The Moon and Sixpence
What is The Moon and Sixpence about?
The Moon and Sixpence is a novel by W. Somerset Maugham that explores the conflict between social convention and artistic obsession. The story follows Charles Strickland, a respectable English stockbroker who abruptly abandons his family and stable life to pursue painting, driven by an uncompromising inner vision. Narrated from a first-person perspective, the novel traces Strickland’s transformation as he moves from London to Paris and eventually to the South Pacific. His rejection of comfort, morality, and personal relationships reveals a character both repellent and compelling, raising questions about the cost of creative genius and the nature of artistic integrity. Inspired by the life of the French painter Paul Gauguin, the novel blends biography with fiction to examine ambition, sacrifice, and the pursuit of meaning beyond material success. First published in 1919, The Moon and Sixpence remains a powerful meditation on art, individualism, and the uneasy boundary between greatness and cruelty.
Main themes in The Moon and Sixpence
Art and the artist's life
Art and the artist's life emerges as a defining element in The Moon and Sixpence, shaping character development.
Bourgeois vs. bohemian values
Bourgeois vs. bohemian values emerges as a defining element in The Moon and Sixpence, shaping character development.
Obsession and sacrifice
The presence of obsession and sacrifice in The Moon and Sixpence connects readers to its enduring relevance.
The South Seas and escape
The Moon and Sixpence thoughtfully explores the south seas and escape through its central conflicts.
Why The Moon and Sixpence is still relevant today
The Moon and Sixpence explores the conflict between bourgeois respectability and artistic compulsion through a character inspired by Paul Gauguin. Somerset Maugham's novel raises enduring questions about art, selfishness, and whether genius justifies cruelty. Its clear prose and provocative premise have kept it in print for over a century. Readers interested in the artist's life, the tension between duty and vocation, and the costs of single-minded pursuit will find this novel engaging and troubling.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is The Moon and Sixpence about?
Charles Strickland, a conventional London stockbroker, abandons his family to become a painter. The narrator traces his journey from Paris to Tahiti, where he creates masterpieces while treating everyone around him cruelly. Inspired by Gauguin's life.
Is The Moon and Sixpence about Gauguin?
Maugham was inspired by Gauguin's life but fictionalized significantly. Strickland's character is harsher than Gauguin's biography suggests. The novel uses the artist's life as a starting point to explore broader questions about art, selfishness, and bourgeois values.
What does the title mean?
The title contrasts lofty aspiration (the moon) with everyday concerns (sixpence). A contemporary review described Strickland as someone who could see the moon but not the sixpence at his feet. The phrase captures the artist's impractical single-mindedness.
Is Strickland meant to be sympathetic?
Maugham presents Strickland as cruel, selfish, and destructive to those around him while creating profound art. Whether this justifies his behavior is left to the reader. The novel explores rather than resolves the tension between genius and morality.
How does this novel compare to Of Human Bondage?
While Of Human Bondage is Maugham's autobiographical masterpiece about finding meaning, The Moon and Sixpence is a shorter, more pointed exploration of artistic obsession. Both examine how people pursue or fail to pursue their vocations.