The Construction Of Gender In William Somerset Maugham’s Novels

As one of the most famous and productive writers in the history of English literature,William Somerset Maugham and his work are also the indispensable link in the study of the relationship between Chinese and foreign literature.Based on the fact that Maugham tends to show a serious anti-women tendency in his work,his novel is generally considered as a great sample in the field of gender study.There has been a solid foundation in the area,but most of the researches take his work as a reference to study other novelists;and the way he builds sexual politics in daily bases has always been neglected.On the other hand,in the perspective of Post-colonialism,we have made great progress in the studies of Maugham’ s exotic novels,of which the cross-study of gender and post-colonialism has rarely been involved.Based on the current research,if we consider Maugham’ s novel to be an independent subject,and use the method of cross-analyzing to deconstruct the cultural phenomena of gender,then the conclusion we draw can not only contribute to the studies of Maugham,but also help us identify the strategies male writers use in literature to keep themselves in the dominant role.In general,it can be very helpful for us to study the critical causes of gender discrimination and enhance self-awareness in women.The thesis consists of 4 chapters.Chapter 1 begins with explaining the patriarchal logic Maugham uses to describe female body image and family structure;then it introduces his opinion about women based on his novel,essays and his own life experience.The female images Maugham created are one of the most important aspects showing his prejudice on women.In Chapter 2,we sort the images into white women from western world and post-colonial women from the third world,in which we explain the nature,causes and contradictions of each perspective.In Chapter 3,we identify the sexual politics in the novels,trying to find and summarize the strategies the author uses to rationalize male rights in controlling women.This chapter is divided into 3 parts.The first part introduces and explains the theory of sexual politics.At part 2,we explain the sexual politics in the specific novels.Part 3 reveals the nature of mixed marriages the author is trying to build in his novel to convey his prejudice on women from the third world.In Chapter 4,we compare Maugham with Oscar Wilde,Thomas Hardy and D.H.Lawrence,trying to find out the similarity and difference on opinion of women between them.Then based on the author’s own life experience,we try to explain how gender identity of his own exerts an influence on his opinion on women.Through the analysis we conclude that women and men with other gender identities actually are faced with the same dilemma,to find an effective way to join forces to fight against discrimination is the right way out for them both.