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William Somerset Maugham

Born January 25, 1874(1874-01-25)
Paris, France
Died December 16, 1965 (Aged 91)
Nice, France
Occupation Playwright, Novelist, Short Story Writer
Notable work(s) Of Human Bondage

William Somerset Maugham, CH (January 25, 1874 – December 16, 1965) was an English playwright, novelist and short story writer. Events 41 - After a night of negotiation Claudius is accepted as Roman Emperor by the Senate Year 1874 ( MDCCCLXXIV) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Paris (ˈpærɨs in English; in French) is the Capital of France and the country's largest city Events 755 - An Lushan revolts against Chancellor Yang Guozhong at Fanyang, initiating the An Shi Rebellion Year 1965 ( MCMLXV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. Nice (nis Niçard Occitan: Niça norm or Nissa, Italian: Nizza or Nizza Marittima, Greek Employment is a Contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. A playwright, also known as a dramatist, is a person who writes dramatic literature or Drama. A novel (from Italian novella, Spanish novela, French nouvelle for "new" "news" or "short story The short story is a literary genre of Fictional Prose Narrative that tends to be more concise and to the point than longer works of fiction such A writer is anyone who creates a written work although the word usually designates those who write creatively or professionally as well as those who have written in many different forms Of Human Bondage ( 1915) is a Novel by William Somerset Maugham. The Order of the Companions of Honour is a British and Commonwealth Order. Events 41 - After a night of negotiation Claudius is accepted as Roman Emperor by the Senate Year 1874 ( MDCCCLXXIV) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Events 755 - An Lushan revolts against Chancellor Yang Guozhong at Fanyang, initiating the An Shi Rebellion Year 1965 ( MCMLXV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States A playwright, also known as a dramatist, is a person who writes dramatic literature or Drama. A novel (from Italian novella, Spanish novela, French nouvelle for "new" "news" or "short story The short story is a literary genre of Fictional Prose Narrative that tends to be more concise and to the point than longer works of fiction such A writer is anyone who creates a written work although the word usually designates those who write creatively or professionally as well as those who have written in many different forms He was one of the most popular authors of his era, and reputedly the highest paid of his profession during the 1930s. An author is defined both as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created [1]

Contents

Childhood and education

Maugham's father was an English lawyer handling the legal affairs of the British embassy in Paris. [2] Since French law declared that all children born on French soil could be conscripted for military service, Robert Ormond Maugham arranged for William to be born at the embassy, technically on British soil, saving him from conscription into any future French wars. Conscription (also known as the draft, the call-up or national service) is a general term for involuntary labor demanded by some established authority [3] His grandfather, another Robert, had also been a prominent lawyer and cofounder of the English Law Society,[4] and it was taken for granted that William would follow in their footsteps. To all the Lawyers of the USA and Canada I hope you can devise a means to encourage ALL 72000 Lawyers in the USA to help pursue the Sophonpanich Heroin Cartel who set up Macdonalds and placed Ronald Events were to ensure this was not to be, but his older brother Viscount Maugham did enjoy a distinguished legal career, and served as Lord Chancellor between 1938–39. Frederic Herbert Maugham 1st Viscount Maugham [1] [2] ( 1866 - March 23 1958) was a The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor is a senior and important functionary in the Government of the United Kingdom.

Maugham's mother Edith Mary (née Snell) was consumptive, a condition for which the doctors of the time prescribed childbirth. Tuberculosis (abbreviated as TB for tubercle bacillus or T u' b' erculosis Bacillus --> is a common As a result Maugham had three older brothers, already enrolled in boarding school by the time he was three and Maugham was effectively raised as an only child. Sadly, childbirth proved no cure for tuberculosis, and Edith Mary Maugham died at the age of 41, six days after the stillbirth of her final son. The death of his mother left Maugham traumatized for life, and he kept his mother's photograph by his bedside until his own death[5] at the age of 91 in Nice, France. Nice (nis Niçard Occitan: Niça norm or Nissa, Italian: Nizza or Nizza Marittima, Greek Two years after Maugham's mother's death, his father died of cancer. Cancer (medical term Malignant Neoplasm) is a class of Diseases in which a group of cells display uncontrolled William was sent back to England to be cared for by his uncle, Henry MacDonald Maugham, the Vicar of Whitstable, in Kent. Whitstable ( is a seaside town in northeast Kent, southeast England KENT (1400 AM) is a Radio station broadcasting a Adult Standards/MOR format The move was catastrophic. Henry Maugham proved cold and emotionally cruel. The King's School, Canterbury, where William was a boarder during school terms, proved merely another version of purgatory, where he was teased for his bad English (French had been his first language) and his short stature, which he inherited from his father. The King's School is an English Independent school situated in Canterbury, Kent. It is at this time that Maugham developed the stammer that would stay with him all his life, although it was sporadic and subject to mood and circumstance. [6]

