1934 the painted veil book character analysis

Somerset maugham 1874 1965 was a british playwright, novelist and short story writer. The painted veil begins with a story of a young, upperclass woman names kitty married a middleclass bacteriologist calls walter. The painted veil 2006 i was surprised to learn from wikipedia that there had been two movie versions of the painted veil before this one, including a 1934 film starring greta garbo. The conflicts, the settings, and the characters in the novel are also shown in. The painted veil william somerset maugham this is a book to get lost in, not just in the usual way of books, but in a way that is haunting and will have you musing for days and days, long after you have turned the final page. Set in england and hong kong in the 1920s, the painted veil is the story of the beautiful, but lovestarved kitty fane.

Nov 14, 2008 walter and kitty barely spoke as they travelled by chair through the inscrutable chinese hinterland. The painted veil 2006 fullhd movie fullhd episode stream stream the painted veil 2006 fullhd movie online free the painted veil 2006 fullhd movie live stream free. Questions about somerset maughams novel the painted veil. The painted veil differences between the book and the film. The opening chapter of persepolis describes the implementation of the veil policy in iran. Supersummary, a modern alternative to sparknotes and cliffsnotes, offers highquality study guides that feature detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, quotes, and essay topics. Edward norton, naomi watts, toby jones, anthony wong chau sang and liev schreiber appear in the leading roles. Kitty fane shows a growth and dynamism that the men around her lack, and is ultimately able to move past the bad choices. While this sort of story could have been a remake of any one of her silent melodramas from the 1920s. Exploring themes of selfsacrifice and regret as it follows kittys emotional journey, and heavily influenced by maughams study of science and his work at a teaching hospital in london, the painted veil remains one of maughams most widely read and acclaimed novels. The latest maugham film, a new version of the painted veil starring edward. Watch her stalking about with long and nervous steps, her shoulders bent and her body awkward with grief, while she waits to be told if her husband.

I hadnt read the painted veil before i saw the movie with ed norton and naomi watts. In his preface to the novel maugham wrote, that he had felt a desire to use the story as an inspiration, but rewrote it and made a more modern version of it. The painted veil is the third remake of a 1920 story by w. Dec 20, 2006 first published in 1925, the painted veil recounts the moral awakening of a vain, careless young woman, kitty ms.

In desperation the main character marries an md bacteriologist who takes her to hong. Through the whole film, kitty follows walter to meitanfu and this changes kitty, selfcentered lady to a loving wife. The story unfolds in china, where katrins marriage to busy m. In the book, walters character is an important one but not as much as it is in the film. Set in england and hong kong in the 1920s, the painted veil is the story of the beautiful but lovestarved kitty fane.

The biographer richard cordell notes that the book was influenced by maughams study of science and his work as a houseman at st thomas hospital. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of the painted veil by w. The title is taken from percy bysshe shelleys sonnet, which begins lift not the painted veil which those who live call life. The painted veil has often been hailed as a protofeminist work. The film was produced by hunt stromberg for metrogoldwynmayer. Set in england and hong kong in the 1920s, the painted veil is. The storyline of the painted veil has some major changes between the movie and the novel. The painted veil is a 1925 novel by british author w. Im quite stingy when it comes to rating books and normally would not give more than 4 stars, even for a book i thoroughly enjoyed. Greta garbo and george brent in the painted veil 1934. May 04, 2011 in my opinion, the painted veil was a great choice for a book discussion group. Kittys love for charles is said to have degraded her pg. Garbo only made five more films after the painted veil, including two of her best known talkies, camille and ninotchka.

Complexity of relationships the focus in painted veil. This onepage guide includes a plot summary and brief analysis of the painted veil by w. Only when it is too late does dymovs wife olga like kitty realize her husbands moral worth and see that he is a far finer man than she had realized. With greta garbo, herbert marshall, george brent, warner oland. I am already quite curious to see the much earlier version 1934, i think with herbert marshall and greta garbo. Watts, who has been raised for a life of abject uselessness. Somerset maughams 1925 novel the painted veil, previously filmed rather beautifully in 1934 starring greta garbo and indifferently in 1957 as the seventh sin, is the tale of kitty naomi watts. Kitty inherits these values but is unable to find anyone who meets her standards. The painted veil is a 2006 american drama film directed by john curran. Hoopers veil renders him an outcast and causes his fiancee to break of their engagement. From a young age, her mother put a great amount of pressure on her to use her natural beauty to get a man of high social status and with a bright future to marry her. After the populist 1979 islamic revolution, during which the westernized monarch, called the shah, is overthrown in favor of an islamic republic, the new government becomes increasingly religious and oppressive and makes it obligatory for women and girls to wear a veil that covers most of their faces.

