The Moon and Sixpence

Native English speakers, how would you explain the title to an ESL student? Is there a hidden idiom in it?

Ginger "If you look on the ground in search of a sixpence, you don't look up, and so miss the moon." - Maugham…more"If you look on the ground in search of a sixpence, you don't look up, and so miss the moon." - Maugham(less)

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Why is it called the Moon and Sixpence?

Christoffer According to some sources, the title was taken from a review of Maugham's novel Of Human Bondage in which the novel's protagonist, Philip Carey, is de…moreAccording to some sources, the title was taken from a review of Maugham's novel Of Human Bondage in which the novel's protagonist, Philip Carey, is described as "so busy yearning for the moon that he never saw the sixpence at his feet. The title echoes the description of Gauguin by his contemporary biographer, Meier-Graefe: "He [Gauguin] may be charged with having always wanted something else."(less)

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I'm wondering what the reference to the Moon and Sixpence means?

Christoffer According to some sources, the title was taken from a review of Maugham's novel Of Human Bondage in which the novel's protagonist, Philip Carey, is de…moreAccording to some sources, the title was taken from a review of Maugham's novel Of Human Bondage in which the novel's protagonist, Philip Carey, is described as "so busy yearning for the moon that he never saw the sixpence at his feet. The title echoes the description of Gauguin by his contemporary biographer, Meier-Graefe: "He [Gauguin] may be charged with having always wanted something else."(less)

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anyone find the content in this book gender discrimination?

Tom Gray There are many places in the book in which women are described as inferior to men. Women are described as incapable of producing art etc. The characte…moreThere are many places in the book in which women are described as inferior to men. Women are described as incapable of producing art etc. The character Strickland even states that women have no souls.(less)

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Is the narrator really Maugham?

Euroyank Beyond the obvious that authors are always the ultimate narrator, it would seem logical to assume that the narrator had much in common with Maugham in…moreBeyond the obvious that authors are always the ultimate narrator, it would seem logical to assume that the narrator had much in common with Maugham in that the narrator was a writer and had been a medical student at St Thomas's Hospital Medical School, as had Maugham.(less)

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