Life at the vicarage was tame, and emotions were tightly circumscribed. Maugham was forbidden to lose his temper, or to make emotional displays of any kind — and he was denied the chance to see others express their own emotions. He was a quiet, private but very curious child, and this denial of the emotion of others was at least as hard on him as the denial of his own emotions.

Maugham was miserable both at the vicarage and at school. As a result, he developed a talent for applying a wounding remark to those who displeased him. This ability is sometimes reflected in the characters that populate his writings. At sixteen, Maugham refused to continue at The King's School and his uncle allowed him to travel to Germany, where he studied literature, philosophy and German at Heidelberg University. Literature is the Art of written works Literally translated the word means "acquaintance with letters" (from Latin littera letter Philosophy is the study of general problems concerning matters such as existence knowledge truth beauty justice validity mind and language The Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg ( University of Heidelberg, Ruperto Carola, Heidelberg University, or simply Heidelberg) is a It was during his year in Heidelberg that he met John Ellingham Brooks, an Englishman ten years his senior, and with whom he had his first sexual experience. [7] On his return to England his uncle found Maugham a position in an accountant's office, but after a month Maugham gave it up and returned to Whitstable. His uncle was not pleased, and set about finding Maugham a new profession. Maugham's father and three older brothers were all distinguished lawyers and Maugham asked to be excused from the duty of following in their footsteps.

A career in the church was rejected because a stammering minister might make the family seem ridiculous. Likewise, the civil service was rejected — not out of consideration for Maugham's own feelings or interests, but because the recent law requiring civil servants to qualify by passing an examination made Maugham's uncle conclude that the civil service was no longer a career for gentlemen. The local doctor suggested the profession of medicine and Maugham's uncle reluctantly approved this. Maugham had been writing steadily since the age of 20 and fervently intended to become an author, but because Maugham was not of age, he could not confess this to his guardian. So he spent the next five years as a medical student at King's College London. King's College London is a British Higher education institution and co-founding constituent college of the federal University of London.

Career

Early works

Many readers and some critics have assumed that the years Maugham spent studying medicine were a creative dead end, but Maugham himself felt quite the contrary. He was able to live in the lively city of London, to meet people of a "low" sort that he would never have met in one of the other professions, and to see them in a time of heightened anxiety and meaning in their lives. In maturity, he recalled the literary value of what he saw as a medical student: "I saw how men died. I saw how they bore pain. I saw what hope looked like, fear and relief. . . " Maugham saw how corrosive to human values suffering was, how bitter and hostile sickness made people, and never forgot it. Here, finally, was "life in the raw" and the chance to observe a range of human emotions.

Maugham kept his own lodgings, took pleasure in furnishing them, filled many notebooks with literary ideas, and continued writing nightly while at the same time studying for his degree in medicine. In 1897, he presented his second book for consideration. (The first was a biography of opera composer Giacomo Meyerbeer written by the 16-year-old Maugham in Heidelberg. Giacomo Meyerbeer ( September 5, 1791 &ndash May 2, 1864) was a noted German -born Opera Composer, and )