It is generally agreed to be his masterpiece and to be strongly autobiographical in nature, although maugham stated, this is a novel, not an autobiography. Jun 07, 2012 the painted veil william somerset maugham this is a book to get lost in, not just in the usual way of books, but in a way that is haunting and will have you musing for days and days, long after you have turned the final page. The 2006 movie starring naomi watts and edward norton is very pretty. The painted veil novel wikimili, the free encyclopedia wikimili, the free encyclopedia. Somerset maugham was one of the twentieth centurys most popular novelists as well as a celebrated playwright, critic, and short story writer. Character analysis in the ministers black veil rev. Beginning in may 1925, it was serialised in the united kingdom in eight parts in. Maugham instead trained as a doctor, although he never practised professionally, as his first novel. Somerset maugham, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. Walter fane, a bacteriologist living in china who falls madly in love with her. Well think again, as this 1934 mgm offering, where the sexual heat between brent and greta is turned down low and the moral uplift, especially in the second half, is, well, strenuously uplifted, is a veritable primer of how will hays grubby hands can take what should be an enjoyable. About the painted veil set in england and hong kong in the 1920s, the painted veil is the story of the beautiful but lovestarved kitty fane. The painted veil is the story of kitty fane, a beautiful, but thoughtless, shallow, and selfcentered woman.

Kittys mother was hard,cruel,managing,ambitious,parsimonious. She is conducting an affair with charles townsend, the assistant colonial secretary, and the two are in her room when the knobs to her door mysteriously turn from the outside. Greta garbo stars with herbert marshall, george brent, warner oland, and jean hersholt in the painted veil, from 1934, based on the novel by somerset maugham. The painted veil essays are academic essays for citation. The painted veil study guide contains a biography of w. There are quite a few descriptions of landscape, designed to echo and.

Only yesterday i borrowed the book again because i wanted to write a brief comparison between the two. With outstanding performances all around, a strong script and the lush, evocative cinematography of onlocation china. In the preface to his book, maugham tells how the main characters were originally called lane, but that this was subsequently changed to fane. While maughams book is mainly about kitty and her journey towards selfdiscovery, the film is about both walter and kitty and how these two people with nothing in common live together. Certainly the painted veil with edward norton and naomi watts is worth watching. The painted veil summary kitty fane is a beautiful, vain, upperclass british woman unhappily married to walter fane, a bacteriologist working in hong kong. The painted veil is a 1934 american drama directed by richard boleslawski and starring greta garbo. How frighteningly yellow were the faces that surrounded them. Born in the british embassy in paris, where his father worked, maugham was an orphan by the age of ten.

Disgusted with this marriage, kitty has an affair with the handsome charles townsend. Somerset maugham, with a screenplay by john meehan, salka viertel, and edith fitzgerald, the film is about a woman who accompanies her new husband to china while he conducts medical. The painted veil 1934, featuring greta garbo and herbert marshall. Lift not the painted veil which those who live call life. First published in 1925, the painted veil recounts the moral awakening of a vain, careless young woman, kitty ms. The painted veil is a 1925 novel by english author w. Read the full synopsis of the painted veil, 1934, directed by richard boleslawski, with greta garbo, herbert marshall, george brent, at turner classic movies. In 1934, mgm made it a vehicle for greta garbo, who played an austrian. The painted veil quotes showing 3160 of 91 there are many foolish people in the world and when a man in a rather high position puts on no frills, slaps them on the back, and tells them hell do anything in the world for them, they are very likely to think him clever. Garbo plays an austrian woman, katrin, who grabs at the chance to marry her fathers research assistant, walter fane marshall after her sister marries and leaves home. He made no further claim for himself than that he was a good storyteller. May 04, 20 2006 babies book broken daphne du maurier death edward norton emotional favell films heart hero human jack literature lover medicine movie rebecca the end the painted veil post navigation previous post cranford.

After basically ruining her marriage with an affair, kitty accompanies her husband, walter, to meitanfu, a chinese province afflicted with a cholera epidemic. Aug 20, 2009 of course it is very different experience from the book but by no means less moving. When no acceptable suitor was forthcoming, she deigned to marry water fane, an introverted scientist. The painted veil metrogoldwynmayer, 1934, directed by richard boleslawski, returns greta garbo to formula level of material, that of a lonely wife having an illicit affair. Sounds like it could be an interesting hour and twenty min, huh. It is kittys love for her unborn child that pushes her to become a better person. The painted veil novel wikimili, the free encyclopedia. Somerset maugham, in which a young debutante learns about betrayal, vanity, and selfsacrifice halfway around the world.

