REALISM AND EXISTENTIALISM IN SOMERSET MAUGHAM’S THE MOON AND SIXPENCE: THE ARTIST’S SEARCH FOR ABSOLUTE FREEDOM

Abstract

This paper analyzes Somerset Maugham’s The Moon and Sixpence through

the dual lens of realism and existentialism, focusing on the protagonist’s pursuit of absolute

freedom as an artist. The novel’s realist foundation captures the tangible world of bourgeois

morality and social convention, while its existential undercurrents reveal a man’s rebellion

against that very structure.