Liza of Lambeth, a tale of working-class adultery and its consequences, drew its details from Maugham's experiences as a medical student doing midwifery work in the London slum of Lambeth. Liza of Lambeth ( 1897) was W Somerset Maugham 's first Novel, which he wrote while working as a doctor at a hospital in Lambeth The novel is of the school of social-realist "slum writers" such as George Gissing and Arthur Morrison. George Gissing (ˈɡɪsɪŋ November 22, 1857 &ndash December 28, 1903) was an English Novelist who wrote twenty-three Arthur George Morrison ( November 1, 1863 London - December 4, 1945) was an English Author and Journalist Frank as it is, Maugham still felt obliged to write near the opening of the novel: ". . . it is impossible always to give the exact unexpurgated words of Liza and the other personages of the story; the reader is therefore entreated with his thoughts to piece out the necessary imperfections of the dialogue. "

Liza of Lambeth proved popular with both reviewers and the public, and the first print run sold out in a matter of weeks. This was enough to convince Maugham, who had qualified as a doctor, to drop medicine and embark on his sixty-five year career as a man of letters. Of his entry into the profession of writing he later said, "I took to it as a duck takes to water. "

The writer's life allowed Maugham to travel and live in places such as Spain and Capri for the next decade, but his next ten works never came close to rivalling the success of Liza. Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Capri ( Italian pronunciation Cápri usual English pronunciation Caprí is an Italian island off the Sorrentine Peninsula, on the south side This changed dramatically in 1907 with the phenomenal success of his play Lady Frederick; by the next year he had four plays running simultaneously in London, and Punch published a cartoon of Shakespeare biting his fingernails nervously as he looked at the billboards. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. Punch was a British weekly Magazine of Humour and Satire published from 1841 to 1992 and from 1996 to 2002 William Shakespeare ( baptised

Popular success, 1914–1939

By 1914 Maugham was famous, with 10 plays produced and 10 novels published. Too old to enlist when World War I broke out, Maugham served in France as a member of the British Red Cross's so-called "Literary Ambulance Drivers", a group of some 23 well-known writers including Ernest Hemingway, John Dos Passos, and E. E. Cummings. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All The British Red Cross Society is a prominent part of the largest impartial Humanitarian organisation in the world – the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement This is a list of notable people who served as ambulance drivers during the First World War. Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21 1899 — July 2 1961 was an American novelist short-story writer, and Journalist. John Roderigo Dos Passos ( January 14, 1896 &ndash September 28, 1970) was an American Novelist and artist Edward Estlin Cummings (October 14 1894 &ndash September 3 1962 popularly known as E During this time he met Frederick Gerald Haxton, a young San Franciscan who became his companion and lover until Haxton's death in 1944 (Haxton appears as Tony Paxton in Maugham's 1917 play, Our Betters). Frederick Gerald Haxton (1892 &ndash 1944 a native of San Francisco was the long term secretary and lover of the famous novelist and playwright W The City and County of San Francisco is the fourth most populous city Throughout this period Maugham continued to write; indeed, he proof-read Of Human Bondage at a location near Dunkirk during a lull in his ambulance duties. Of Human Bondage ( 1915) is a Novel by William Somerset Maugham. Dunkirk ( French: Dunkerque, dœ̃kɛʀk or; Dutch:; is a harbour city and a commune in the northernmost part of France, in the [8] However, Maugham is also known to have worked for British Intelligence in mainland Europe during the war, having been recruited by John Wallinger, and was one of the network of British agents who operated in Switzerland against the Berlin Committee, notably Virendranath Chattopadhyay. Sir John Arnold Wallinger (1869–1931 was a British Indian Intelligence officer who led the prototype Indian Political Intelligence Office from 1909 to 1916 The Berlin Committee, later known as the Indian Independence Committee (Das Indische Unabhängigkeitskomitee after 1915 was an organisation formed in Germany in Virendranath Chattopadhyaya alias Chatto (1880 — September 2 1937 Moscow was a prominent Bengali Indian revolutionary who aimed to overthrow the Maugham was later recruited by William Wiseman to work in Russia. William Wiseman may refer to Sir William Wiseman 8th Baronet, British naval officer Sir William Wiseman 10th Baronet, grandson of [9][10]

