The Enslavement And Salvation Of Will: The Moon And Sixpence And The Razor’s Edge From The Perspective Of Schopenhauer’s Will Philosophy

William Somerset Maugham is a well-known English novelist in the20th Century. His representative works include OF Human Bondage, The Painted Veil, The Moon and Sixpence and The Razor’s Edge. The latter two serve as the key analyzed texts in this paper.The paper makes an attempt to explore Schopenhauer’s irrational will theory and its influence on Maugham’s writings. It argues that human beings are enslaved by the will and they only can escape this enslavement through two ways in order to achieve freedom. The main body of the paper is divided into three chapters.The first chapter discusses what Schopenhauer’s will philosophy is and to what extent it influences on Maugham. Schopenhauer replaces the reason in German classical philosophy with the will, which originates from Kant’s division of thing-in-itself and phenomenon. Schopenhauer’s will brings tragedy. Only two ways can free us from the enslavement of the will. One is art. The other is asceticism.Maugham instills Schopenhauer’s philosophical thoughts into his works.The main concern of the second chapter is that the will enslaves human beings and drives people into the webs of pains and struggles. The characters, such as in The Razor’s Edge, Elliot’s enthusiasm for social life, Isabel’s vehemence on the material world, Sophie’s degeneration to pains and in The Moon and Sixpence, Blanche’s incurable obsession to Strickland, are all the slaves of the will. They are the subjects who strongly affirm the will. The affirmation of the will, or their pursuit of desires produces pains and struggles. Once the desire is attained, they feel bored and then the next turn of pursuit begins, which inflicts new pains on people.The third chapter discusses two ways that we can escape from the enslavement of will. One is through arts. The other is through asceticism. Strickland in The Moon and Sixpence is an artistic genius who discards his family and wanders several places in order to achieve what he forms in his mind. He finally completes his perfect artistic work in Tahiti, a small island in the South Pacific Ocean. Human beings become pure knowing-subject through art. They perceive Platonic Ideas directly. Art pulls human beings out of the torrents of the will and consoles human beings with beauty, though the consolation is temporary. Larry in The Razor’s Edge becomes an ascetic finally. Schopenhauer thinks asceticism is the only way for us to escape from the slavery of the will forever. For him, asceticism contains two meanings. One is the abandonment of sexual desires which is supposed to be the strongest affirmation of the will. Thus, voluntarily giving up sexual impulse is the first step to deny the will. Furthermore, complete asceticism also includes the intended poverty. Larry is such a character.The paper analyzes The Moon and Sixpence and The Razor’s Edge from the perspective of Schopenhauer’s will philosophy in order to explore the root of pains and struggles in mankind’s life, which delves escaping ways through art and asceticism, and appreciates the deep philosophical thoughts in Maugham’s works.