The Painted Veil: Detailed Story Summary
Setting and Context
Published in 1925, The Painted Veil unfolds in the 1920s, shifting from London to colonial Hong Kong and a cholera-ravaged village, Mei-tan-fu, in southern China. The novel critiques British social norms, colonial attitudes, and the clash between Eastern and Western values. Its title, drawn from Shelley’s sonnet (“Lift not the painted veil which those who live / Call Life”), reflects the story’s exploration of illusions—love, morality, purpose—and the truths they hide.
The protagonist, Kitty Garstin, begins as a flawed, relatable figure whose journey toward self-awareness drives the narrative. The cholera epidemic serves as both a literal and symbolic backdrop, amplifying themes of mortality and redemption.
Act 1: Kitty’s Life and Marriage
Kitty Garstin, a beautiful but vain 25-year-old, grows up in a middle-class London family under the thumb of her ambitious mother, Mrs. Garstin, who pressures Kitty and her younger sister, Doris, to marry well. Kitty, spoiled and preoccupied with social status, delays marriage, rejecting suitors in hopes of a wealthier match. When Doris gets engaged to a baronet’s son, Kitty feels the sting of competition and her mother’s disapproval as she nears spinsterhood.
Walter Fane, a reserved bacteriologist working for the British colonial government, enters her life. Serious, intellectual, and socially awkward, Walter is deeply in love with Kitty but lacks charm. Kitty finds him dull but accepts his proposal out of pragmatism, escaping her mother’s control and the fear of being left unmarried. Their union is loveless on her part; Walter idealizes her, while she sees him as a means to an end.
The couple relocates to Hong Kong, where Walter is stationed. Kitty expects colonial glamour but finds the expatriate social scene stifling. Walter, absorbed in his scientific work, is attentive but emotionally distant, leaving Kitty bored and restless in their marriage.
Act 2: Infidelity and Ultimatum
In Hong Kong, Kitty meets Charles Townsend, the Assistant Colonial Secretary. Handsome, charming, and socially prominent, Charles is married to the unremarkable but kind Dorothy Townsend. He’s a known philanderer, and Kitty, craving excitement, falls for his flattery. They begin a passionate affair, meeting secretly, often at Kitty’s home while Walter works. Kitty, naive and infatuated, believes Charles loves her and will leave his wife, dreaming of a glamorous new life.
Walter, though seemingly preoccupied, notices changes in Kitty’s behavior. One day, he confirms her affair (in the novel, he catches her in a compromising situation). Devastated but eerily calm, Walter confronts her. Instead of rage, he delivers a calculated ultimatum: Kitty must accompany him to Mei-tan-fu, a remote Chinese village gripped by a deadly cholera epidemic where he has volunteered to provide medical aid, or he will file for divorce, exposing her affair and ruining her socially. He suggests she ask Charles to divorce Dorothy and marry her, knowing Charles’s true character.
Kitty, desperate, visits Charles, expecting him to save her. Charles callously refuses, admitting he never intended to leave his wife or risk his career. His charm dissolves, revealing his cowardice and selfishness. Humiliated and heartbroken, Kitty realizes she was a fling, not a priority. With divorce meaning social ruin and dependence on her judgmental family, she has no choice but to join Walter in Mei-tan-fu.
Act 3: Mei-tan-fu and Kitty’s Awakening
The journey to Mei-tan-fu is arduous—by sea, riverboat, and sedan chairs through rugged terrain. Kitty and Walter barely speak; his politeness is laced with coldness, and she feels guilt, fear, and resentment. Mei-tan-fu is a grim contrast to Hong Kong: a poor, chaotic village where cholera kills indiscriminately. Walter immerses himself in work, organizing sanitation and treating patients, while Kitty is left alone in their sparse bungalow, terrified of disease and haunted by her mistakes.
At first, Kitty wallows in self-pity, replaying Charles’s betrayal and Walter’s apparent cruelty in bringing her to this dangerous place. Her isolation is broken by Waddington, a quirky British customs officer who lives unconventionally and befriends her. Waddington introduces Kitty to a French convent in the village, run by nuns who care for cholera victims and orphans. Seeking escape from her thoughts, Kitty volunteers at the convent, despite having no experience.
Under the guidance of the Mother Superior, a wise and disciplined woman, Kitty starts with menial tasks—cleaning, feeding children—and gradually finds purpose. The nuns’ selflessness and the suffering around her stir something new in Kitty. She begins to see her own selfishness and the shallowness of her past desires. Through Waddington and the nuns, she learns of Walter’s tireless efforts to combat the epidemic, earning the villagers’ respect. This challenges her view of him as vindictive, though he remains distant, their interactions formal and strained.
A pivotal moment comes when Kitty discovers she’s pregnant, unsure whether the child is Walter’s or Charles’s. She confesses this to Walter, hoping for reconciliation. His response is complex—pain, resignation, and a flicker of care, but no warmth. The ambiguity of his feelings deepens Kitty’s guilt and her resolve to change. She throws herself into her convent work, seeking redemption not just for her betrayal but for her wasted years chasing superficiality.
Act 4: Climax
The climax of The Painted Veil is both emotional and tragic, centered on Walter’s fate and its impact on Kitty’s transformation. As the cholera epidemic begins to wane, thanks to Walter’s relentless work, he falls ill. The novel implies he contracts cholera, though Maugham leaves it ambiguous whether it is the disease or exhaustion compounded by emotional strain. Kitty, now deeply aware of her role in their fractured marriage, is devastated as Walter weakens.
In his final days, Walter remains stoic, but moments of vulnerability surface. Kitty tries to care for him, pleading for forgiveness and expressing her regret. Walter’s response is understated yet crushing—a mix of acceptance and lingering hurt. He dies quietly, leaving Kitty alone in Mei-tan-fu. His death is the story’s emotional peak, forcing Kitty to confront the irreversible consequences of her actions. She realizes Walter loved her despite her betrayal, and his choice to bring her to the epidemic was as much about his own pain as it was a test of her character.
Walter’s death shatters Kitty but crystallizes her transformation. She feels profound loss—not just for Walter, but for the chance to rebuild their relationship. The climax underscores the novel’s realism: there is no dramatic reconciliation or heroic sacrifice, only the quiet tragedy of missed opportunities and human flaws.
Act 5: Resolution and Return
After Walter’s death, Kitty leaves Mei-tan-fu, aided by Waddington and the nuns. She returns to Hong Kong, a changed woman but not idealized—she is still flawed, carrying guilt and uncertainty about her future. In Hong Kong, she encounters Charles Townsend again. He tries to rekindle their flirtation, assuming she is the same naive woman. Kitty, now seeing him clearly, rejects him outright, cementing her growth. She also meets Dorothy Townsend, whose kindness contrasts with Charles’s duplicity, further highlighting Kitty’s shift in values.
Kitty learns her mother has died during her absence, freeing her from past pressures. She travels to London to stay with her father, Bernard Garstin, a reserved lawyer who never shared her mother’s ambitions. Kitty, pregnant and determined to raise her child (still uncertain of its paternity), vows to live differently. She asks her father to relocate to the Bahamas, where he has been offered a post, hoping for a fresh start away from England’s stifling expectations.
The novel ends on a note of cautious hope. Kitty is not redeemed in a fairy-tale sense—she is still grappling with her past—but she is committed to living authentically, prioritizing her child and her own moral compass. Her final reflection is on breaking free from the “painted veil” of illusion, embracing life’s messy truths.