Of Human Bondage (1915) initially received adverse criticism both in England and America, with the New York World describing the romantic obsession of the main protagonist Philip Carey as the sentimental servitude of a poor fool. However the influential critic, and novelist, Theodore Dreiser rescued the novel referring to it as a work of genius, and comparing it to a Beethoven symphony. Theodore Herman Albert Dreiser ( August 27 1871 &ndash December 28 1945) was an American novelist and journalist Ludwig van Beethoven ( English ˈlʊdvɪg væn ˈbeɪtoʊvən, 16 December 1770 &ndash 26 March 1827 was a German Composer and Pianist. This review gave the book the lift it needed and it has since never been out of print. [11]

The book appeared to be closely autobiographical (Maugham's stammer is transformed into Philip Carey's club foot, the vicar of Whitstable becomes the vicar of Blackstable, and Philip Carey is a doctor) although Maugham himself insisted it was more invention than fact. Nevertheless, the close relationship between fictional and non-fictional became Maugham's trademark, despite the legal requirement to state that "the characters in [this or that publication] are entirely imaginary". In 1938 he wrote: "Fact and fiction are so intermingled in my work that now, looking back on it, I can hardly distinguish one from the other. "

Although Maugham's first and many other sexual relationships were with men, he also had sexual relationships with a number of women. Specifically his affair with Syrie Wellcome, daughter of orphanage founder Thomas John Barnardo and wife of American-born English pharmaceutical magnate Henry Wellcome, produced a daughter named Liza (born Mary Elizabeth Wellcome, 1915–1998). Syrie Maugham (née Gwendoline Maud Syrie Barnardo 10 July 1879 - 25 July 1955) was a leading British interior decorator of the 1920s and 1930s Thomas John Barnardo ( 4 July 1845 — 19 September 1905) Irish Philanthropist, and founder and director of homes for destitute Magnate, from the Late Latin magnas, a great man itself from Latin magnus 'great' designates a noble or other man in a high social position Sir Henry Solomon Wellcome ( August 21 1853 – July 25, 1936) was an American-British pharmaceutical entrepreneur Mary Elizabeth Maugham Paravicini Hope Baroness Glendevon (born Mary Elizabeth Wellcome) (1915 - 1998 was the only child of English playwright novelist and short [12] Henry Wellcome then sued his wife for divorce, naming Maugham as co-respondent. In May 1917, following the decree absolute, Syrie and Maugham were married. A decree nisi (non-absolute ruling is a ruling by a court that does not have any force until such time that a particular condition is met Syrie became a noted interior decorator who popularized the all-white room in the 1920s. Interior decoration or decor is the Art of decorating a room so that it is attractive easy to use and functions well with the existing Architecture The 1920s is sometimes referred to as the " Jazz Age " or the " Roaring Twenties " when speaking about the United States and Canada

Maugham returned to England from his ambulance unit duties to promote Of Human Bondage but once that was finalised, he became eager to assist the war effort once more. As he was unable to return to his ambulance unit, Syrie arranged for him to be introduced to a high ranking intelligence officer known only as "R", and in September 1915 he began work in Switzerland, secretly gathering and passing on intelligence while posing as himself — that is, as a writer.

In 1916, Maugham travelled to the Pacific to research his novel The Moon And Sixpence, based on the life of Paul Gauguin. Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (7 June 1848 – 8 May 1903 was a leading Post-Impressionist painter. This was the first of those journeys through the late-Imperial world of the 1920s and 1930s which were to establish Maugham forever in the popular imagination as the chronicler of the last days of colonialism in India, Southeast Asia, China and the Pacific, although the books on which this reputation rests represent only a fraction of his output. On this and all subsequent journeys he was accompanied by Haxton, whom he regarded as indispensable to his success as a writer. Maugham himself was painfully shy, and Haxton the extrovert gathered human material that Maugham steadily turned into fiction.

In June, 1917 he was asked by Sir William Wiseman, chief of the British Secret Intelligence Service (later named MI6), to undertake a special mission in Russia[13] to keep the Provisional Government in power and Russia in the war by countering German pacifist propaganda. Sir William George Eden Wiseman 10th Baronet ( 1 February 1885 &ndash 17 June 1962) was a British intelligence agent and banker The Secret Intelligence Service ( SIS) colloquially known as MI6 is the United Kingdom 's external Intelligence agency. Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending The Russian Provisional Government was formed in Petrograd in 1917 after the February Revolution and the Abdication [14] Two and a half months later the Bolsheviks took control. The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists ( Большевик Большевист (singular, derived from bolshe, "more" were a faction The job was probably always impossible, but Maugham subsequently claimed that if he had been able to get there six months earlier, he might have succeeded. Quiet and observant, Maugham had a good temperament for intelligence work; he believed he had inherited from his lawyer father a gift for cool judgement and the ability to be undeceived by facile appearances.

