Abstract

In The Moon and Sixpence, Maugham portrayed an artist who abandoned his family and pursued his dream of painting on an island. This paper analyzes the conflict between art and reality from the perspective of the contradictory features of art and reality against the background of the transition from realism to modernism.

First, this thesis analyzes this conflict from the contradiction between art, which is individual, and reality, which is social. Then it discusses another dichotomy, namely, art is amoral while reality is moral. Next, focus shifts to the confrontation between the subjectivity of art and the objectivity of reality. All these analyses of polarities are based on clashes between Strickland and people around him. Therefore, the examination of the conflict between art and reality will be couched in a description of collisions of characters.  

Finally, it reaches the conclusion that the cause of the conflict between art and reality reveals a common concern among modernist writers: the conflict between the individual and society. Art represents human beings’ wish to emancipate their nature; in contrast, reality represents a social force that hinders their urge for self-expression. The conflict between art and reality is an everlasting topic. This is why Maugham’s works are always popular with readers.

Key words: conflict, art, reality, modernism