On The Literary Manifestation Of Voluntarism In The Moon And Sixpence

William Somerset Maugham(1874—1965)is a legendary writer in English literature,whose novels have received much attention from readers and critics alike.The Moon and Sixpence,published in 1919,is one of Maugham’s three masterpieces after the creation of the novel Of Human Bondage.When Maugham studied in Germany,he read Schopenhauer’s books.Schopenhauer’s voluntarism is the basis of the characterization in The Moon and Sixpence.This thesis intends to take Schopenhauer’s voluntarism as the entry point,and analyze how Schopenhauer’s thought influences the characterization of the protagonist in The Moon and Sixpence on the one hand,and expound the influence of Schopenhauer’s thought on Maugham’s personal creative style on the other hand.This thesis focuses on the dynamics of Schopenhauer’s voluntarism in the novel,from three layers,namely chapters entitled with "The Multifaceted Will," "The Internal and External Drives of the Will," and "The Trade-offs of the Will".Firstly,the thesis focuses on the multifaceted nature of the will,as well as the conflict and compromise,and discusses how the will is multifaceted in Strickland,the protagonist of the novel,and how this multifaceted nature leads to conflict and compromise,and heads for a deeper exploration of the novel’s plot.Secondly,the thesis considers inner desires and social struggles as the driving forces of the novel’s plot,and in Strickland’s case,as a series of choices he makes to achieve his desires.Thirdly,the thesis presents the novel’s setting as "civilized" versus "barbaric" and "reality" versus "fantasy".The thesis classifies the novel’s settings as "civilized" and "savage","reality" and"fantasy",and points out Strickland’s oscillation between the two and the ensuing trade-offs.His trade-off seems to be a downward choice in the eyes of the world,but for his own personal artistic achievement,it is an upward choice that allows him to finally realize his artistic desire.In the meanwhile,it is the manifestation of his personal will and the embodiment of Schopenhauer’s voluntarism.By virtue of the scrutiny of the text,the thesis aims to reveal how Schopenhauer’s voluntarism is endowed with literary manifestation in the modernist novels whose features are evinced in the opposition between individuals and society,the interpersonal loneliness,depression,indifference and the doubts on values of self-existence.The thesis puts forward its own original viewpoint that Schopenhauer’s voluntarism not only gives us insight into the character development of the protagonists of Maugham’s The Moon and Sixpence and other works,but also allows us to see the contradictions in the advancement of the novel’s plot.These inherent contradictions in Maugham’s work are precisely the projections of prominent features of modernist novels,and the evident proof of the contribution made by Schopenhauer’s voluntarism to the development of modernist novels.