The painted veil 2006 lift not the painted veil which those who. In the painted veil, the audience becomes engrossed with the main characters. I wouldnt normally see a movie like that, but it was based on the book by maugham, so i bent my rules and watched it. Gender, sexuality, and history in the painted veil. He was raised by an uncle, who tried to persuade the youngster to become an accountant or parson. Somerset maugham, with a screenplay by john meehan, salka viertel, and edith fitzgerald, the film is about a woman who accompanies her new husband to china while he conducts. I have just read one of the somerset maughams novels under the title of the painted veil, which he wrote in 1925.

When her husband discovers her adulterous affair, he forces her to accompany him to the heart of a cholera epidemic. The right to live 1935, starring george brent and josephine hutchinson. The screenplay by ron nyswaner is based on the 1925 novel of the same title by w. Apr 17, 2016 the storyline of the painted veil has some major changes between the movie and the novel. Character analysis and comparison with book and drama and focused essay and period piece the painted veil nathan 5.

Aug 18, 2017 the painted veil is the story of kitty fane, a beautiful, but thoughtless, shallow, and selfcentered woman. Somerset maugham novel was the source for the fairtomiddling greta garbo vehicle the painted veil. The main characters of the book are kitty an walter fane. I love the 2006 adaptation of the movie, and i read the book for the first time last year. Kitty values social appearance and artifice, and was trained by her mother to make a brilliant marriage. When her husband discovers her adulterous affair, he forces her to accompany him more. This is a love story set in the 1920s that tells the story of a young english couple, walter fane edward norton, a middle class doctor and kitty naomi watts, an upperclass woman, who get married for the wrong reasons and relocate to shanghai, where she falls in love with someone else.

Several times in the novel, the death of a character is a liberation for those close to them. The title is taken from percy bysshe shelleys sonnet which begins lift not the painted veil which those who live call life. William holden 19181981 filmography analysis 365 day oscar challenge. Somerset maughams classic the painted veil, the first thought that came into my head after finishing the book is that this is a masterpiece that absolutely deserves nothing less than 5 stars. And the novel introduces a cast of strong and striking characters, very. In the painted veil, love is not always a good thing. When her younger sister announces her own engagement to a prosperous duke, kitty panics and accepts the proposal of the very quiet, very shy, dr. Kitty, much to the chagrin of her mother, has declined marriage proposal from quite a few prospective gentlemen. Story and summary the story revolves around kitty garstin, an outgoing upper middle class socialite and walter fane, an introvert bacteriologist and physician.

The title is taken from percy bysshe shelleys sonnet, which begins lift not the painted veil which those who live call life the novel was first published in serialised form in five issues of cosmopolitan november 1924 march 1925. Edward norton, naomi watts, toby jones, anthony wong chau sang and liev schreiber appear in the leading roles this is the third film adaptation of the maugham book, following a 1934 film starring greta garbo and herbert. The painted veil is a beautifully written affirmation of the human capacity to grow, to change, and to forgive. There, amid death and misery, kitty sees in a convent of french nuns great examples of selfsacrifice and the kind of happiness she had always wanted. If a man hasnt whats necessary to make a woman love him, its his fault, not hers. She lived in seclusion after that, with many offers but no real interest in coming back before the camera. S omerset maughams 1925 novel the painted veil, previously filmed rather beautifully in 1934 starring greta garbo and indifferently in 1957 as the.

Character analysis in the ministers black veil owl eyes. Kitty is an englishwoman from a very proper family. The 1934 film stayed more faithful to the novel than the present 2006. First published in 1925, the painted veil is an affirmation of the human. Complexity of relationships the focus in painted veil movie. This is the third film adaptation of the maugham book. My feeling is that he was better than good he was great. This study guide consists of approximately 34 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of the painted veil.

She is the most miraculous blend of personality and sheer dramatic talent that the screen has ever known and her presence in the painted veil immediately makes it one of the seasons cinema events. In a situation comparable to the plotlines of most of her silent films, garbo is. Reverend hooper frightens his parishioners by wearing a black veil over his face at all times. In the script there was a prose description of some mountains as gloomy. Somerset maugham this study guide consists of approximately 34 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of the painted veil. A wife neglected by her husband, a medical researcher in china, falls in love with a dashing diplomatic attache. The painted veil is a love story set in the 1920s that tells the story of a young english couple, walter, a middle class doctor and kitty, an upperclass woman, who get married for the wrong reasons and relocate to shanghai, where she falls in love with someone else.