| William Somerset Maugham is one of the most popular English writers whose literary achievement mainly lays in novel creation.The Painted Veil is a novel published in 1925 based on Maugham’s trip to the Far East,telling a story of the tragic marriage between Kitty and her husband Walter.The description of extramarital affair of Kitty in this book makes it controversial after publication,however,it is not hard to find out the close relation between the philosophical connotation of Maugham and Schopenhauer’s will philosophy from the description of individual behavior.This thesis intends to combine Schopenhauer’ s will philosophy with the textual analysis of The Painted Veil to illustrate the choices of the protagonists under the drive of personal will and how they free themselves from the yoke of desire.According to the author’ s understanding of Schopenhauer’ s will philosophy,this thesis divides it into three aspects: the desire of personal will,the pain caused by desire,and the negation of personal will.Correspondingly,the text analysis is also divided into three parts.The analysis begins with the selfish desires of the protagonists under the drive of personal will,and how the desires gradually drag them into painful abysses.Then the thesis further elaborates the tremendous pain suffered by the protagonists due to the failure of satisfying their desire.At last,the thesis explores the different ways through which the protagonists negate their personal will and get rid of pain.In The Painted Veil,Maugham on one hand reveals the ugliness of humanity in the face of personal will,and on the other hand he firmly believes that people could achieve self-salvation through the negation of will.Through the analysis of the main characters by using Schopenhauer’ s philosophical theories,this thesis aims to explore the guiding significance of will philosophy in real life and provide a new perspective in interpreting Maugham’ s writings. |
