Maugham, William Somerset - "The Moon and Sixpence"

Introduction to the novel

"The Moon and Sixpence" is a novel published in 1919 and written by British author William Somerset Maugham.
This novel is a hymn to cynicism, selfishness and persecution of your dreams without worrying about anyone else besides yourself. For this reason, the book aroused a stir in its "rebellious" and unconventional tones with respect to those that characterize the author's poetics.
The novel is in part inspired by the life of the great impressionist painter Paul Gauguin, played and impersonated by Paul Strickland, a wealthy English banker who, forty years, decides to abandon his family and his work to follow his vocation Of painter.

Its is a blubber, an imperative. It is an "outrageous liberty", an act of rebellion, that is infused with social conventions, affections and feelings.

Protagonist's journey and style

Then, the protagonist moves first to Paris (where he spends a poor life despite having the opportunity to meet characters and artists who populate the bohemian world) and, later, in Tahiti.

With the change of the environment, the stylistic log also changes: while the first part is characterized by a refined prose and full of arguments; Instead, the second part is more emphatic.
In addition, in this novel, the author tries to explain what art is and how inspiration arises.