The Creative Impulse

Maugham’s story, "The Creative Impulse" evoked mixed emotions in me. It is surprising how much the problem raised by the author is as relevant today as it was a hundred years ago.

The detective novel written by the English writer Mrs. Forrester is becoming popular not only in England but also abroad. The work is published so successfully that, thanks to it, the writer has enough money to live comfortably the rest of her days.

It is about the circumstances under which the idea to write this detective novel appeared that Maugham writes.

Mrs. Forrester began writing at a young age. She turned to such literary genres as ode, essay, sonnet. But the books were published extremely rarely and did not cause delight among readers and critics.

The typical story of a husband who escaped Mrs. Forrester with a cook is as old as the world. He fled, because the bohemian life of his wife, the constant meetings of aristocrats did not give him any pleasure. Speaking about the aristocracy of that time, for them, including the main character, the opinion of society was important, only for this reason she, being insulted, still went to return her husband. In addition, having been married for 30 years, he realized that they had nothing in common with Mrs. Forrester, even their preferences in literature were very different.

It was in the house that the cook was offered to her to write a detective novel, which can cause overwhelming success. Of course, the proud writer could not show her husband and the woman to whom he left that she liked the idea. She proudly retired, and at home to her friends declared that this idea had visited her herself and that she had not gone to any husband.

This story hooked me with the fact that the author does not directly teach the reader how to do and how not. He leaves the choice to us. The author also makes fun of the elite of that time, who not only enjoyed the favor of the main character, but also possibly influenced what kind of works the author wrote before her "source of inspiration" appeared.

Anything can be a source of inspiration. In this case, it was a negative event that entailed only happiness and success.