Three utterly different lovers, all selfish in their own ways, rolling around together in a pell mell of apples and oranges while the world rots around them. I suppose "the painted veil" of Maugham's novel is a euphemism for ignorance, the kind that only an enduring 16 year old franchise can perpetuate. And then again, "the veil" is a metaphor for the painfully awakened honesty only to be found by lifting away cultural safety nets and scraping away at preconceptions accumulated on the psyche. In portraying the futilely sharp edge of spite, Maugham gives a nod to An Elegy on the Death of a Mad Dog.

Good people all, of every sort,
Give ear unto my song;
And if you find it wondrous short,
It cannot hold you long.

In Islington there was a man,
Of whom the world might say
That still a godly race he ran,
Whene'er he went to pray.

A kind and gentle heart he had,
To comfort friends and foes;
The naked every day he clad,
When he put on his clothes.

And in that town a dog was found,
As many dogs there be,
Both mongrel, puppy, whelp and hound,
And curs of low degree.

This dog and man at first were friends;
But when a pique began,
The dog, to gain some private ends,
Went mad and bit the man.

Around from all the neighbouring streets
The wondering neighbours ran,
And swore the dog had lost his wits,
To bite so good a man.

The wound it seemed both sore and sad
To every Christian eye;
And while they swore the dog was mad,
They swore the man would die.

But soon a wonder came to light,
That showed the rogues they lied:
The man recovered of the bite,
The dog it was that died.

-- Oliver Goldsmith

The best moments are when Maugham's conflicted characters show their moral ugliness to the effect of revelation; Walter - locked in his anger and destroyed by his own self deception, Kitty - admitting, at last, to her own her pettiness, both - feeling and searching for some kind of restitution beyond the shame of their own desires.

"And now, throwing her head back wearily, she sighed: 'Oh I'm so worthless.'" --Kitty