The Moon and Sixpence: Analysis of Major Characters
"The Moon and Sixpence" is a novel that explores the life and relationships of Charles Strickland, an English stockbroker who abandons his conventional life to pursue his passion for painting. Strickland's journey takes him from London to Paris and finally to Tahiti, where he marries Ata, a native girl who devotedly cares for him despite his increasingly obsessive dedication to art and neglect of personal well-being. The narrative also delves into the lives of other key characters, including Amy Strickland, who struggles to understand her husband's departure and posthumous fame, and Dirk and Blanche Stroeve, an artist couple entwined in a complicated relationship with Strickland. Dirk, who initially encourages his wife's nursing of Strickland, ultimately faces heartbreak as Blanche falls in love with the artist, leading to tragic consequences. As Strickland's health deteriorates due to leprosy, he remains consumed by his artwork, leaving behind a legacy that Ata later chooses to destroy. The interplay between Strickland’s artistic ambition and the emotional turmoil experienced by those around him raises questions about the cost of greatness and the nature of love and sacrifice.
The Moon and Sixpence: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: W. Somerset Maugham
First published: 1919
Genre: Novel
Locale: England, France, and Tahiti
Plot: Biographical
Time: Late nineteenth, early twentieth centuries
Charles Strickland, an English stockbroker who seems commonplace to his friends until he suddenly leaves his wife and family and goes to Paris to study art. A friend sent by the wife to persuade him to return is told he has left his family permanently. Consumed by his desire to paint, he neglects his physical needs. During an illness, he is nursed by a friend's wife, whom he makes his mistress and model. After her death, Strickland goes to Marseilles and, after further wandering, finally arrives in Tahiti. He marries Ata, a native girl who cares for his needs, and he paints constantly. Ill again, he is found to have leprosy and is isolated from all except Ata, who cares for him. He paints the walls of their bungalow until he is completely blind. Living in darkness, he remembers his last paintings, his masterpieces; however, he asks Ata to destroy the paintings on the walls after his death.
Amy Strickland, a commonplace English wife and mother. She cannot understand why her husband deserted her or his fame after his death.
Dirk Stroeve, Strickland's artist friend in Paris. Something of a buffoon, he feels inferior to his English wife but loves her deeply. He insists she nurse Strickland in his illness. After they become lovers, Dirk leaves them in his studio and even gives his faithless wife money. When she dies, he returns to the studio and finds her nude portrait, which he tries to destroy; but he cannot do so because he recognizes in it a superb creation by Strickland. Dirk returns to live with his mother in Holland.
Blanche Stroeve, Dirk's English wife. She professes to dislike her husband's friend Strickland, and when the artist becomes ill, she pleads with her husband not to make her nurse him. On Dirk's insistence, she complies. After Strickland recovers and takes over the studio, Dirk asks him to leave, but by that time Blanche is in love with Strickland and says she will leave also. Ironically, Strickland sees in her only an excellent model. He walks out on her when he has finished his portrait of her, a painting he regards as a failure. Blanche commits suicide.
Ata, Strickland's Tahitian wife. Seventeen when she marries him, she bears his children and faithfully tends his needs. After his death, she destroys their bungalow, the walls of which Strickland had covered with paintings.
Capitaine Brunot, a black-bearded Frenchman who admires the beauty of the primitive home that Ata has created for Strickland. Brunot owns a few pictures, which he is saving to use as a “dot” for his two young daughters.
Dr. Coutras, an old French doctor who is forced to tell Strickland he has leprosy. Strickland repays the doctor by giving him one of his pictures. Dr. Coutras is the one Westerner who sees the strange pictures that cover the walls of the isolated bungalow, where he finds Strickland dead after a year of blindness.