Introduction William Somerset Maugham （1874-1965），is one of the most popular writers in the 20th century. He is a British playwright, novelist and short story writer whose work is characterized by a shrewd understanding of human nature. All of his novels, plays and other works were translated into a large number of languages and won great popularity among readers all over the world. Maugham was the son of a British diplomat but he was orphaned at the age of 10 and then he was raised by a paternal uncle. Other men in his family were lawyers but he chose to be a physician. As a medical student, Maugham had seen the sufferings of the poor working classes in London's slum area. The experience would serve him well in writing vivid physical descriptions in his novels. In 1894, Maugham wrote his first novel, Liza of Lambeth, and its mild success encouraged him to abandon medicine and to turn full-time to writing. Maugham was critical of the morals, the narrow-mindedness and hypocrisy of bourgeois society. His reputation as a novelist rests mainly on four books: Of Human Bondage (1915), The Moon and Sixpence (1919), Cakes and Ale (1930),The Razor#8217;s Edge (1944). The Moon and Sixpence is about the life experience of Strickland, a well-off middle-class stockbroker in London who abandons his wife and children abruptly in order to pursue his dream to become an artist. The story is partly based on the life of the painter Paul Gauguin. Inspired by the life of Paul Gauguin, The Moon and Sixpence is an unforgettable study of a man possessed by the need to create#8212;regardless of the cost to himself and to others. From the very beginning, the protagonist, Charles Strickland, seems commonplace to his friends. But one day, the conventional stockbroker leaves his wife and family and goes to Paris alone to study art. Mrs. Strickland thinks her husband had a love affair with other woman so she sends a friend to persuade him to return. But the friend is told that Strickland has decided to leave his family permanently. In Paris, during an illness, Strickland is nursed by a friend#8217;s wife named Blanche. Blanche loves him and devotes herself to him. Unfortunately, Strickland has no interest to stay with her and goes to Marseilles. After his leave, Blanche committed suicide. On Tahiti Island, Strickland marries Ata, a native girl who takes care of him. When he is badly ill, Ata still does not leave him alone but cares for him. When he is completely blind, he asks Ata to destroy the paintings on the walls after his death. In Of Human Bondage, Maugham had written: 'Like so many young men he [Philip] was so busy yearning for the moon that he never saw the sixpence at his feet.' Somerset Maugham adopted the phrase as the title of his next novel. The author explained its meaning in a note which was intended to precede the text, but which did not appear, ' ... In his childhood he was urged to make merry over the man who, looking for the moon, missed the sixpence at his feet, but having reached years of maturity he is not so sure that this was so great an absurdity as he was bidden to believe. Let him who will pick up the sixpence; to pursue the moon seems the most amusing diversion.' Literature Review Despite his prodigious output, Maugham has not received much concern at home or abroad. He himself said once that ”There are but two important critics in my own country who have troubled to take me seriously and when clever young men write essays about contemporary fiction they never think of considering me”(Curtis 1). What he said is true. Eminent critics like Virginia Woolf and her friends had long ago reached the conclusion that there was not much to be said about Maugham. One of the ” two important critics” referred to above is Desmond MacCarthy, who did take Maugham#8217;s work seriously, especially the plays and short stories which he rated highly, tracing their roots inFrench naturalism. The other is Raymond Mortimer, who had written thoughtful reviews of Maugham#8217;s books in the New Statesman and Nation. Many scholars held a similar view that The Moon and Sixpence was inferior in its theme and technique. For example, Katherine Mansfield thoroughly disliked The Moon and Sixpence. She concerned herself with the tensions between marital and family loyalties, artistic dedication and personal freedom. She found an unacceptable brutalism in the way Strickland sidesteps the whole conflict by telling everyone who gets in his way to ”go to hell”, and indentified this attitude in a brilliant image. Her article of ” In articulations” deplored the narrator#8217;s inability to enter into his subjects and consciousness, and found Strickland obnoxious and unlovable(Curtis 139). Notwithstanding a large amount of negative responses, Maugham was accepted as a splendid author with his excellent writing skill and perfect description. And a number of scholars has studied The Moon and Sixpence from different perspectives. Since Maugham thinks that men#8217;s achievement should be praised and their mistakes should be narrowed, a good number of scholars focus on Strickland#8217;s achievements on art and his fearless spirit. In A William Somerset Maugham Encyclopedia, Rogal pointed out that Strickland is an artist who defies social and moral conventions of his society in pursuit of creativity. Also, many Chinese researchers keep their on Strickland#8217;s pursuit of art. Like Sun Jianjian#8217;s ”Burning For Art#8217;s Sake--to Maugham#8217;s The Moon and Sixpence”. Some researchers studied the similarities between Strickland and Gauguin. According to Calder, the writer of the Life of Somerset Maugham, he thinks that Strickland is only ”loosely based upon Paul Gauguin#8217;. Some of the researches also put their sights on the personality of Maugham. In Novelists in Their Youth, John Halperin states ” the social man may assume masks, but as soon as he puts pen to paper and pretends to be someone else he can speak nothing but himself.” When researchers focus on women#8217;s situation in the novel, they show their sympathy and analyze the reason for these women#8217;s tragic fate. Just like Susan Louise pointed out in ” Comedy, morality, stability and change: The British stage,1917-1942” that women#8217;s attempt to control their men is opposite to Maugham#8217;s new concept to marriage, which suggests to maintain one#8217;s identity and independence. Therefore, as we can see that most of the researchers pay much attention to the image of Strickland who was often praised by the public for his courage and persistence in chasing for his dream. However, research and judgments on the main female characters are rare. Although some of the researchers showed their sympathy to the females in the novel, few of them analyzed the female characters for the novel revolves throughout around the character of Strickland and the quality of his art. But the main female characters#8212;Mrs. Strickland, Blanche, Ata#8212;all have relationship with Strickland, and they play important role in his life. Therefore, the author of this thesis will mainly focus on the female characters and try to call for people#8217;s attention to the sexual discrimination.