The Painted Veil

The idea of England as home is a constant motif throughout the text. While the British colonists set up a bureaucracy in Hong Kong and give themselves titles (such as colonial governor and secretary) that convey their authority over the place, they consistently refer to England as their home. This implies that their spiritual and social touchstone is England and that Hong Kong is a place where they are temporary visitors rather than invested residents. The contradictions of this arrangement, whereby the British rule while their hearts are elsewhere, is evident in their racist dehumanization of and general lack of interest in their colonial subjects, in addition to their attachment to the class hierarchies of England.

Kitty in particular exemplifies the latter, as she finds herself irritated that her husband’s relatively lowly profession should determine her class. She is frustrated that she is looked down upon and thought “a little common” by people like Dorothy, whose father was once a colonial governor but now lives in an unprepossessing house in Earl’s Court, whereas her own family is rising socially and living in more fashionable South Kensington (11). While Kitty clings to the English class system, from the distance of Hong Kong, people she looks down on view her as their inferior.