The Moon and Sixpence by William Somerset Maugham is said to be loosely (liberamente) based on the life of painter, Paul Gauguin. It is about Charles Strickland, a stockbroker (operatore di borsa) who leaves his job, his family of four, and his country, England, because he wants to become a painter; first he settles (si stabilisce) in France and, in the end, in Tahiti. The most striking feature (tratto più sorprendente) of the novel is the description of the protagonist, a man who gradually becomes indifferent to people and their emotions. He can be seen as a cruel villain, but because of his ingenuity, he can also be seen as a man searching for(alla ricerca) truth and independence, rejecting any form of compromise. It is the reader’s role to decide what they believe is “right” or “wrong ” in the story. The film was adapted by Albert Lewin in 1949, into an opera by John Gardner ,libretto by Patrick Terry, in 1958 and into an American TV production starring Sir Laurence Olivier.