作家毛姆生平英文课件.ppt

1、Somerset Maugham a famous British novelist playwrightand short story writer.(25 January 1874 16 December 1965)section 1Brief Introduction of his lifeChildhood8 years old his mom died,two years laterhis father died.Maugham was sent to theUK to be cared for by his uncle,HenryMacDonaldMaugham.hisunclep

2、rovedcold and emotionally cruel,his new schoolwas also difficult for him.He was teased forhis bad English(French had been his firstlanguage)and his short stature,which heinherited from his father.ChildhoodMiserablebothathisunclesvicarage and at school,the youngMaugham developed a talent formaking wo

3、unding remarks to thosewho displeased him.This ability issometimes reflected in Maughamsliterary characters.CareerMaughams father and three older brothers wereall distinguished lawyers,but Maugham asked tobe excused from the duty of following in theirfootsteps.Maugham had been writing steadilysince

4、the age of 15 and fervently wished tobecomeanauthor，butlaterhestudiedmedicine atthemedicalschool，meetingpeople of a lowsort whom he would neverhave met otherwise,and seeing them at a timeof heightened anxiety and meaning in their lives.CareerIn 1897,he published his first novel,Liza of Lambeth,a tal

5、e of working-classadultery and its consequences.Liza ofLambeths first print run sold out in amatter of weeks.Maugham,who hadqualified as a medic,dropped medicineand embarked on his 65-year career asa man of letters.He later said,I took toit as a duck takes to water.MarriageDuring his year in Heidelb

6、erg Maugham metand had a sexual affair with John EllinghamBrooks,an Englishman ten years his senior.Although homosexual,Maugham entered into arelationship with Syrie Wellcome,an American-born English pharmaceutical magnate.HenryWellcome sued his wife for divorce,namingMaugham as co-respondent.The ma

7、rriage wasunhappy,and Syrie divorced him in 1929,findinghis relationship and travels with Haxton toodifficult to live with.MarriageMaughamslovelifewasalmostneversmooth.He once confessed:Ihave mostloved people who cared little or nothing forme and when people have loved me I havebeen embarrassed.In o

8、rder not to hurt theirfeelings,I have often acted a passion I did notfeel.Section 2Works and writing styleNotable WorksHis reputation as a novelist rests primarily on these books:Liza of Lambeth(1897)was W.Somerset Maughams first novel,which he wrote while working as a doctor at a hospital in Lambet

9、h.It depicts the short life and death of Liza Kemp,an 18-year-old factory worker who lives together with her aging mother in the fictional Vere Street.All in all,it gives the reader an interesting insight into the everyday lives of working class Londoners at the end of the nineteenth century.In clas

10、sic guide,Maugham introduces and discusses what he considers to be the ten greatest novels and their authors.Here are some of the formulae of greatness in the genre.Maughams choice list:Fieldings Tom Jones;汤姆琼斯（亨利菲尔丁）Dickenss David Copperfield;大卫科波菲尔（查尔斯狄更斯）Flauberts Madame Bovary;包法利夫人（福楼拜）Balzacs

11、Old Man Goriot;高老头(巴尔扎克）Emily Bronte s Wuthering Heights,呼啸山庄（艾蜜莉勃朗特）Dostoevskys The Brothers Karamazov;卡拉马佐夫兄弟（陀思妥耶夫斯基)Stendhals The Red and the Black;红与黑（斯汤达尔）Austen s Pride and Prejudice;傲慢与偏见（珍奥斯汀）Melvilles Moby Dick;白鲸记（赫尔曼梅尔维尔)Tolstoys War and Peace.战争与和平（托尔斯泰）His Writing StyleMaugham was infl

12、uenced by the published journals of the French writer Jules Renard,Ibsen and his comedies was influenced by Oscar Wilde a lot.Maugham had enjoyed for their conscientiousness,wisdom and wit.He always hold calm,aloof even particular attitudes with some satire and mercy to observe life in almost all hi

13、s works.His Writing StyleHis works are mianly about family,love and the twists in marriage.He described the situations and customs in the upper class and expressedthe doubts about the society morality.His works are more satiric than humourous.section 3InfluenceIn 1947 Maugham instituted the Somerset

14、 Maugham Award,awardedto the best British writer or writers under the age of thirty-five for a work of fiction published in the past year.Notable winners include V.S.Naipaul,Kingsley Amis,Martin Amis and Thom Gunn.On his death,Maugham donated his royalties to the Royal Literary Fund.Other writers ac

15、knowledged his work.Anthony Burgess,who included a complex fictional portrait of Maugham in the novel Earthly Powers,praised his influence.Ian Fleming noted that he wrote the short story Quantum of Solace as an homage to Maughams writing style.George Orwell said that Maugham was the modern writer who has influenced me the most,whom I admire immensely for his power of telling a story straightforwardly and without frills.