Never losing the chance to turn real life into a story, Maugham made his spying experiences into a collection of short stories about a gentlemanly, sophisticated, aloof spy, Ashenden, a volume that influenced the Ian Fleming James Bond series. "Ashenden" redirects here For the British railway junction see Ashenden Junction. Ian Lancaster Fleming ( May 28, 1908 – August 12, 1964) was a British author, Journalist and Second World War James Bond 007 is a Fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve Novels and two Short story [15] In 1922, Maugham dedicated On A Chinese Screen, a book of 58 ultra-short story sketches collected during his 1920 travels through China and Hong Kong, to Syrie, with the intention of later turning the sketches into a book. [16]

Dramatised from a story which first appeared in his collection The Casuarina Tree published in 1924, Maugham's play The Letter, starring Gladys Cooper, had its premiere in London in 1927. The Letter is a play by W Somerset Maugham dramatised from a story which first appeared in his collection entitled The Casuarina Tree published in Dame Gladys Constance Cooper DBE ( 18 December 1888 &ndash 17 November 1971) was an Oscar -nominated English The play was later adapted for film in 1929 and again in 1940. The Letter ( 1929) is a talkie film which was made in both silent and talking versions by Paramount Pictures, and was For the article about the 1927 play from which this film was adapted see The Letter.

Syrie and Maugham divorced in 1927–8 after a tempestuous marriage complicated by Maugham's frequent travels abroad and strained by his relationship with Haxton.

In 1928, Maugham bought Villa Mauresque on twelve acres at Cap Ferrat on the French Riviera, which would be his home for most of the rest of his life, and one of the great literary and social salons of the 1920s and 30s. Cap Ferrat ( Cape Ferrat) is situated in Alpes-Maritimes département, in southeastern France. The French Riviera (Côte d'Azur Occitan: Còsta Azzura) is one of the most famous resort areas in the world extending along the Mediterranean Sea west His output continued to be prodigious, including plays, short stories, novels, essays and travel books. By 1940, when the collapse of France forced Maugham to leave the French Riviera and become a well-heeled refugee, he was already one of the most famous writers in the English-speaking world, and one of the wealthiest.

Grand Old Man of letters

Maugham, by now in his sixties, spent most of World War II in the United States, first in Hollywood (he worked on many scripts, and was one of the first authors to make significant money from film adaptations) and later in the South. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including While in the US he was asked by the British government to make patriotic speeches to induce the US to aid Britain, if not necessarily become an allied combatant. Gerald Haxton died in 1944, and Maugham moved back to England, then in 1946 to his villa in France, where he lived, interrupted by frequent and long travels, until his death.

The gap left by Haxton's death in 1944 was filled by Alan Searle. Maugham had first met Searle in 1928. Searle was a young man from the London slum area of Bermondsey and he had already been kept by older men. Bermondsey (ˈbɜːmənzi or /ˈbɜːməndzi/ is an area in modern London on the southern bank of the river Thames, and presently part of the London Borough He proved a devoted if not a stimulating companion. Indeed one of Maugham's friends, describing the difference between Searle and Haxton, said simply: "Gerald was vintage, Alan was vin ordinaire. "[17]

Maugham's love life was almost never smooth. He once confessed: "I have most loved people who cared little or nothing for me and when people have loved me I have been embarrassed. . . In order not to hurt their feelings, I have often acted a passion I did not feel. " A bitter attack on the deceased Syrie in his 1962 volume of memoirs, Looking Back lost him several friends. In his last years Maugham adopted Searle as his son in order to ensure that he would inherit his estate, a move hotly contested by his daughter Liza and her husband, Lord Glendevon, and which exposed Maugham to much public ridicule. There is no grave for Maugham. His ashes were scattered near the Maugham Library, The King's School, Canterbury. The King's School is an English Independent school situated in Canterbury, Kent.

