The Escape

The Analysis Of “The Escape” By W.s. Maugham

“The Escape” story was written by W.S. Maugham in 1936 (1925). He was born on January 25, 1874 and died on December 16 , 1965. W.S. Maugham is one of the best known English writers of the 20th century. He was not only a novelist, but also a one of the most successful dramatist and short-story writers. Maugham wants the readers to draw their own conclusion about the characters and events described in his novels. His reputation as a novelist is based on the following prominent books: “Of Human Bondage”; “The Moon and Sixpence”; and “The Razor's Edge”.

The title “The Escape” doesn’t speak about anything. It is very abstract and the reader wouldn’t understand what kind of escape the author tells about before he reads the story. “The Escape” is a neither short story, nor long story with no dramatic events, because nobody is killed there. It is a kind of narration about problems of relationships between man and woman. The events of this story are described through the eyes of the narrator, who tells about grievous experience of men towards women.

I think the plot of the story is not trivial and shallow, it’s more complicated, because the author W.S.Maugham touches on the problem of inner-world of the main characters, their relationships and their feelings. It’s true to life. The events of “The Escape” are described neutral, not slowly and not hurriedly. There is no introductory part.

The narrator begins the story with the phrase “If a woman once made her mind to marry a man nothing but instant flight could save him”. I think this statement serves as subject matter of the story, where the author recounts his point of view on the marriage. He tells a case, which happened to one of his friends, who seeing the inevitable marriage menacing before him. He took ship and spent a year traveling round the world. He hoped the woman would forget him, but was mistaken. When he got back thinking himself safe, the woman, from...