The Painted Veil

Reading Check and Short Answer Questions on key plot points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

Chapters 1-26

Reading Check

1. Which event causes Kitty to suspect that her husband knows about her affair with Charles Townsend?

2. Which event causes Kitty to accept Walter Fane’s proposal?

3. Where do Townsend and Kitty usually meet?

4. How does Walter intend to punish Kitty for her affair?

5. What is Townsend’s response to Walter’s punishment for Kitty?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Which important quality does Kitty feel that Walter lacks? What does this tell you about Kitty’s personality and values?

2. Why does Kitty believe that marrying Walter will give her the best chance of future happiness? What does this tell you about Kitty’s society and its attitudes towards women?

3. How does Kitty initially feel about her adultery with Townsend? What surprising thing does she learn about herself shortly after embarking on the affair?

4. Why does Kitty initially think that no real harm will come to her from the affair? How does she misjudge both Walter and Townsend?

5. What do the British characters’ attitudes towards China and Chinese people tell you about them? How do these characters demonstrate the mindset of colonialist rulers?

Paired Resource

“The Bright Young Things”

• This article describes the “Bright Young Things” phenomenon in 1920s Britain and discusses some of the social changes that granted women more freedom.
• Connects to the theme of The Tension Between Character and Personality
• To what extent is Kitty a Bright Young Thing? How does being in Hong Kong give her more social and sexual freedom?  

“Experiences of the Soul: On William Somerset Maugham’s Far-Eastern Writings”

• This article by Ivan Franceschini discusses Maugham’s many writings on different parts of Asia and the responses of Western readers to his treatment of locales and people.
• Connects to the theme of The Subjugated Other
• What criticisms has Maugham’s treatment of this region attracted? To what extent do you think such critiques are valid regarding his treatment of Chinese culture in The Painted Veil?

Chapters 27-57

Reading Check

1. How do Kitty and Walter travel to Meitan-fu?

2. What does Waddington tell Kitty about Townsend’s public reputation?

3. What finally causes Kitty to feel liberated from Townsend?

4. Why do the nuns disapprove of Waddington?

5. How does Walter respond to the news of Kitty’s pregnancy?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How does Kitty feel on her journey to Meitan-fu? How would you describe her state of mind?

2. What sort of man is Waddington, and how does he contribute to the story?

3. How does being surrounded by sickness and death change Kitty? How does it alter her perceptions of herself and the world?

4. How would you describe Kitty’s attitude towards the nuns? How does contact with them inform the kind of person she would like to be?

5. How would you describe Kitty and Walter’s relationship while they are in Meitan-fu? Does he appear to hope for her death?

Paired Resource

The Painted Veil movie clip (1934)

• This 3-minute scene comes from the 1934 movie adaptation of Maugham’s novel, starring Greta Garbo as Kitty.
• How is China depicted in the film clip, and how does this compare to Maugham’s descriptions of Hong Kong and Meitan-fu? How would you describe the difference in tone and emphasis between the two?

Chapter 57 of Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham

• This excerpt from Maugham’s 1915 novel—likely his best-known work—depicts the tortured love of the protagonist, Philip Carey, for the waitress Mildred Rogers.
• Connects to the theme of Inequality in Love
• What is your impression of Philip’s feelings for Mildred (and hers for him)? In what sense is this a depiction of romantic love, and how does it compare to The Painted Veil’s depiction of love?
• Of Human Bondage on SuperSummary

Chapters 58-80

Reading Check

1. What arrangements does the mother superior make for Kitty after Walter dies?

2. Who greets Kitty on the ship at Hong Kong harbor?

3. What causes Kitty to seek an express departure from Hong Kong back to England?

4. What claim does Townsend make before Kitty goes?

5. What event occurs while Kitty is sailing back to England?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why does Kitty find the nuns’ type of kindness unrelatable?

2. What mixture of feelings does Kitty experience after Walter dies?

3. How does Kitty’s perception of Townsend change during her stay with him, and what does this tell us about their dynamic?

4. What kind of daughter does Kitty wish to raise, and how does this reflect her own experiences?

5. Why does Kitty want to accompany her father to the Bahamas?

Paired Resource

“Daoism”

• Encyclopædia Britannica article introducing the Chinese philosophy of Daoism, which Waddington elaborates on in conversations with Kitty in Chapters 58 and 66
• Connects to the theme of The Tension Between Character and Personality

“‘The Painted Veil’: Not Maugham, But a Fine Romance” by Manhola Dargis

• This New York Times article is a review of the 2006 movie adaptation of The Painted Veil, starring Naomi Watts and Edward Norton. It discusses the adaptations that have been made from text to screen and links to the theme of Inequality in Love. (Subscription may be needed for access.)

Recommended Next Reads

Orientalism by Edward W. Said

• This seminal text by scholar and literary critic Edward W. Said discusses Western society’s historical attitudes towards “the East” (continental Asia) and its romanticized construction of the “Orient” in opposition to the West, with the consequence that the West appears morally and intellectually stronger and its colonial project justified.
• Connects to the theme of The Subjugated Other
• Depending on the education level of students, this text may be more of a reference point for teachers; the work (in full or in part) commonly features on college syllabuses, while some high-school students may be able to read excerpts with support. Said’s insights into how the West has portrayed the East remain relevant to Maugham’s portrayal of Chinese people in The Painted Veil.
• Orientalism on SuperSummary

A Passage to India by E. M. Forster

• This 1924 novel by Maugham’s contemporary Forster centers on the supposed sexual assault of a British woman by an Indian man in colonial India.
• Shared topics include colonialism, racism, and the status of white women in imperial Britain, with connections to the theme of The Subjugated Other.
• A Passage to India on SuperSummary