of a season. [35, 7]
12. they are like poor wantons attempting with pencil, paint and powder, with
shrill gaiety, to recover the illusion of their spring. [35, 7]
13.Some advertised badly and some well. Some were modern and some were
old-fashioned. [35, 10]
90

14.Now and then she invited members of it to her house if they showed an
appreciation of her talent and entertained with proper lavishness. [35, 11]
15.There was a high dado of white wood and a green paper on which were
etchings by Whistler in neat black frames. The green curtains with their
peacock design, hung in straight lines, and the green carpet, in the pattern of
which pale rabbits frolicked among leafy trees, suggested the influence of
William Morris. [35, 12]
16.I fancy she's rather simple, poor dear, and she thinks we're all wonderful.
[35, 12]
17.and the books that came down from Mudie's Library brought with them
not only their own romance, but the romance of London. [35, 12]
18.The meals in the artistic little dining-room were pleasant; the table looked
nice, the two maids were trim and comely; the food was well cooked. [35,
14]
19.It was the kind of party which makes you wonder why the hostess has
troubled to bid her guests, and why the guests have troubled to come. [35,
16]
20.The women were too nice to be well dressed, and too sure of their position
to be amusing. [35, 16]
21.Each one talked to his neighbour; to his neighbour on the right during the
soup, fish, and entree; to his neighbour on the left during the roast, sweet,
and savoury. [35, 16]
22.They talked of the political situation and of golf, of their children and the
latest play, of the pictures at the Royal Academy, of the weather and their
plans for the holidays. [35, 17]
23. he was just a good, dull, honest, plain man. [35, 17]

91