What is the meaning of The Painted Veil?
In the novel the veil is painted, which means that it is not an innocent veil the characters are wearing. Maugham used this concept to show how all of society and the people living in it are tainted. The only characters’ in the novel that wear white, literally speaking, are the nuns.
What is The Painted Veil metaphor for?
Here, the “painted veil” serves as a grim metaphor for life. More specifically, the speaker equates the veil with what people like to call life. In this sense, the speaker asserts that what we believe to be pure reality is actually nothing more than a covering that masks what really lies beneath.
Which is Somerset Maugham’s best novel What does it depict?
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.
Whose child is it in The Painted Veil?
asked who Charlie was, Kitty replied: “no one important”. That says a lot. Therefore, these tiny details points towards the following: Walter was indeed the father of the child.
How many times has the Painted Veil been filmed?
Now into the breach comes “The Painted Veil,” which was filmed twice before, once with Greta Garbo, no less. The current version is not as royal, but it’s not negligible, either. Edward Norton and Naomi Watts star as Walter and Kitty, an ill-fated couple who marry in Shanghai in the 1920s.
What happens in The Painted Veil?
This is a love story set in the 1920s that tells the story of a young English couple, Walter Fane (Edward Norton), a middle class doctor and Kitty (Naomi Watts), an upper-class woman, who get married for the wrong reasons and relocate to Shanghai, where she falls in love with someone else.
Why is the book called The Painted Veil?
The Painted Veil is a 1925 novel by British author W. Somerset Maugham. The title is a reference to Percy Bysshe Shelley’s 1824 sonnet, which begins “Lift not the painted veil which those who live / Call Life”.
What does Lift not the painted veil mean?
In his sonnet “Lift Not the Painted Veil…”, Percy Bysshe Shelley examines life as no more than an illusion. He believes most people are content living behind the opaque curtain provided for them, even though it creates a distorted view of life. Fear and hope are ever present, and truth seems disappointingly absent.
What kind of writer was Somerset Maugham?
novelist
Somerset Maugham, in full William Somerset Maugham, (born Jan. 25, 1874, Paris, France—died Dec. 16, 1965, Nice), English novelist, playwright, and short-story writer whose work is characterized by a clear unadorned style, cosmopolitan settings, and a shrewd understanding of human nature.
What did Somerset Maugham write?
One of the highest-paid writers of the early to mid-twentieth century, Maugham wrote fiction, memoir, travelogues, and plays. His best-known works are Of Human Bondage (1915) and Moon and Sixpence (1919).
What year is The Painted Veil set in?
1920s
This is a love story set in the 1920s that tells the story of a young English couple, Walter Fane (Edward Norton), a middle class doctor and Kitty (Naomi Watts), an upper-class woman, who get married for the wrong reasons and relocate to Shanghai, where she falls in love with someone else.
What disease was in The Painted Veil?
A British medical doctor fights a cholera epidemic in a small Chinese village, while being trapped at home in a loveless marriage to an unfaithful wife.
Who is W Somerset Maugham in the Painted Veil?
Kitty vows to ensure that her child is brought up to be a good person and to avoid the mistakes she made. William Somerset Maugham, known by the pen name W. Somerset Maugham, was a British playwright, novelist, and short story writer who was among the most popular writers of his era.
What are the themes of the Painted Veil?
Exploring themes of self-sacrifice and regret as it follows Kitty’s emotional journey, and heavily influenced by Maugham’s study of science and his work at a teaching hospital in London, The Painted Veil remains one of Maugham’s most widely read and acclaimed novels.
What happens to Walter and Kitty in the Painted Veil?
Walter is silent and pale for several days, and then gives Kitty an ultimatum. She will accompany him on his expedition to fight a cholera epidemic in Mei-tan-fu, a city in southern China, or he will bring her to court for her infidelity. Kitty is horrified, and certain that the cholera epidemic will mean her death.
Who was W Somerset Maugham and what did he do?
William Somerset Maugham, known by the pen name W. Somerset Maugham, was a British playwright, novelist, and short story writer who was among the most popular writers of his era. Trained as a physician, he wrote as a hobby at first, but his first novel sold so rapidly that he left medicine to write full-time.