General background William Somerset Maugham Richard Aldington

William Somerset Maugham

William Somerset Maugham is one of the best known English writers of the present day. He was not only a novelist of considerable rank, but also one of the most successful dramatists and short story writers. His first novel “Liza of Lambeth” came out in 1897, and he went on producing books at the rate of at least one a year. But he used to say “I have always had more stories in my head than I ever had time to write”.

Somerset Maugham was a keen observer of life and individuals. He has written twenty four plays, nineteen novels and a large number of short stories, in addition to travel works and an autobiography. The most mature period of Maugham’s literary career began in 1915, when he published one of his most popular novels, “Of Human Bondage”. The author himself described this work as an “autobiographical novel”.

The next well known novel written by S. Maugham is “The Moon and Sixpence” (1919). In this novel the writer makes use of some out-standing incidents in the life of the artist Paul Gauguin, (though it cannot be regarded as his biography). The hero of the novel, Charles Strickland, is a prosperous stock-broker. All those who came in touch with the Stricklands were taken by surprise and puzzled when they learned that Charles Strickland, at the age of forty, had given up his wife and children and gone to Paris to study art. Strickland’s life in Paris was “a bitter struggle against every sort of difficulty”, but the hardships which would have seemed horrible to most people did not affect him. He was indifferent to comfort. Canvas and paint were the only things he needed. Strickland did not care for fame. Nor did he care for wealth. He never sold his pictures. He lived in a dream, and reality meant nothing to him. His only aim in life was to create beauty. The reader dislikes Strickland as a human being: he is selfish, cruel, pitiless and cynical. He loves no one. He ruined the life of Dirk Strove and his wife who had nursed him when he was dangerously ill. He did not care for his wife and children, and brought misfortune to all the people who came in touch with him. But on the other hand, the reader appreciates him as a talented artist, creator of beauty. His passionate devotion to his art arouses admiration.

Other most prominent works by Somerset Maugham are the novels: “Cakes and Ale” (1930), “Theatre” (1937) and the “Razor’s Edge” (1944). His most popular stories are “Rain”, “The Unconquered”, “Gigolo and Gigolette”, “The Man with Scar”, “The Luncheon”. Maugham’s short stories are usually very sincere, interesting, well-constructed and logically developed.