The Painted Veil Maugham Analysis

Introduction
1.1 A Brief Introduction of William Somerset Maugham
William Somerset Maugham, an outstanding British playwright, novelist and short story writer, write twenty novels, more than hundred short stories, thirty-one plays, and a large number of prose, travel notes and essays during his life. Most of Maugham’ s successful novels, like Of Human Bondage, The Moon and Sixpence, Cakes and Ale and The Razor’s Edge, are based on real life characters which he had encountered in his life. His own life experiences and the influence of the prevailing philosophy of Europe at that time lays a solid foundation for Maugham’ s literary creation. His writing style is known as the exquisite narrative style, composition settings, the profound ideological

Setting the background in China in the 1920s, The Painted Veil outlines a story of how a dazzling but empty-headed heroine Kitty finds inner peace and freedom influenced by Taoism and Catholicism. At that time, Chinese people are experiencing the worst epidemic chorea and poverty, while London is still shrouded in the aura of the Empire where the social upper class have a luxury life everyday. Kitty is a very pretty upper-middle class girl, a typical British girl, squandering herself at various parties and social events in order that she can find a suitable husband to improve her social status and get material guarantee. However, unwilling to attend her sister’s wedding ceremony and distancing herself from the bitter tongue of her mother, in a panic, she gets married with bacteriologist Walter Fane who she doesn’t love. After their marriage, the couple come to the colony Tching-Yen. However, Kitty and Walter have different characteristics, which makes Kitty feel solitary and vapid. Hence, she looks outside for amusement which is unexpected found in enchanting Charlie, the Assistant Colonial Secretary who is tall, handsome, able and extremely charming. When Walter discovers his wife’s adultery, he begins to take revenge without worrying about the thread of death-- taking Kitty to Mei-tan-fu, a Chinese village afflicted with the most serious cholera. Then, Kitty embarks on a journey of

Existentialism in The Painted Veil
3.1 The Absurd Survival Situation in The Painted Veil
In The Painted Veil, Kitty is a woman who is oppressed and controlled by her family and society, being in a subordinate situation. Therefore, the third chapter discusses Kitty’s situation in the patriarchal society and the reasons of Kitty’s otherness. In the early 20th century, the utilitarian and unequal society as well as the alienation of kinship, friendship and love lead to the construction of Kitty’s otherness, which mainly represents Kitty’s subservient to her mother in family and reliance on man in society, and thereby causes kitty’s lost of herself.
3.1.1 The Absurdity of the World-- Alienation of Human Nature
In The Painted Veil, both interpersonal alienation and self-alienation are reflected among these characters. In the utilitarian and unequal society, like London and Tching-Yen. Most of the weatern characters are alienated by the social doctrines and conventions, they are estranged from each other, for they have little communication with each other. The interpersonal alienation can be shown between couples and families in the novel. Kitty’s family is a typical representative, the atmosphere of Garstin’s family is full of utilitarianism, hypocrisy and indifference. All family members are alienated from each