how surprising — old-fashioned British surprise, rare today
- Perhaps we speak yours a little. - Why, fancy, she understands!A Passage to India · 1984 — 第 2 / 19 章 · 3'15" · B2
The Bridge Party at the Club, Explained：an exercise in power
The British throw a 'Bridge Party' to connect with their Indian guests, but the club is cold and the guests are ignored. Adela protests — "You and Mr Turton are the only people who've made any attempt to be friendly." Beneath the etiquette, everyone is acting out rank and power.
あらすじ
At the British club in Chandrapore, Mrs Moore and Adela are guests at a Bridge Party intended to introduce the English to their Indian neighbours. The Indian ladies are left sitting while the British ignore them. Adela complains the hosts aren't civil; Fielding offers to introduce her to Dr Aziz, and Ronny later rebukes his mother for expecting kindness.
注目の表現
make an attempttreat someone properlydrawing roomsentimental socialist
00:00 / 03:15Space 再生 · ← → セリフ移動 · R リピート
いま
このシーンの表現
an exercise in power
a display of power
Mrs Moore calls the whole party an exercise in power, stripping away its polite cover.
The meeting was an exercise in power.
このシーンの他の表現
- make an attempt
try to do something
- treat someone properly
treat someone well
- drawing room
a formal sitting room
- sentimental socialist
an over-emotional do-gooder
- you're speaking about power
what you call good is really power
このシーンのメモ一覧
35 行のセリフに 20 件のメモ
treat someone well
Mrs Moore complains that the hosts invited guests and then treated them badly.
I don't understand people inviting guests and not treating them properly.try to do something
You and Mr Turton are the only people who've made any attempt to be friendly.relative clause: The relative clause names the only people who tried.
You and Mr Turton are the only people who've made any attempt to be friendly.would like to
If you and Mrs Moore would care to meet one or two, it's easily arranged.be talked into doing
- He might even be persuaded to sing. - I'd like that.have heard of someone
- Tell me, do you know a Dr Aziz? - I know of him. I've never actually met.among the most ...
This is one of the most unnatural affairs I have ever attended.act rudely toward someone
I do not see why you all behave so unpleasantly to these people.noun clause: The why-clause is the object of see.
I do not see why you all behave so unpleasantly to these people.act fairly
India isn't a drawing room. We're out here to do justice and to keep the peace.keep order
India isn't a drawing room. We're out here to do justice and to keep the peace.Out and here blend, hiding the t.
India isn't a drawing room. We're out here to do justice and to keep the peace.part of a group
- I'm just a member of the civil service. - As simple as that.give something up
What do you and Adela want me to do? Sacrifice my career?help others
Lose the power I have for doing good in this country?talk about
Good? You're speaking about power.a display of power
Mrs Moore calls the whole party an exercise in power, stripping away its polite cover.
The whole of this entertainment is an exercise in power, and the subtle pleasures of personal superiority.Exercise in runs together as one sound.
The whole of this entertainment is an exercise in power, and the subtle pleasures of personal superiority.place someone here for a purpose
God has put us on earth to love and help our fellow men.「The Bridge Party at the Club」を読み解く
What's really going on
The Bridge Party is a public-relations gesture that fails on its own terms. The English have invited Indians into their club, but the invitation is not real contact — the guests are objects of performance, and the hosts cannot hide their discomfort. Adela names the gap between intention and behaviour: "I don't understand people inviting guests and not treating them properly." Ronny answers with colonial doctrine rather than personal feeling — "India isn't a drawing room. We're out here to do justice and to keep the peace" — and Mrs Moore reduces his language to what she hears beneath it, that "the whole of this entertainment is an exercise in power." Forster's point is that manners in the Raj are never neutral; politeness is how hierarchy is performed, and everyone at the party is trapped in the part they play.
Theme
PowerThe club party is staged as kindness but runs on rank; Mrs Moore calls it 'an exercise in power and the subtle pleasures of personal superiority.'
