An Analysis Of The Fiction Concept Of W.S. Maugham

William Somerset Maugham (1874～1965) was a famous20th Century British fictionistand dramatist. He created many works in his lifetime. His fictions, plays, literary reviews,essays, travel notes, especially his fictions, are all welcomed. So that Maugham was called thewriter who “owns the most readers in the English fictionist after Dickens”. Maugham’s fictionis famous for suspense and insight into human’s nature. Even today, Maugham’s fictions arestill reprinted in the world, and enjoyed great popularity.The reasons are manifold. We can’t neglect the impact of Maugham’s fiction concept onhis fiction creation, no matter from which side to analyses. Even though, Maugham has neverdone a special exposition of works about it. But in his several works of prose, he referred tothe nature of fiction, the relationship between fiction arts and the real life and so on. Therefore,the author tries to sorts out Somerset Maugham’s fiction conception according to his twocollections of literary criticism (Ten Fictions and Their Authors, Points of View) and twoautobiographical essays (The Summing Up, A Writer’s Notebook).This paper tries to use psychoanalysis, reception aesthetic theory and narrative theory toanalyze and comb Somerset Maugham’s fiction concept.The paper has five sections: apart from introduction and conclusion, the middle threechapters are the main parts.The first chapter analyzes the basic content of Maugham’s fiction concept based on thecreation principles, fiction features, and creative motivation.The second chapter analyzes the main causes of the formation of Maugham’s fictionconcept. The aesthetic considerations of Maupassant and the complex changeable era leadedMaugham to focus on the art of fiction itself, and made him advocate the entertainmentfeatures as the function of the fiction. Besides, these also promoted the formation of conciseand fluent literary style and the exploration about techniques of dramatizing plots. Theexperiences of Maugham’s growth and medicine learning made him observe life calmly andemphasized insight into human’s nature.The third chapter analyzes the value and significance of Maugham’s fiction concept. Thefiction concept reflects the aesthetic appeal of being faithful to fiction art itself, takes receiver’ aesthetic experience seriously and upgrades the status of readers in the literary activities.Through the self-conscious pursuit of the art of fiction and absorbing the beneficial factors inthe new age, Maugham enriched the approach of traditional realism, creating a lot of worksfull of vitality.To sum up, Maugham’s fiction concept reflects his sincere and persistent pursuit of fictionarts and serious attitude towards life. Meanwhile, it is a reflection of his continuing explorationof the meaning of life. In the thesis, the author tries to get a better understanding of Maugham’sfiction conception and his works connotation by combing Maugham’s fiction concept, in orderto grasp his fictions’ aesthetic value accurately.