摘 要

威廉•萨默塞特•毛姆(1874一1965) 一直是世界上享有盛名的小说家。 《月亮和六便士》是他的代表作之一。思特里克兰德是伦敦的一名忠厚老实的股票经纪人，他有一个小资又幸福的家庭:一位漂亮的妻子和两个惹人喜爱的儿女。按理说，他应该对这种世俗的幸福感到满足。但是，在他们结婚17年后，思特里克兰德抛弃了事业和家庭突然去了巴黎。就在人们以为他有外遇的时候，他们惊讶地发现他却只是为了画画。思特里克兰德在绘画方面没有任何基础，他只是热爱绘画。他的生活变得贫困，以至于有几次他几乎死于饥饿和疾病。在与施特略夫的妻子布兰奇有过一段不光彩的风流韵事之后，他离开巴黎，一路流浪到塔希提岛，在那里他娶了一个本地姑娘爱塔。他似乎满足于有一个土生土长的妻子，住在一个与世隔绝的地方，每天都能专心的绘画。不幸的是，他染上了麻风病，在他死前一年，他失明了。爱塔一直照顾他，直到他完成了他的遗作。他的妻子在他死后按照他的指示，烧毁了房屋和他的作品，没有留下一丝这个传奇画家存在的痕迹。

同样是一夜之间变得冷酷无情，为什么思特里克兰德太太就是虚伪冷酷？同样是抛弃家庭，为什么布兰奇就是不懂感恩的荡妇？同样是任劳任怨的家庭主妇，为什么只有爱塔得到了斯特里克兰德和世人的认可？带着这些问题，本文将从女性主义出发，立足于文本，通过文本的精读和细节分析，女性主义以及男权社会下的女性处境，毛姆的叙事手法和刻画方式并结合毛姆个人的经历，重新让读者对其中“虚伪”，“放荡”和“愚蠢”的女性角色有多视角多方面的了解。

关键词：毛姆；女性角色；女性主义；月亮与六便士；男性中心主义

Abstract

William Somerset Maugham(1874一1965) has always been a famous writer in the world literary industry. The Moon and Sixpence is one of his most important novels. Strickland was a stockbroker in London, and he had a rich and happy family: a beautiful wife who is decent and tender, and two healthy and lovely children. He ought, by rights, to be content with such worldly pleasures, though they were vulgar and peaceful. But, 17 years after their marriage, he suddenly left for Paris, leaving behind what outsiders considered a good career and family. Just when people thought he was having an affair, they surprisingly found out that he was just doing it for painting. Strickland did not have any basis in painting, he just loved to paint and felt the call to paint. From the perspective of outsiders, he was insane. His life became so poor that he almost died of hunger and disease several times. After a disgraceful affair with Stroeve‘s wife Blanche, he left Paris and wandered all the way to Tahiti, where he married a native girl, Ata. He seemed content to have a native wife and lived in an isolated island where he could paint conservatively every day. Unfortunately, he soon contracted leprosy which is a deadly disease, and a year before his death, he was blind. Ata cared for him until he finished his masterpiece to death. His wife, following his last order, burned down their house and his works without leaving a single piece of wood. The three female images in The Moon and Sixpence are hypocritical, erotic and ignorant in Maugham's characterization, but they still own their shinning points of humanity，their difficulties and helplessness in society during a time when women were depressed and bullied.

Why was Mrs. Strickland hypocritical? Why Blanche is ungrateful? Why was Ata the only one who was recognized by Strickland and the world? With these questions, this article, from the perspective of feminism, based on the intensive reading of the text and detail analysis, Maugham's narrative technique and personal experience of Maugham, reinterpret these female images to let the reader to have multiple points of view and various understanding.

Key Words: Maugham; The Moon and Sixpence; female images; patriarchy; feminism

Contents

1 Introduction 1

2 Literature Review about The Female Images in The Moon and Sixpence 3

2.1 Research Abroad 3

2.2 Research at Home 3

3 Female Images in Six Analysis 5

3.1 Mrs. Strickland - Strong Female 5

3.2 Blanche - Depressive Female 6

3.3 Ata - Traditional Female 7

3.4 Analysis on The Female Images From A Feminism Perspective 8

4 Personal and Social Reasons for Maugham's Charaterization 12

4.1 Childhood 12

4.2 Family and Marriage 12

4.3 Sexual Orientation 13

5 Conclusion 14

References 16

Acknowledgements 17

Analysis on The Three Female Roles in The Moon and Sixpence From Feminism Perspective

1 Introduction

This thesis has much theoretical significance. Maugham is a pioneer of realistic, but in China, readers and researchers do not know or pay enough attention to his patriarchal ideas due to his great success in literature. Women in patriarchal literature are seldom portrayed as independent thinking, feeling, desiring and acting. They are generally seen in relation to men or from a point of view of male needs or concepts with regard to women Compared with foreign studies, domestic studies on his female bias are insufficient. With the increasing attention paid to feminism these years, those women in his novels have regained their attention and brand new understanding. The Moon and Sixpence by W.S Maugham is the representative of male chauvinism. In this novel, the three heroines either could not live a satisfactory life with Strickland or live a joyful life.

Why was Mrs. Strickland hypocritical and cruel when She turned iced-hearted same as Strickland did overnight? Why was Blanche a ungrateful slut when Strickland also cheated? Why was only Ata, same as other industrious housewives, was recognized by Strickland and the society? This article will discuss these questions from the perspective of feminism, detail analysis of feminism and the situation of women in the patriarchal society, Maugham's narrative technique and combined with personal experience of Maugham's based on the text intensive reading, to let the reader have a further understanding on these "hypocritical", "slutty" and "stupid" female characters. The author will identify and categorize the three archetypes that the three female characters represent, the common features of the three female characters which render them the subordinated sex and propose the possible causes for Maugham’s characterization and portraying of the female characters.

Women today are no longer being ignored and voiceless. They have more access to education and various industries as their intelligence and competent being valued. At some point, some area, they are more capable than men do. So for practical significance, this thesis calls for people to reflect on women issues in patriarchal society and focus on the unfair status of female in marriage and working field. Gender harmony and equality are to be reasoned and practiced. This article is to further interpret the female images in The Moon and Sixpence, so that readers can have a better understanding of Maugham, and have a further reflection on the gender inequality in the patriarchal society.

2 Literature Review about The Female Images in The Moon and Sixpence

2.1 Research Abroad

Foreign studies on Maugham have begun very early, and many scholars and readers have found that Maugham has some similarities and prejudices in the shaping of female roles in his numerous works. The Moon and Sixpence also have many feminist perspectives on academic research. These researches focus on Maugham's childhood, life, family, marriage, sexual orientation and received religious and philosophical perspectives which can be mainly divided into four types:

The first type: Focusing on Strickland’s image and characterization without emphasizing his moral controversy and his bias to females. Like Rogal states in “A William Somerset Maugham Encyclopedia (1997)” that Strickland is an artist who refuses to compromise with the hypocritical conventions of his society.