Achievements

Commercial success with high book sales, successful theatre productions and a string of film adaptations, backed by astute stock market investments, allowed Maugham to live a very comfortable life. Small and weak as a boy, Maugham had been proud even then of his stamina, and as an adult he kept churning out the books, proud that he could. Yet, despite his triumphs, he never attracted the highest respect from the critics or his peers. Maugham himself attributed this to his lack of "lyrical quality", his small vocabulary and failure to make expert use of metaphor in his work.

Maugham wrote in a time when experimental modernist literature such as that of William Faulkner, Thomas Mann, James Joyce and Virginia Woolf was gaining increasing popularity and winning critical acclaim. Modernism describes an array of Cultural movements rooted in the changes in Western society in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century William Faulkner (born William Cuthbert Falkner) ( September 25, 1897 – July 6, 1962) was an American Author Paul Thomas Mann ( June James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 &ndash 13 January 1941 was an Irish expatriate writer widely considered to be one of the most influential writers of the (Adeline Virginia Woolf (née Stephen; 25 January 1882 – 28 March 1941 was an English Novelist and Essayist, regarded as one of the foremost In this context, his plain prose style was criticized as "such a tissue of clichés that one's wonder is finally aroused at the writer's ability to assemble so many and at his unfailing inability to put anything in an individual way". [18]

Maugham's homosexual leanings also shaped his fiction, in two ways. Since, in life, he tended to see attractive women as sexual rivals, he often gave the women of his fiction sexual needs and appetites, in a way quite unusual for authors of his time. "Liza of Lambeth," Cakes and Ale and "The Razor's Edge" all featured women determined to service their strong sexual appetites, heedless of the result. Cakes and Ale or the Skeleton in the Cupboard ( 1930) is a novel by British author William Somerset Maugham. Also, the fact that Maugham's own sexual appetites were highly disapproved of, or even criminal, in nearly all of the countries in which he travelled, made Maugham unusually tolerant of the vices of others. Readers and critics often complained that Maugham did not clearly enough condemn what was bad in the villains of his fiction and plays. Maugham replied in 1938: "It must be a fault in me that I am not gravely shocked at the sins of others unless they personally affect me. "

Maugham's public view of his abilities remained modest; towards the end of his career he described himself as "in the very first row of the second-raters". In 1954, he was made a Companion of Honour. The Order of the Companions of Honour is a British and Commonwealth Order.

Maugham had begun collecting theatrical paintings before the First World War and continued to the point where his collection was second only to that of the Garrick Club. [19] In 1948 he announced that he would bequeath this collection to the Trustees of the National Theatre, and from 1951, some 14 years before his death, his paintings began their exhibition life. Year 1948 ( MCMXLVIII) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the 1948 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. In 1994 they were placed on loan to the Theatre Museum in Covent Garden. Year 1994 ( MCMXCIV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1994 Gregorian calendar) [20][21]

Significant works

Maugham's masterpiece is generally agreed to be Of Human Bondage, a semi-autobiographical novel that deals with the life of the main character Philip Carey, who like Maugham, was orphaned, and brought up by his pious uncle. Of Human Bondage ( 1915) is a Novel by William Somerset Maugham. Philip's clubfoot causes him endless self-consciousness and embarrassment, echoing Maugham's struggles with his stutter. A clubfoot, or talipes equinovarus (TEV is a Birth defect.TEV is classified into 2 groups Postural TEV or Structural TEV Later successful novels were also based on real-life characters: The Moon and Sixpence fictionalizes the life of Paul Gauguin; and Cakes and Ale contains thinly veiled characterizations of authors Thomas Hardy and Hugh Walpole. The Moon and Sixpence ( 1919) is a short novel by William Somerset Maugham based on the life of the painter Paul Gauguin. Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (7 June 1848 – 8 May 1903 was a leading Post-Impressionist painter. Cakes and Ale or the Skeleton in the Cupboard ( 1930) is a novel by British author William Somerset Maugham. Thomas Hardy OM (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928 was an English novelist Short story writer and poet of the naturalist movement though he saw Sir Hugh Seymour Walpole ( March 13, 1884 - June 1, 1941) was an English Novelist Biography He was born Maugham's last major novel, The Razor's Edge, published in 1944, was a departure for him in many ways. For other uses of The Razor's Edge see The Razor's Edge (disambiguation The Razor's Edge is a Novel by W While much of the novel takes place in Europe, its main characters are American, not British. The protagonist is a disillusioned veteran of World War I who abandons his wealthy friends and lifestyle, travelling to India seeking enlightenment. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All The story's themes of Eastern mysticism and war-weariness struck a chord with readers as World War II waned, and a movie adaptation quickly followed. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including

