Somerset Maugham Somerset Maugham was born on January 25, 1874 in Paris where his father was the solicitor to the British Embassy. However, he was orphaned at the age of ten and lived with his uncle, the vicar of Whitstable, in England. Maugham was educated in England studying literature and philosophy at Heidelberg University. In 1897 he qualified as a surgeon from St. Thomas’ medical school and practiced for a year in the slums of London. However, he abandoned medicine after the success of
William Somerset Maugham By looking at Of Human Bondage, one can see that William Somerset Maugham included themes of relationships and life patterns because they played a major role in his life. He took his life experiences and put them into his books. This made him very successful, but he still seemed to have trouble finding his place in society. Both Maugham and his characters had personal struggles with family and themselves and that is what makes his books so good for all ages of readers to
the remaining years of his life. In The Moon and Sixpence, the narrator describes the place by saying, “the beauty of the island is unveiled as diminishing distance shows you in distincter shape its lovely peaks…for Tahiti is smiling and friendly” (Maugham 160). This is an excellent description of the island, and it is little wonder that Gauguin found solace here. Hiva Oa is on the southern coast of Tahiti and is the most fertile and well known of the Marquisas group of islands, of which there are six
Franny And Zooey & The Razor’s Edge Many novels use religion as the central object of their plot. Franny and Zooey, by J.D Salinger and The Razor’s Edge, by W. Somerset Maugham both display religion as having they key role in their novels. Religion is the main guide in Franny and Zooey and The Razor’s Edge for the search of meaning. During the search for meaning the two main characters Franny Glass and Larry Darrel, use religion as an escape from everyday life and from bad memories
Some time ago Somerset Maugham said that "to eat well in England, you should have breakfast three times a day.' To be perfectly honest, most British food was considered by many people as terrible. It included overcooked vegetables, boring sandwiches and greasy sausages. It was definitely not an enjoyable experience. However, these are now only stereotypes. Things have changed a lot and food has become very important in British culture. Not only TV cooks are more famous than writers, but also their
of its writing. Included in these ideas is Hysteria, mentioned clearly when the narrators describes the doctor’s view of Blanche’s attempt to kill herself as “just a hysterical woman who had quarreled with her lover...it was constantly happening. (Maugham 123). The following will describe the development, symptoms and treatment of Hysteria. Hysteria, considered a “neurotic illness” (www.a2zpsychology.com/a2z%20guide/hysteria.htm) was considered a disorder in which a person, usually a woman, exhibited
new many recruits had to first learn how to drive. Because of the number of better educated volunteers, there were a significant number of famous authors that were ambulance drivers during World War I. They included Ernest Hemingway, W. Somerset Maugham, and E.E. Cummings (Literary). Three predominant volunteer ambulance groups were active in World War I: the American Field Service (AFS), Norton-Harjes, and the American Red Cross. When the United States entered the war, the AFS and Norton-Harjes
indulged lives we don’t take a moment to step back and look deeply at the true characters of the people around us. Instead we are happier with making our unsupported judgments on people and continuing to go about our own concerns. Mr. W. Somerset Maugham wrote a story called, Mr. Know-All, that shows us how we too often tend to act judgmental towards others, but later when we pause and take a closer look, we may find that they are truly greater in character than we are. The story starts with the narrator
Origins of Expressionism Exhibited in The Moon and Sixpence by Somerset Maugham, Expressionism differed greatly from its predecessor, Impressionism. Unlike Impressionism, Expressionism’s “goals were not to reproduce the impression suggested by the surrounding world, but to strongly impose the artist's own sensibility to the world's representation” (Web museum 1). In Expressionism, “the artist seeks to depict not objective reality but rather the subjective emotions and responses that objects
Great Britain as a worldwide system of colonies dominated the world for some three centuries. The first uncertain British attempts to establish overseas settlements were made as early as the sixteenth century. Huge economic and trade success, plus maritime expansion, resulted in the seventeenth century in the establishment of settlements in North America and the West Indies. The East India Company established its first trading posts in India at the beginning of the seventeenth century and the same
abusive spouse or of a deceased loved one, for example, can now walk out of the cold, dark dungeon into the light, ready to start the first day of the rest of his life. One literary character achieves this freedom. In Of Human Bondage, W. Somerset Maugham portrays, through the main character of Philip Carey, spiritual and sexual bonds that are ultimately broken. Carey’s only spiritual bondage comes from perhaps the biggest and most widely known religion of all time: Christianity. After his mother’s
In a conversation with Maugham about sin, Larry points out, “Their badness was due to heredity, which they couldn’t help, or to their environment, which they didn’t choose.” (256) Therefore, Larry believes that people lack the free will to commit sin, meaning that the evil in the
Literature and Life in Of Human Bondage In the novel Of Human Bondage, the reader comes across a truly magnificent quote on page 627. This quote is: "He had lived always in the future, and the present always, always had slipped through his fingers." In and of itself, this is a very powerful quote. However, it can be given even more power and significance if a person can relate this quote to their own life and experiences. I myself, after reading this quote, was instantly able to identify with
"The essence of the beautiful is unity in variety." - W. Somerset Maugham It's not a secret that our world is far from being perfect. But both now and always there are people who want to make it better. Some of them expresses this through the arts, someone tries to take actions. Bit by bit people have changed their mind about world's arrangement, but the main problems still remain. Our community should be ashamed of social differentiation, poverty, and illiteracy, because this is what divides us
The text I'm going to analyse represents a short-story, entitled "THE LUNCHEON", written by a prominent, English novelist, short-story writer, playwright and essayist Somerset Maugham. First of all I'd like to say some words about the title of the text "The Luncheon". The title of the text is rather ironical. If we consult a dictionary, we can find out that the word "luncheon" means a "light snack", but as we can see hereinafter a light snack turns to be an abundant and expensive meal. The text
In The Razor’s Edge, W. Somerset Maugham explores the different meanings of success, through the conflicting ideals of his characters. The different interpretations of success are shown prominently through the views of Elliott Templeton and Laurence Darrell. Elliot for most of his life views success as becoming socially eminent and Larry believes success is happiness and the reaching of a state of enlightenment. The epigraph of The Razor’s Edge, “The sharp edge of a razor is difficult to pass over;
Representations of Masculinity and Femininity in Miguel Street It has been said about V.S. Naipaul's novel Miguel Street that "One of the recurrent themes... is the ideal of manliness" (Kelly 19). To help put into focus what manliness is, it is important to establish a definition for masculinity as well as its opposite, femininity. Masculinity is defined as "Having qualities regarded as characteristic of men and boys, as strength, vigor, boldness, etc" while femininity is defined as "Having qualities
Razor’s Edge by William S. Maugham intends for the hopeless romantic, Larry, to find the true meaning of his life in such a meaningless world. Larry struggles internally both mentally and spiritually in finding what truly matters in life. Larry’s ambition throughout the novel will help him find who he has always been predestined to be. Larry Darrell is a young man that is intensely described in the beginning of the book. Physically, Larry is tall, tan, and wiry. Maugham spends great attention to
Somerset Maugham. There are many hidden themes in every story, especially in religious stories. In “A Very Old Man and Angle Wings,” “A short time afterward the child woke up without a fever and with a desire to eat.” (Paragraph 4, Marquez) The people in both stories
specifically on language? Because bird song and regeneration were both written in the 1990s we see that there is a different atmosphere to some of the earlier works from such authors such as D.H. Lawrence and W. Somerset Maugham. This maybe because Lawrence and Maugham were able to live and write novels and plays as episodes of the great war was being thought, or it maybe because pat barker and Sebastian Faulks don’t want to use as much detail to specific episodes because they do not know