Novel “Theater” James Langton

In the novel “Theater” James Langton plays the role of a man who connects two main characters - Julia and Michael. I would even say that at the beginning of the novel Jimmie personifies the theater.

Maugham defines Jimmie Langton as a fat, bald, red-cheeked man of forty-five. Langton seems to be an impulsive creative person, who's biggest passion in life is theatre. The description of his cast rehearsal shows us how emotionally engaged he becomes during the run-through. So his image, combined with his expressiveness, seems comical to me. I suppose there are a lot of contradictions in this character, but the brightest example is his love for the theater and success as a director and his inability to play the role by himself.

However, he understands the play of other actors very well. Jimmie first saw Julia on stage. She wasn’t well-known back then, so his attention made a great effect on her. He admired her beauty and talent, but he also noticed the lack of acting skills. So he suggested her contract for three years with a very low getting and she agreed, as she was encouraged by his admiration. Again, he seemed quite contradictive suggesting such a low fee for such a talented actress.

Jimmie Langton has a clear outlook on life and it feels like he never hesitates. He says he knows everything about theatre and his confidence in his expertise contrasts with his ability to cry during the emotional rehearsal.

Thus, Langton is passionately in love with the theater, while he remains realistic and pragmatic in other life matters. He recognizes the emotions of other people very well, while he himself appears rude and straight forward. He knows how actors need to play love on stage, but in his character love is revealed only to the theater. Thereby, the character and image of Jimmie Langton are very ambiguous.

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