To Unveil Maugham's Anti-Colonial "Painted Veil"

William Somerset Maugham (1874-1965), a famous British writer,has been highly complimented by many critics for his anti-colonial spirit.However, Edward Said has put it right, every European, in what he couldsay about the Orient, was consequently a racialist and an imperialist. As awriter who is programmed into the Eurocentric and imperialist ideology,Maugham could not portray China without any Orientalist prejudice.Within the framework of Said's postcolonial theory of Orientalism, thisthesis attempts to take The Painted Veil, one of Maugham's classics, as acase to prove that Maugham, widely considered being anti-colonial,actually produces works embodying Orientalist ideology.This thesis falls into four chapters.Chapter 1 examines the image of the Chinese as the Other. TheChinese are always marginalized, and notably absent in their speech,name and appearance. The inhuman looks and barbaric behavior of theChinese in the novel echo the image of the Orientals as the savagesclaimed by Orientalist scholars. Dwelling on the defenselessness andpowerlessness of the Chinese when facing the cholera, Maugham isactually engaging in the old colonial tropes of imaging the Chinese as subjects in need of rescue and patriarchal control.Chapter 2 expounds the image of the Westerners as the Self. TheWesterners are centralized, even the minor Western characters beingattached great importance to. Assuming the absolute right to articulate forChina, the westerners have evolved into the spectator and jury of China.Strikingly contrary to the barbaric Chinese, most of the Westerners arecivilized. Thus an opposition of the Savages/the Civilized is set up.Likewise, by depicting the Westerners as the savior of anepidemic-stricken Chinese city and the deserted Chinese girls, Maughamis constructing another binary opposition with the Chinese as the savedand the Westerners as the savior.Chapter 3 illustrates the image of China as an Orientalized nation. Inthe novel, China is a primitive and frightful nation as well as an exoticand mysterious land. The Manchu Princess's unconditional andsubmissive love with Waddington, an Englishman, undoubtedly revealsMaugham's desired subjugation of China to the British EmpireChapter 4 offers a further exploration of The Painted Veil and givesa brief analysis of Maugham's other Oriental works. Meanwhile itexamines the factors that contribute to Maugham's superficialanti-colonialism in terms of historical background, Maugham's personalinterests, and aesthetical view. Then the chapter probes into the reasonswhy Maugham cannot shake off the shackles of Orientalist ideology. The conclusion argues that Maugham, though widely accepted as ananti-colonialist writer, as a matter of fact, participates in the mainstreamof Orientalist depiction. This shows the necessity for Sino-Westerndialogue to eliminate the Westerners' false image of China and achieve areal integration of different cultures.