The Moon and Sixpence Lesson Plan

Why does Mrs. Strickland want people to believe that Charles left her for another woman?

The text does not state Mrs. Strickland's reasoning directly, but students should be able to use the narrator's insights and context clues to understand that she feels ashamed and humiliated that her husband left her. It seems that she finds the shame of him leaving her for another woman better than the shame that he left her to pursue painting. Perhaps this is because she thinks it reflects more poorly on her that he felt he couldn't be inspired to create art being with her, especially since she takes a strong interest and involves herself greatly in the arts.

How and why does...