摘 要

1. Introduction 1

1.1 A brief introduction to Somerset Maugham 1

1.2 Introduction to the novel The Moon and Sixpence 2

2. Literature Review 3

3. Women Images in The Moon and Sixpence 5

3.1 The image of Mrs. Strickland 5

3.1.1 Mrs. Strickland : a shrewd woman 5

3.1.2 Mrs. Strickland : sensitive about her reputation 6

3.2 The image of Blanche 7

3.2.1 Blanche: a double-faced woman 7

3.2.2 Blanche: an adventurous woman 8

3.3 The image of Ata 8

3.3.1 Ata: a submissive woman 9

3.3.2 Ata: a dedicated woman 9

4. Maugham’s View on Women 11

4.1 women are dependent 11

4.2 Women have a strong sense of control 11

4.3 Women are hypocritical 12

4.4 Women are superficial 13

5. Female Status in the Male-Dominated Society 14

6. Conclusion 16

References 18

Acknowledgments

Many people have contributed to this thesis in their own particular way and for that I want to give them my sincere gratitude. First of all, I would like to express my special thanks to Professor Wang Li, my supervisor, for the patient guidance she has provided throughout my thesis writing. Every time when I submitted my draft of thesis, she carefully read through them, patiently pointed out my mistakes and professionally provided expert suggestions and valuable instructions to help me polish my manuscripts.

Moreover, my sincere thanks also go to all the teachers at the English Department, like Professor Hu Aihua and Professor Sun Li who taught me to work hard. And I am greatly indebted to Professor Guo Ping. The course of Advanced English taught by her is one of my favourite courses which guided me to walk into the fantastic world of literature. I admire her charming personality and broad knowledge. She has been a tremendous mentor and model.

Abstract

The Moon and Sixpence, the masterpiece of William Somerset Maugham, a famous writer in Britain in the 20^th century, lays the foundation for him to be a world-class novelist. Inspired by the life of Paul Gauguin, a famous French painter, The Moon and Sixpence portrays the life story of a stockbroker--Strickland--who leaves family and goes to Paris alone to study art. In Paris, during an illness, Strickland is nursed by a friend’s wife named Blanche who loves him and devotes herself to him. Unfortunately, Strickland has no interest to stay with her. On Tahiti Island, when Strickland is completely blind, he asks Ata, his wife, to destroy the paintings on the walls after his death.

In the novel, Strickland has love affairs with three females: Mrs. Strickland, Blanche and Ata. However, research and judgments on the main female characters are rare. Accordingly, the author of this thesis chiefly analyzes the female characters finding that female characters in the book are distorted. Mrs. Strickland is shrewd and sensitive about her reputation. Blanche is double-faced and adventurous. Ata is the only woman in the book who is depicted like an angel. She is submissive and dedicated.

These three women are different but they share some features which shows Maugham’s view on women: all these women are dependent, superficial, hypocritical and have a strong sense of control. Through analyzing the book, it is obvious that Maugham is a misogynist and the image of female in his book is resulted from his misogyny. Despite rapid ascent of social status of female in the 20^th century, gender inequality is still not completely eliminated. In the patriarchal society, men have the control of everything while women are submissive and secondary to men. Therefore, in order to survive, women need to rely on men's strength and support.

This thesis aims to understand and analyze the three main female characters of the novel, to reflect women’s social status and to reveal Maugham’s patriarchal discrimination towards female so as to raise people's attention about gender equality. It might be of great help for the readers to have a deep understanding of the female characters in the book and a reflection of Maugham’s view on women.

Keywords: Maugham; The Moon and Sixpence; Female characters; Gender equality

中文摘要

《月亮与六便士》是20世纪英国著名作家威廉·萨默塞特·毛姆的杰作，并为他成为世界级小说家奠定了基础。它受到法国著名画家保罗·高更生平事迹的启发，讲述了一位证券经纪人斯特里克兰的故事。斯特里克兰离开家庭，独自前往巴黎学习艺术。在巴黎期间，斯特里克兰患病因此由一位朋友的妻子（布兰奇）照顾。布兰奇深爱斯特里克兰。不幸的是，斯特里克兰没有兴趣留在她身边。在塔西提岛上，他完全失明。斯特里克兰要求他的妻子阿塔在他去世后摧毁墙壁上的画作。

在小说中，斯特里克兰与三位女性有过感情：斯特里克兰夫人、布兰奇和阿塔。然而，对主要女性角色的研究却很少。因此本文作者主要分析了女性形象，并发现书中的女性形象是扭曲的。斯特里克兰太太很精明并且对她的声誉很敏感。布兰奇具有双重性格并且热爱冒险。阿塔是书中唯一一个如天使一般的女人。她很顺从并且乐于奉献。

这三个女性虽有不同的性格，但她们也有共同的特征。这也正显示了毛姆对女性的看法：女性是依赖的、肤浅的、虚伪的并且她们具有强烈的控制欲。通过分析这本书，明显看出毛姆是一个厌恶女性主义者。他的厌女症对他的书中描绘的女性形象有很大的影响。尽管20世纪女性的社会地位迅速提升，但性别不平等现象仍未完全消除。在男性统治的社会中，男性掌握着所有事而女性顺从于男性。因此，为了生存女性需要依靠男性的力量和支持。

本文旨在理解和分析小说的三个主要女性形象从而反映女性的社会地位并揭示毛姆对女性的父权歧视以提高人们对性别平等的关注。对于读者来说，本文可能对深入了解《月亮与六便士》中的女性角色以及毛姆的女性观会有帮助。

关键词：毛姆；月亮与六便士；女性形象；性别平等

Introduction

1.1 A brief introduction to Somerset Maugham

William Somerset Maugham (1874–1965) is a famous writer. All of his novels, plays and other works which show his shrewd comprehension of human nature were translated into a large number of languages and won him a world-wide reputation as one of the most celebrated British novelists and playwrights in the 20^th century.

Maugham was born on 25, December 1874. He received his early education in France. But when he was at the age of 10, his parents died. Then he lived with his uncle who was self-centred and never cared about Maugham. And worse still, Maugham was often tortured by his classmates at school. These experiences had big influences on him.

In 1890, he was recruited to the University of Heidelberg. During his stay in Heidelberg, he found and developed his interest in drama and painting. After he returned to England, he worked as an accountant for a short period of time. At St Thomas's Hospital he began to study medicine. Sine he was a medical student, he had a chance to catch sight of the agonies of the impoverished people in London's slum area. The experience would serve him well in writing vivid physical descriptions in his novels and offer him an opportunity to observe the society and life with cool and sharp sight.

In 1897, Liza of Lambeth which he wrote while working as a doctor at a hospital in Lambeth, came out; its mild success encouraged him to abandon medicine and to turn full-time to writing. Then he began writing plays, including Lady Frederick (1903), Mrs. Dot (1904), Jack Straw (1907), Penelope (1908), and Smith (1909).