Buchara state university m. Bakoeva, E. Muratova, M. Ochilova english literature

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the rate o f at 
least one a year. B ut he used to say “I have alw ays had more 
stories in my head than I ever had tim e to w rite”
Som erset M augham w as a keen observer o f life and indi­
viduals. He has w ritten tw enty four plays, nineteen novels and a 
large num ber o f short stories, in addition to travel w orks and an 
autobiography. T he m ature period o f M augham ’s literary career 
began in 1915, w hen he published one o fh is m ost popular novels, 
“ O f Human B ondage” . The author him self described this w ork 
as an “autobiographical novel” .
T he next well know n novel w ritten by S. M augham is “The 
M oon and S ixpence” (1919). In this novel the w riter m akes use 
o f some outstanding incidents in the life o f the artist Paul Gauguin, 
(though it cannot be regarded as his biography). The hero o f the 
novel, C harles Strickland, is a prosperous stock-broker. All those 
w ho cam e in touch with the Stricklands w ere taken by surprise 
and puzzled w hen they learned that C harles Strickland, at the age 
o f forty, had given up his wife and children and gone to Paris to 
study art. S trickland’s life in Paris was “a bitter struggle against 
every' sort o f difficulty” , but the hardships w hich would have 
seemed horrible to m ost people did not affect him. He was indif­
ferent to com fort. C anvas and paint w ere the only things he 
needed. Strickland did not care for fame. N or did he care for 
wealth. He never sold his pictures. He lived in a dream , and reality 
m eant nothing to him. His only aim in life w as lo create beauty. 
T he reader dislikes Strickland as a hum an being: he is selfish, 
cruel, pitiless and cynical. He loves no one. He m ined the life o f
Dirk Stroeve and his w ife who had nursed him w hen he w as d an ­
gerously ill. H e did not care for his wife and children, arid brought 
m isfortune to all the people who cam e in touch with him. But on 
the other hand, the reader appreciates him as a talented artist, 
creator o f beauty. His passionate devotion to his art arouses ad­
m iration.
O ther m ost prom inent w orks by Som erset M augham are the 
novels: “C akes and A le” (1930), “T h e a tre ” (1 9 3 7 ) and the

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“R azo r’s Edge” (1944). His most popular stories are “ R ain”, 
“T he U nconquered” , “G igolo and G igolette”, “The Man with 
Scar”, “The Luncheon” . M augham ’s short stories are usually very 
sincere, interesting, well constructed and logically developed.
Questions and Tasks
1. W hat com m on feature did the w orks by K. M ansfield and 
W.S. M augham have?
2. W hat contribution did K atherine M ansfield m ake to the 
English literature?
3. W liom did K atherine M ansfield regard as her literary 
teacher?
4. W hat is Som erset M augham ’s contribution to literature?
5. C an M augham ’s novel “The M oon and Sixpence” be 
regarded as a biography?
6. W hat o th er prom inent w orks by Som erset M augham do 
you know ?
7. W hat is y our ow n opinion o f M augham ’s works?
Thomas Stearns Eliot 
(1888-1965)
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