The Painted Veil

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Before its publication as a book in 1925, The Painted Veil had originally been serialised the previous year, both in Nash’s magazine in London and in the American publication Hearst’s International Magazine in New York. Unlike the unaltered American First Trade Edition released by Doran on March 20 th; the bibliographic history of this First English edition, originally released by Heinemann on April 23 rd, is quite complex due to two threatened libel actions which caused drastic alterations in the text and necessitated its reissue due to these censorship complications. Townsend, ovviamente, si tiene stretto il suo matrimonio e non è affatto disposto a mettere tutto in discussione per dare seguito ‘legale’ alla sua scappatella con Kitty. While reading The Painted Veil I was reminded of a charcoal sketch by a great artist, stripped of color or tone and focusing on something much more specific than the vibrant paintings I've enjoyed by that same artist. Maugham is remarkably skilled at unraveling stories that carry his characters across vast distances while never losing sight that the inner journey is what's important. Here, he explores the education of a bride who having never learned what integrity, honor or love are has to learn them when she leaves home. The characters are well-developed and both the language and dialogue Maugham uses to reveal them are a pleasure.

The resulting scandal, which starts with the turning of the white china knob on the door, turns out to be an embarrassing affair for all parties involved, as these things tend to do. Walter gives Kitty a choice, but as it turns out, she has only one choice, which is to follow him to Mei-Tan-Fu. ”It means death. Absolutely certain death.” Mrs. Garstin is dismayed to realize that her only hope of achieving success is through her husband, and she pushes him relentlessly to success. She also strives to make advantageous connections by inviting important people to their home for dinner, but her tendency to cut corners in the effort to save the most money possible proves at odds with her political ambitions. Her husband never advances very far in his career. The two Garstin daughters have little affection for their father, seeing him primarily as a source of income. In the first issue of the English Edition, the text was in its unaltered form where Maugham directly quoted many real-life locations such as ‘Hong Kong’, ‘Happy Valley’, ‘The Peak’ (Victoria Peak) and ‘Kowloon’ which led to the eventual lawsuit due to its false depiction of these places and the misunderstandings that could arise from it. The Painted Veil' is set in England and China, taking place in the 1920's. It is a story of love, betrayal, revenge and redemption. I definitely wasn't prepared for some of the twists and turns that this story took, but I enjoyed every minute. He gave his wife a choice, divorce, which would mean the end of her career as a socialite with pretty party dresses, passionate lovers and invitations to all the best balls in town. Or, if she could persuade her married lover to divorce his wife, he would allow that. But the married lover, typical of the species ditched the paramour and kept the wife. So it was either the social ignominy of divorce or she could go with him, a doctor, to sort out a cholera epidemic on mainland China where she might catch and die of the disease herself. She went.That was as far as the plot was based on the fith canto of the Inferno. The title was derived from an unfinished sonnet of Shelley: Lift not the painted veil which those who live call Life

There are also harrowing scenes of how cholera affects its victims and the depressing effect on the rest of the community. This deadly disease might have been better understood in the 1920s than in John Snow's time (Dr. John Snow theorized thatthe cause of cholera was due to contaminated water as the main form of transmission), but once someone had been infected there was little that a physician could do. What is remarkable about this tale—both the book and the film—is that you come away uplifted in both instances. The film makers have changed the ending, perhaps realising that modern cinema audiences haven't the stomach of Maugham's readers 80 years ago. Kitty was a promising debutante at 18 but an increasing embarrassment at 25, causing her match making and ambitious mother great frustration and when younger sister gets engaged, she is close to desperation. Never hurting for suitors, just never the right one, she chooses Walter, a young biologist stationed in Hong Kong, as this seems the perfect solution to her dilemma. Kitty’s lover Charles Townsend turns out to be a serial adulterer who has no intention of leaving his wife (who had the money (dinero, spanish) and also Charles did not want to lose his position in society, so Kitty, with nowhere else to go, follows her husband to remote China. Stripped of the British society of her youth and the small but effective society she fought so hard to attain in Hong Kong, she is compelled by her awakening conscience to reassess her life and learn how to love.The novel contains numerous thematic similarities to Joseph Conrad's 1899 novel Heart of Darkness, such as the exploration of the human psyche in the context of colonialism. Charm and nothing but charm at last grows a little tiresome, I think. It's a relief then to deal with a man who isn't quite so delightful but a little more sincere. I've known Charlie Townsend for a good many years and once or twice I've caught him with the mask off--you see, I never mattered, just a subordinate official in the Customs--and I know that he doesn't in his heart give damn for any one in the world but himself." Kitty visits with her father, a quiet man who is adjusting to a life where Kitty’s domineering mother does not badger him. He plans to take a legal post in the Bahamas, and Kitty begs to go with him. For the first time in her life, Kitty has an honest conversation with her father, and establishes a relationship with him. Kitty plans to raise her unborn daughter as a strong, independent woman. Kitty şezu o vreme tot pe marginea patului, ghemuită toată, ca o nebună. Avea un gol în creier. O străbătu un fior” (p.209). În engleza lui Maugham: „Kitty sat for a while, still on the edge of the bed, hunched up like an imbecile. Her mind was vacant. A shudder passed through her”.

Three Reasons you would like The Painted Veil. 1 –The characters are flawed:Kitty is the first character that comes to mind when I think of flaws, but if I scratch the surface a bit more, Walter does not lag far behind. While Kitty obviously crossed the line on occasions more than one, with infidelity and blatant disregard to Walter’s love for her, Walter upon discovering Kitty’s infidelity turns as un-Walter-esque as possible and he exacts a strange and terrible vengeance.

Likewise, it is immediately evident that Kitty does not return the sentiment. Kitty is beautiful, vain and shallower than a kiddie pool. While Walter married for love, she makes not ifs, ands, or buts about the fact that she did not. It is clear that she married Walter solely so that she would not be one-upped by her younger sister's upcoming nuptials. In fact, Kitty seems to loathe Walter...at least, initially. Ersilia mi disse che Pia era una gentildonna senese; il marito, sospettandola di adulterio e non osando metterla a morte per timore dei familiari, la portò in un suo castello in Maremma nella speranza che i mefitici vapori del luogo provvedessero alla bisogna; ma poiché ella tardava a morire si spazientì e la fece gettare dalla finestra. Saddest lines in the book, from her husband: “I never expected you to love me, I didn’t see any reason that you should, I never thought myself very loveable. … What most husbands expected as a right I was prepared to receive as a favor.” Kitty, a woman used to being at the height of society, was frustrated to realize that she had little social importance as the wife of the government bacteriologist. Her husband Walter is indifferent to his social position, but recalls a time when he awkwardly tried to reassure his wife when he saw how irritated she was about this. The story should be a banality, really. Woman marries unsuited man to appease an unreasonably ambitiousand cold mother, then falls head over heals in love with the first good-for-nothing she comes across. The marriage is brutally broken and the story ends on vaguely defiant note.