On Kitty’s Being In The Painted Veil

W. Somerset Maugham(1874-1965) was an exotic writer in the 20 th century. He created the universally acclaimed masterpiece-The Painted Veil, inspiration springing from his undertaking a journey to C hina. Set in Hong Kong in the 1920 s, the novel became more profound and mystic veiled by China. Maugham portrayed Kitty-the heroine, as an independent modern woman who strived to pursue freedom. Her spiritual adventure of self-transmutation chimed with existential concepts of Jean-Paul Sartre.Bad faith, nausea and freedom are put forward by existential philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre(1905-1980). Bad faith signifies a being which is clouded by other people’s judgment and value, as well as escape from one’s responsibility. Judging ourselves only based on others’ standards of value, we easily elude our own being by virtue of alienation. In addition, discarding one’s responsibility mirrors his escape from being. His nausea indicates awakening of one’s being. Without being nauseous, one fails to perceive his existence. Projecting one’s being enables him to enlarge his living space. In other words, one is bound to endow others with value for the sake of his own worth. Meanwhile, Sartre’s freedom always holds hands with responsibility.Consisting of three phases, namely, Kitty’s escape from being, Kitty’s awakening of being and Kitty’s being-for-itself, the thesis aims to elucidate her change of autognosis which jumps from bad faith, nausea to freedom, revealing social and cultural characteristics in England from the late Victorian era to the 1920 s. To begin with, a literature review and a rough introduction to the existential theory are given. The 1st chapter excavates Kitty’s escape from being, mirroring her state of bad faith. Kitty is lost in others’ judgment. In the novel, Kitty’s manipulation by her mother’s intentions, comparison with her younger sister, submitting the key to happiness in marriage to Townsend, all these justify that Kitty stays more a guest than a hostess when gazing others. Hence, she loses herself in others’ gaze. In addition, Kitty adopts pragmatism and irresponsibility in wedlock. She elects to marry Walter for conveniences and indulges herself in extramarital affair after matrimony, banishing liability for herself and others, and screening her being. The 2nd chapter expounds Kitty’ awakening of being, reflecting her nauseous attitude towards presence. Kitty’s introspects on the status and liability affected by Catholicism. Co mpared with the Mother Superior, mouthpiece of Catholicism, Kitty feels dwarfed and she endeavors to introspect on responsibility for herself and others. Meanwhile, Kitty’s reflects on love and death influenced by Taoism. Kitty calls on the Manchu lady in search of Tao in love. She is profoundly influenced by the views of Waddington(spokesman of Taoism) on death. The 3rd chapter discloses Kitty’s being-for-itself, unveiling her plane of freedom. Kitty embarks on projecting her self-salvation by virtue of prayers and sacrifices. Protestant as she is, she attends the chapel of Catholicism. What’s more, she strives to attend to the orphans and works as monitor of weaving and sowing. Endowing others with value, she magnifies her own living space. Furthermore, Kitty assumes full responsibility in love and kinship. For example, Kitty selects to give an honest answer to the baby issue and contrives to appease Walter’s rage on hearing his upcoming death and embraces her father eventually.By illuminating Kitty’s transmutation of her autognosis, the thesis purposes to elucidate how young females adjusted to the society from the late Victorian era to the 1920 s. Kitty’s heart-seeking adventure justified her worth, demonstrating how the dominant Anglicanism had been impinged by Catholicism from France and Taoism from China, as well as the plight of how young females chose among the three. Maugham voiced his criticism on people’s alienation in the industrial society and extended his wishes to refresh Protestantism with the help of foreign cultures.