Among his short stories, some of the most memorable are those dealing with the lives of Western, mostly British, colonists in the Far East, and are typically concerned with the emotional toll exacted on the colonists by their isolation. Some of his more outstanding works in this genre include Rain, Footprints In The Jungle, and The Outstation. Rain, in particular, which charts the moral disintegration of a missionary attempting to convert the Pacific island prostitute Sadie Thompson, has kept its fame and been made into a movie several times. Maugham said that many of his short stories presented themselves to him in the stories he heard during his travels in the outposts of the Empire. He left behind a long string of angry former hosts, and a contemporary anti-Maugham writer retraced his footsteps and wrote a record of his journeys called "Gin And Bitters". Maugham's restrained prose allows him to explore the resulting tensions and passions without appearing melodramatic. His The Magician (1908) is based on British occultist Aleister Crowley. The Magician is an early W Somerset Maugham novel originally published in 1908 The word occult comes from the Latin word occultus (clandestine hidden secret referring to "knowledge of the hidden" Aleister Crowley, born Edward Alexander Crowley (ˈkroʊli (12 October 1875 – 1 December 1947 was a British Occultist Writer, mountaineer

Maugham was one of the most significant travel writers of the inter-war years, and can be compared with contemporaries such as Evelyn Waugh and Freya Stark. Arthur Evelyn St John Waugh (ˈiːvlɪn ˈwɔː (28 October 1903 &ndash 10 April 1966 was an English Writer, best known for such darkly humorous and Dame Freya Madeleine Stark, DBE (b 31 Jan[[ 893]] Paris France - d His best efforts in this line include The Gentleman In The Parlour, dealing with a journey through Burma, Siam, Cambodia and Vietnam, and On A Chinese Screen, a series of very brief vignettes which might almost be notes for short stories that were never written.

Influenced by the published journals of the French writer Jules Renard, which Maugham had often enjoyed for their conscientiousness, wisdom and wit, Maugham published in 1949 selections from his own journals under the title "A Writer's Notebook". Pierre-Jules Renard or Jules Renard ( February 22, 1864 - May 22, 1910) was a French author and member of the Académie Although these journal selections are, by nature, episodic and of varying quality, they range over more than 50 years of the writer's life and contain much that Maugham scholars and admirers find of interest.

Influence

In 1947, Maugham instituted the Somerset Maugham Award, awarded to the best British writer or writers under the age of thirty-five of a work of fiction published in the past year. The Somerset Maugham Award is a British literary prize given each May by the Society of Authors. Notable winners include V.S. Naipaul, Kingsley Amis, Martin Amis and Thom Gunn. Sir Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul Kt, TC (born August 17, 1932 in Chaguanas, Trinidad and Tobago) better known Sir Kingsley William Amis, CBE ( April 16, 1922 &ndash October 22, 1995) was an English Novelist, Martin Louis Amis (born 25 August 1949 is an English Novelist, Essayist and Short story Writer, the son of writer Kingsley Thom Gunn ( 29 August 1929 - 25 April 2004) was an Anglo-American poet On his death, Maugham donated his copyrights to the Royal Literary Fund. The Royal Literary Fund is a benevolent fund set up to help published British writers in financial difficulties

