An Interpretation Of Maugham's Covert Homosexual Writing In The Razor's Edge

W.S.Maugham is an important playwright and novelist in the literary history of Britain and his works are warmly welcomed by the literary critics at home and abroad.Taking Maugham's secret homosexual identity into consideration,the author of thesis interprets his later workThe Razor's Edgefrom the perspective of queer theory to disclose the covert homosexual writing in it.The thesis includes three parts.The first part is an introduction,briefly introducing Maugham and hisThe Razor's Edge,summarizing the research status onThe Razor's Edgeat home and abroad as well as explaining queer theory.The second part is the body of this thesis and is divided into three chapters.Through the biographies of Maugham,the author finds out his homosexual identity,but influenced by his unfriendly living environment,he never admits it in public.As a sensitive writer,Maugham,after encrypting the secret,expresses it in his works.For example,Maugham'sOf Human Bondage,The Moon and SixpenceandThe Razor's Edgeare taken as a trilogy of homosexuality by the author of this thesis,andThe Razor's Edgeas the closure of the trilogy.InThe Razor's Edge,Maugham describes the homosexual men's problem of identity construction in the repressing heteronormative society,which reveals the unfair treatment of the gays at his time.Besides,after denying the heterosexual-dominated urban society and the unreasonable fictive space,Maugham comes up with that returning to nature is the place where the homosexual men get the freedom and peace of their soul.The last part draws a conclusion of the main ideas of the paper and conveys the author's expectation for the homosexual interpretation ofThe Razor's Edgeand of Maugham's other works in the future.