英美短篇小 说Unit 6 Mr.Know All.ppt

Unit 6 Mr. Know-All——W. Somerset Maugham W. Somerset Maugham Born January 25, 1874, Paris, France Died December 16, 1965 (aged?91), Nice, France Occupation Playwright, Novelist, Story Writer Notable works Of Human Bondage The Letter Rain The Razor's Edge The Moon and Sixpence Childhood and education Maugham's father was an English lawyer handling the legal affairs of the British embassy in Paris. Since French law declared that all children born on French soil could be conscripted for military service, arranged for William to be born at the embassy, technically on British soil, saving him from conscription into any future French wars. His grandfather, another Robert, had also been a prominent lawyer and cofounder of the English Law Society, and it was taken for granted that William would follow in their footsteps. Maugham's mother Edith Mary (née Snell) was consumptive, a condition for which the doctors of the time prescribed childbirth. As a result Maugham had three older brothers, already enrolled in boarding school by the time he was three and Maugham was effectively raised as an only child. Childbirth proved no cure for tuberculosis, and Edith Mary Maugham died at the age of 41, six days after the stillbirth of her final son. The death of his mother left Maugham traumatized for life, and he kept his mother's photograph by his bedside until his own death at the age of 91 in Nice, France. William was sent back to England to be cared for by his uncle, Henry MacDonald Maugham, the Vicar of Whit stable, in Kent. The move was catastrophic. Maugham was miserable both at the vicarage and at school. As a result, he developed a talent for applying a wounding remark to those who displeased him. This ability is sometimes reflected in the characters that populate his writings. In 1947, Maugham instituted the Somerset Maugham Award, awarded to the best British writer or writers under the age of thirty-five of a work of fict