# IV explained — The Moon and Sixpence

> Chapter companion for The Moon and Sixpence by W. Somerset Maugham.

## What happens

The narrator attends a tea party at Rose Waterford's home, where he meets Mrs. Strickland for the first time. Mrs. Strickland invites him to a luncheon, which he attends. The chapter describes the gathering of writers, the decor of Mrs. Strickland's home, and her character as a harmless lion-hunter who enjoys the company of literary figures. The narrator learns from Miss Waterford that Mr. Strickland is a dull stockbroker, uninterested in the arts, yet the couple appears devoted to each other.

## Themes in this chapter

### Convention vs. Individuality

Mrs. Strickland's conventional social life contrasts with the bohemian eccentricities of the writers she entertains, highlighting the tension between societal norms and artistic individuality.

### Gender Roles and Marriage

The chapter explores the Stricklands' marriage: Mrs. Strickland is the sociable hostess, while Mr. Strickland is a dull provider, reflecting traditional gender roles and the question of why 'nice women marry dull men.'

## Character check-ins

### The Narrator

Attends Rose Waterford's tea party and later Mrs. Strickland's luncheon; observes and reflects on the social dynamics.

### Miss Waterford

Hosts the tea party where the narrator meets Mrs. Strickland; described as a cynical novelist who sees life as material for her books.

### Mrs. Strickland

Introduced as a pleasant, simple woman who enjoys hosting literary figures; she is a lion-hunter with a genuine passion for reading.

### Charles Strickland

Mentioned as Mrs. Strickland's husband, a dull stockbroker with no interest in literature or the arts.

## Key lines

> She combined a masculine intelligence with a feminine perversity, and the novels she wrote were original and disconcerting.

Rose Waterford had a sharp, analytical mind typically associated with men, but also a woman's capriciousness, and her novels were unique and unsettling.

_Describes Miss Waterford's character and literary style._

> She gives luncheon-parties. You've only got to roar a little, and she'll ask you.

Mrs. Strickland hosts luncheons; if you make a bit of a name for yourself, she will invite you.

_Miss Waterford's cynical explanation of how Mrs. Strickland attracts writers._

> She accepted the rules with which they played the game of life as valid for them, but never for a moment thought of regulating her own conduct in accordance with them.

Mrs. Strickland understood that writers lived by their own moral codes, but she never applied those codes to her own life.

_Highlights Mrs. Strickland's separation between her social circle's bohemianism and her own conventional values._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_moon_and_sixpence_se/chapters/iv
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_moon_and_sixpence_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_moon_and_sixpence_se/chapters