# Mrs. Strickland — The Moon and Sixpence character guide > Mrs. Strickland in The Moon and Sixpence by W. Somerset Maugham. **Role:** supporting **Also known as:** Strickland, Mrs. Strickland **First appearance:** 0001-ii ## Snapshot Strickland's abandoned wife, a polished London hostess who turns her husband's desertion into a career of respectable widowhood. ## Who they are She presides over a pleasant middle-class household, collects minor literary lions, and believes firmly that decent women live on other people's money. When Strickland leaves, her first instinct is not grief but the management of scandal — she will take him back, she says, if he comes to his senses, and she will not hear of divorce. Her serene revision of her own history, and her children's easy piety about a father they never really knew, quietly indict the very society Strickland fled. ## Relationships ### [Charles Strickland](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_moon_and_sixpence_se/characters/charles_strickland) _family_ Strickland abandons his wife and children without warning, showing complete indifference to family obligations in pursuit of art. ### [Colonel MacAndrew](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_moon_and_sixpence_se/characters/colonel_macandrew) _family_ Colonel MacAndrew is Mrs. Strickland's brother, supporting her after Strickland's desertion and sharing her outrage. ### [Dirk Stroeve](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_moon_and_sixpence_se/characters/dirk_stroeve) _social_ Dirk Stroeve is a sympathetic acquaintance who tries to help Mrs. Strickland after her husband leaves, though she finds him ridiculous. ### [Charles Strickland](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_moon_and_sixpence_se/characters/charles_strickland) _family_ Strickland abandons his wife and children without warning, showing complete indifference to family obligations in pursuit of art. ### [Dirk Stroeve](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_moon_and_sixpence_se/characters/dirk_stroeve) _social_ Dirk Stroeve is a sympathetic acquaintance who tries to help Mrs. Strickland after her husband leaves, though she finds him ridiculous. ### [Colonel MacAndrew](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_moon_and_sixpence_se/characters/colonel_macandrew) _family_ Colonel MacAndrew is Mrs. Strickland's brother, supporting her after Strickland's desertion and sharing her outrage. ### [Colonel MacAndrew](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_moon_and_sixpence_se/characters/colonel_macandrew) _family_ Colonel MacAndrew is Mrs. Strickland's brother, supporting her after Strickland's desertion and sharing her outrage. ## In the story ### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_moon_and_sixpence_se/chapters/i) Mentioned in a letter from Strickland where he calls her 'an excellent woman' but wishes she were in hell. ### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_moon_and_sixpence_se/chapters/iv) Introduced as a pleasant, simple woman who enjoys hosting literary figures; she is a lion-hunter with a genuine passion for reading. ### [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_moon_and_sixpence_se/chapters/v) The narrator frequently visits her flat for luncheons and tea-parties; she is described as having a gift of sympathy, being an excellent housekeeper and mother, and speaking affectionately of her husband. ### [VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_moon_and_sixpence_se/chapters/vi) Hosts the dinner party; attempts to make light of her husband's presence and keeps an anxious eye on him. ### [VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_moon_and_sixpence_se/chapters/vii) Seen with her children making final purchases before leaving London; proud and devoted to her family. ### [Chapter VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_moon_and_sixpence_se/chapters/viii) Found in distress, with swollen face from tears; tries to maintain composure during the narrator's visit. ### [IX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_moon_and_sixpence_se/chapters/ix) Discussed as the abandoned wife, left with little money and furniture. ### [Chapter X](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_moon_and_sixpence_se/chapters/x) Devastated by her husband's abandonment, she refuses to divorce him and pleads for his return. ### [XI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_moon_and_sixpence_se/chapters/xi) Her distress and prepared tears are recalled by the narrator; he questions whether she wants her husband back out of love or fear of scandal. ### [XIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_moon_and_sixpence_se/chapters/xiv) Referenced as 'Amy'; Strickland tells the narrator to inform her not to follow him. ### [XV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_moon_and_sixpence_se/chapters/xv) Expresses shock and anger upon learning her husband left to become a painter, not for another woman; declares she will never forgive him. ### [XVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_moon_and_sixpence_se/chapters/xvi) Shows resilience and shrewdness by concealing her anguish and allowing a false story about her husband's elopement to circulate, which helps her gain sympathy and clients for her new typing business. ### [XVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_moon_and_sixpence_se/chapters/xvii) Has built a successful typing business, but is preoccupied with social status and her children's futures. ### [XLI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_moon_and_sixpence_se/chapters/xli) Briefly referenced by Strickland as an example of a woman trying to imprison a man's soul. ### [XLIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_moon_and_sixpence_se/chapters/xliii) Mentioned hypothetically as a character who could have been drawn differently in a novel, but the narrator chooses to stick with the facts. ### [LVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_moon_and_sixpence_se/chapters/lviii) Now a widow in her late fifties, living comfortably on Campden Hill; she entertains Mr. Van Busche Taylor and presents herself as the wife of a genius, while subtly rewriting her marital history. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_moon_and_sixpence_se/characters/mrs_strickland - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_moon_and_sixpence_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_moon_and_sixpence_se/characters