The Ugliness of Female Lust in Somerset Maugham's Novel The Razor's Edge

W. Somerset's Maugham classic novel The Razor's Edge has many themes. It espouses the attraction of Eastern religions, as main character Larry Darrell seeks spiritual fulfillment. The novel also weighs the decision between conventional materialism over philosophical self-fulfillment, as Isabel Maturin marries for wealth rather than love.

Her marriage also points out one of the overlooked ideas in The Razor's Edge: the ugliness of unfulfilled female lust. Though Isabel is an extremely attractive woman, she is not alluring enough to prevent the determined Larry from marrying into her materialistic way of life. After years of waiting for Larry to accept her values, she finally marries his friend Gray Maturin. Gray is the son of a self-made business man, who accepts a lucrative position in his father's financial firm.

Gray worships Isabel, and the two produce two children. Isabel, though, never gets over her obsession with Larry. After Larry departs on his spiritual journey in remote parts of the world, Isabel has little contact with him. In chapter four she hears of a possible sexual escapade between Larry and a promiscuous childhood friend, Sophie McDonald. Isabel denies such a rumor. She is convinced that the 32 year old Larry is a virgin. "I'm certain he is. That's the kind of thing a woman knows instinctively." She seems to believe that since Larry had not wanted her enough to adopt her lifestyle, he could never desire any one else.

Nevertheless, when Larry becomes engaged to Sophie, Isabel is distraught. She tries to convince her uncle Elliot to intervene to stop the wedding for Larry's sake. She herself then sabotages the wedding by preying on Sophie's addiction to alcohol. Thus, the ugliness of female lust reveals itself in this devoted mother of two, destroying the life of the childhood friend who dared to go to bed with the object of her unfulfilled lust.

In the novel, W. Somerset Maugham suggests that the ugliness of female lust is not only emotional, as in the previous example. He also describes its physical repulsion as well. The best example of this ugliness is at the very beginning of chapter five. Maugham describes the animal-like appearance that overtakes the lovely Isabel while she's riding in a cab with Larry and her husband. Isabel is completely exhumed by the sight of Larry, sitting just inches away from her in the front seat.

Maugham writes that something happened to her appearance, taken over by "a mask of lust. I should never have believed that her beautiful features could assume an expression of such unbridled sensuality. It was animal rather than human. The beauty was stripped from her face; the look upon it made her hideous and frightening." Maugham compares her to a female animal in heat and admits that the sight made him rather sick.

That disturbing scene accentuates the author's view of the ugliness of unconsummated female lust. It can be repulsive physically as well as emotionally. W. Somerset Maugham shows each effect in his characterization of Isabel Maturin in The Razor's Edge.