The newly married couple leave for Hong Kong shortly after. At first suspicious and bitter, Kitty finds herself embarked on a journey of self-appraisal. Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account. Richard A. George Brent plays a convincing cad. The officer suggested that Maugham’s knowledge of the German language and his reputation as a writer would be a perfect cover for his spying activities for the English. At the beginning of the movie, Kitty was a self- centered woman. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. 'The Painted Veil' is essentially about the journey of a couple, a frivolous Kitty and a stubborn Walter, and how they grow during this ordeal. The novel has been adapted for the stage and film several times: Cordell. It is not long before she gets attracted to Charlie Townsend, a tall, urbane and charming man and begins an affair with him. Kitty and Walter Fane are the protagonists. Heartbroken and disillusioned, Kitty decides she has no option but to accompany Walter to the cholera-infested mainland of China. ( Log Out /  The novel was first published in serialised form in five issues of Cosmopolitan (November 1924 – March 1925). Although it was clear from the start that Kitty had no remarkable affection for Walter. ). Being True to the Story. It is a fictionalized account of a young English couple and their journey through a myriad of emotional difficulties and life’s turbulence. Maugham uses a third-person-limited point of view in this story, where Kitty Garstin is the focal character. The Painted Veil is available on Amazon if you want to get yourself a copy. The book touched a lot of themes, the ones that stood out for me: Kitty is the first character that comes to mind when I think of flaws, but if I scratch the surface a bit more, Walter does not lag far behind. But the more I read, the more I felt as though it ran deeper than this: this is a … The Painted Veil is a 1925 novel by British author W. Somerset Maugham, which was first serialized in Cosmopolitan and Nash’s Magazine.It focuses on a young debutante named Kitty Garstin, who, after rejecting dozens of marriage proposals, finds herself marrying an eccentric doctor named Walter Fane. Change ), The Old Man and The Sea: Summary, Analysis and Review, The Seven Lady Godivas: Summary, Plot Analysis and the Reason You’ll Love It. The Painted Veil 1568 Words | 7 Pages. The Painted Veil is a story of personal growth and forgiveness. There’s no proof that The Painted Veil is a true story. She returns to Hong Kong where she is met by Dorothy Townsend, Charles's wife, who convinces Kitty to come to stay with them, as Kitty is now mistakenly regarded as a heroine who voluntarily and faithfully followed her husband into great danger. I like this book for reasons more than that. Fiction – Kindle edition; Vintage Digital; 186 pages; 2009. To me our love was everything and you were my whole life. Kitty goes to see Townsend who refuses to leave his wife. Almost two years later, Walter, unsuspecting, and still devoted to his wife, observes Kitty and Charlie during an assignation, and the lovers, suspecting they've been discovered, reassure themselves that Walter will not intervene in the matter. When I first started reading The Painted Veil, I thought it was a story about love: the unrequited and shallow love that Kitty has for Charles Townsend; the bitter love that Walter has for his unhappy wife; the unconditional love that the French nuns in Mei-tan-fu have for their God. At the beginning of the movie, Kitty was a self- centered woman. Charles Townsend is the most "prudent" hero of the novel The Painted Veil. In attempting to paint this Painted Veil as a tragic love story – Kitty realizes too late what a wonderful man she married – the filmmakers skimp some of its more disturbing undercurrents. Beautifully written and entertainingly read, it it is well worth listening to more than once. Garstin, a pretty upper-middle class debutante, squanders her early youth amusing herself by living a social high life, during which her domineering mother attempts to arrange a "brilliant match" for her. Regardless of all the possible flaws their relationship – the shallowness, the infidelity, the mismatched ideals in life, opposite backgrounds- Walter and Kitty eventually did find a way to forgive each other. Through an unfortunate turn of events, Walter falls ill and eventually succumbs to Cholera, with Kitty by his side. She is surprised to find when she returns home that Walter has already had her clothes packed, knowing Townsend would let her down. It is a fictionalized account of a young English couple and their journey through a myriad of emotional difficulties and life’s turbulence. The nun allows Kitty to assist in caring for the older children at the convent, but will not permit her to engage with the sick and dying. In the movie “The Painted Veil”, which is a story surrounded with love and romance, there are three very different yet interesting couple relationships. Is The Painted Veil a true story? The biographer Richard Cordell notes that the book was influenced by Maugham's study of science and his work as a houseman at St Thomas' Hospital. While on her way back to Britain, she gets to know that her mother died. now playing Painted Veil, The (1934) -- (Movie Clip) Men Ought To Be Different. In the novel, the veil represents the set of beliefs that people live by. 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