One of very few later writers to praise his influence was Anthony Burgess, who included a complex fictional portrait of Maugham in the novel Earthly Powers. Anthony Burgess (February 25 1917 — November 22 1993 was an English Novelist, Critic, Composer, Librettist, Poet Earthly Powers is a panoramic saga of the 20th century by Anthony Burgess first published in 1980 George Orwell also stated that Maugham was "the modern writer who has influenced me the most". Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950 who used the Pseudonym George Orwell, was an English writer The American writer Paul Theroux, in his short story collection The Consul's File, updated Maugham's colonial world in an outstation of expatriates in modern Malaysia. Paul Edward Theroux (born April 10, 1941) is an American Travel writer and Novelist, whose best known work is perhaps An expatriate (in abbreviated form expat) is a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country and culture other than that of the person's upbringing Holden Caulfield, in J.D. Salinger's 1951 The Catcher in the Rye, mentions that although he read Of Human Bondage the previous summer and liked it, he wouldn't want to call Somerset Maugham up on the phone. Jerome David "J D" Salinger (born January 1 1919 (ˈsælɨndʒɚ is an American author best known for his 1951 Novel The Catcher in the Rye The Catcher in the Rye is a Novel by J D Salinger. First published in the United States in 1951 the novel has been a frequently

Portraits of Somerset Maugham

There are many portraits of Somerset Maugham, including that by Graham Sutherland[22] in the Tate Gallery and several by Sir Gerald Kelly. Graham Vivian Sutherland OM ( August 24, 1903 &ndash February 17, 1980) was an English Artist. Tate is the United Kingdom 's national museum of British and Modern Art and is a network of four art galleries in England: Tate Britain (opened in Sir Gerald Festus Kelly ( April 9, 1879 &ndash January 5, 1972) was a British painter best known for his Portraits Sutherland's portrait was included in Painting the Century 101 Portrait Masterpieces 1900-2000 at the National Portrait Gallery.

Bibliography

Main article: Bibliography of works by W. Somerset Maugham

Film adaptations

References and notes

  1. ^ The Literature Network.
  2. ^ Maugham, Somerset 1962.
  3. ^ Morgan, 1980, p. 4.
  4. ^ Maugham, Robin 1977.
  5. ^ Morgan, 1980, pp. 8–9.
  6. ^ Morgan, 1980, p. 17.
  7. ^ Morgan, 1980, p24
  8. ^ Morgan, 1980, p. 188.
  9. ^ Popplewell 1995, p.  230
  10. ^ Woods 2007, p.  55
  11. ^ Morgan, 1980, pp. 197–8.
  12. ^ Her birth name is given as Mary Elizabeth Wellcome in the immigration and naturalization files of [ellisisland. org Ellis Island], wherein she is listed, along with her mother, then Syrie Wellcome, on the 21 July 1916 manifest of the HMS Baltic.
  13. ^ Morgan, 1980, p. 227.
  14. ^ Morgan, 1980, p. 226.
  15. ^ Morgan, 1980, p. 206.
  16. ^ Morgan, 1980, pp. 245, 264.
  17. ^ Morgan, 1980, p495
  18. ^ Edmund Wilson, quoted in Vidal, 1990, p. Edmund Wilson ( May 8, 1895 &ndash June 12 1972) was an American Writer and 10.
  19. ^ Mander & Mitchenson, 1980.
  20. ^ National Theatre.
  21. ^ National Theatre.
  22. ^ Sutherland, Graham, Somerset MAUGHAM 1949. Oil on canvas, Tate Gallery.

Sources

External links


Persondata
NAME Somerset Maugham, William
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION British playwright, novelist, short story writer
DATE OF BIRTH January 25, 1874
PLACE OF BIRTH Paris, France
DATE OF DEATH December 16, 1965
PLACE OF DEATH Nice, France
Events 41 - After a night of negotiation Claudius is accepted as Roman Emperor by the Senate Year 1874 ( MDCCCLXXIV) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Paris (ˈpærɨs in English; in French) is the Capital of France and the country's largest city Events 755 - An Lushan revolts against Chancellor Yang Guozhong at Fanyang, initiating the An Shi Rebellion Year 1965 ( MCMLXV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. Nice (nis Niçard Occitan: Niça norm or Nissa, Italian: Nizza or Nizza Marittima, Greek
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