ClassBritish hosts and Indian guests share one room but not one status; the Indian ladies are left seated while the colonisers perform civility.
このチャプターで学べること
- Polite words can carry a sharp judgement.
- Do justice means acting fairly, not winning.
- An exercise in power reframes a party as a display.
- The mother wins the argument by asking, not shouting.
発音のポイント
- out here — Out and here blend, hiding the t.
- exercise in — Exercise in runs together as one sound.
My only consolation is that Mrs Turton will soon be retired to a villa in Tunbridge Wells.A dry aside from one English guest about another: at least Mrs Turton will soon be gone back to England, so her attitude won't have to be endured much longer.
You and Mr Turton are the only people who've made any attempt to be friendly.Adela's quiet indictment of the whole club: out of everyone present, only two have bothered to treat the Indian guests decently.
India isn't a drawing room. We're out here to do justice and to keep the peace.Ronny's colonial creed: India is a place of duty and control, not manners — an excuse for treating people coldly.
The whole of this entertainment is an exercise in power, and the subtle pleasures of personal superiority.Mrs Moore's verdict on the party: the politeness is a display of dominance, and the hosts enjoy feeling above their guests.
God has put us on earth to love and help our fellow men.Mrs Moore answers her son with faith rather than politics: whatever the Empire asks, she believes people are here to care for one another.
What do you and Adela want me to do? Sacrifice my career?Ronny frames kindness as a threat to his position, turning a moral question into a choice between decency and his job.
このシーンについての質問
Why is Mrs Moore upset with Ronny at the party?
She has just watched the British ignore their Indian guests, and when Ronny says they aren't 'out here to be pleasant,' she hears him defending coldness in the name of duty. It is the first real crack between mother and son.
Why does Ronny say India isn't a drawing room?
He's arguing that his job is administration, not social nicety. To him, being friendly with Indians risks undermining British authority, so he treats courtesy as weakness.
Why does Adela complain that the guests aren't treated properly?
Because she's new to India and still expects ordinary hospitality. The Indian ladies have been parked in a corner while the British ignore them, and Adela — who is deciding whether to marry into this world — is embarrassed by her own side.
Does Fielding really intend to introduce Adela to Dr Aziz?
Yes. Fielding is the one Englishman who seems at ease crossing the line, and he suggests inviting the Hindu professor and Dr Aziz. That offer sets up the friendships — and the disaster — that follow.
Are the English hosts aware of how badly the party is going?
Partly. They know it's awkward and unnatural, but most blame the guests or the setting rather than themselves, which is exactly what Adela and Mrs Moore can't accept.
インドへの道 · 全 19 章
すべて見る →
次のチャプター · 第 3 章a muddleAziz Invites Them to the Marabar Caves
第 1 章in the same boxAziz Meets Mrs Moore in the Mosque
再生中 · 第 2 章an exercise in powerThe Bridge Party at the Club
第 3 章a muddleAziz Invites Them to the Marabar Caves
第 4 章account forGodbole Explains the Marabar Caves
第 5 章put our shoulders to the wheelAdela Calls Off the Wedding
第 6 章condescend toFielding Visits Sick Aziz
第 7 章call it offAziz Shows Fielding His Dead Wife
第 8 章in tattersAdela Vanishes at the Marabar Caves
第 9 章go over the topFielding Defends Aziz After the Charge
第 10 章of no consequenceFielding Picks a Defence Lawyer
第 11 章await the verdictFielding Resigns from the Club
第 12 章have anything to do withMrs. Moore Says Goodbye to Ronny
第 13 章make it my businessMcBryde Accuses Aziz at Trial
第 14 章carried him awayDas Rules Mrs Moore Does Not Exist
第 15 章cast your mind backAdela Wavers on the Witness Stand
第 16 章withdraw the accusationAdela Withdraws the Accusation
第 17 章have a hunchAdela's Echo Is Gone
第 18 章extend an open invitationGodbole Says Goodbye to Fielding
第 19 章smithereensAziz Breaks With Fielding第 2 / 19 章 · 残り約 55 分