Of Human Bondage

For the film adaptations of this novel, see Of Human Bondage (film).

Of Human Bondage

1st edition cover
Author	W. Somerset Maugham
Language	English
Publisher	George H. Doran Company
Publication date	1915
Publication place	United Kingdom

Of Human Bondage (1915) is a novel by W. Somerset Maugham. It is generally agreed to be his masterpiece and to be strongly autobiographical in nature, although Maugham stated, "This is a novel, not an autobiography, though much in it is autobiographical, more is pure invention." Maugham, who had originally planned to call his novel Beauty from Ashes, finally settled on a title taken from Spinoza's Ethics

Plot summary

The book begins with the death of the mother of the nine-year-old protagonist, Philip Carey. Philip's father had already died a few months before, and the orphan Philip is sent to live with his aunt and uncle. His uncle is vicar of Blackstable, a small village in East Anglia. Philip inherits a small fortune but the money is held in custody by his uncle until he is twenty-one, giving his uncle a great deal of power over him until he reaches his maturity.

Early chapters relate Philip's experience at the vicarage. His aunt tries to be a mother to Philip, but she is herself childless and unsure of how to behave, whereas his uncle takes a cold disposition towards him. Philip's uncle has an eclectic collection of books, and in reading Philip finds a way to escape his mundane existence and experience fascinating worlds of fiction.

Less than a year later, Philip is sent to a boarding school. His uncle and aunt would like for him to eventually go to Oxford to study to become a clergyman. Philip's shyness and his club foot make it difficult for him to fit in with the boys at the school, and he does not make many friends. Philip goes through an episode of deep religious belief, and believes that through true faith he can get God to heal his club foot, but as this does not happen his belief falters. He becomes close friends with one boy, but the friendship breaks up, and he becomes miserable. Philip shows considerable academic talent and could have gotten himself a scholarship for Oxford, but instead he wishes to leave the school and go to Germany. Philip's uncle and the school's headmaster oppose Philip's desire to go to Germany, but eventually they give in and they allow him to go to Heidelberg for a year.

In Heidelberg, Philip lives at a boarding house with other foreigners and studies German, among other subjects. Philip enjoys his stay in Germany. At the boarding house he acquaints a fellow Englishman, Hayward, who has an interest in literature and who considers himself a poet. Philip also meets an unorthodox American named Weeks, who has a mutual dislike for Hayward and who thinks the man is superficial. Philip is intrigued by his long discourses with Hayward and Weeks and eventually becomes convinced that he need not believe in the Church of England. This is a heretofore unheard of idea to him, as he has been brought up with staunch Christian values.

Philip returns to his uncle's house and meets a middle aged family friend of his aunt and uncle named Miss Wilkinson, who is very flirtatious toward Philip. He is not particularly attracted to her and is uncomfortable about her age, but likes the idea of having an affair with someone, so he pursues her. She says that she is in love with Philip and becomes very attached to him, and he pretends to be passionate about her, but he is relieved when she must return to Berlin. Miss Wilkinson writes letters to Philip from Berlin, to which he eventually stops responding.

Philip's guardians decide to take his matters into their own hands and convince him to move to London and take up an apprenticeship to become a chartered accountant. He does not fare well there, as his coworkers resent him because they believe he is above them and is a "gentleman." Philip is desperately lonely in London and is humiliated by his lack of aptitude for the work. He begins thinking about studying art in Paris. He goes on a business trip with one of his managers to Paris and is inspired by this trip. Miss Wilkinson convinces Philip that he draws well enough to become a professional, and he moves to Paris to study art.

In Paris Philip attends art classes, makes a few friends among fellow art students and meets Miss Price, a poor talentless art student who does not get along well with people. Miss Price falls in love with Philip, but he does not return her feelings. After her funds run out, she commits suicide, leaving Philip to tend after her affairs.

Davis and Howard in the 1934 film version

Philip realizes that he will never be more than a mediocre artist at the same time he receives word that his aunt has died. He returns to his uncle's house, and eventually decides to go to London to pursue medicine, his late father's field. He struggles at medical school and comes across Mildred, a tawdry waitress at a local cafe. He falls desperately in love with her, although she does not show any emotion for him. Mildred tells Philip she is getting married, leaving him heartbroken; he subsequently enters into an affair with Norah Nesbitt, a kind and sensitive author of penny romance novels. Later, Mildred returns, pregnant, and confesses that the man for whom she had abandoned Philip had never married her. Philip breaks off his relationship with Norah and supports Mildred financially though he can ill afford to do so, but later she falls in love with a friend of Philip's and disappears.

Philip runs into Mildred again when she is so poor she has resorted to prostitution and, feeling sympathy for her, takes her in to do his housework though he no longer loves her. When he rejects her advances, she becomes angry at him, leaves, and destroys his possessions, causing Philip to abandon that residence and move into cheaper housing. When Philip meets Mildred next, she is ill and prostituting herself again, and the baby has died.

While working at the hospital, Philip befriends Thorpe Athelny and is invited to his house every Sunday. Meanwhile, a stockbroker acquaintance of Philip advises him to invest, and Philip is left with no money when the stock market crashes. He wanders the streets for a few days before the Athelnys take him in and find him a job at a retail store, which he hates. Eventually, his uncle's death leaves him enough money to go back to medical school and he finishes. He goes on a small summer vacation with the Athelnys at a village. There he finds that one of Athelny's daughters, Sally, likes him. When she thinks she is pregnant, Philip decides to give up his plans to travel and propose to Sally. On learning that it was a false alarm, Philip is disappointed and proposes to her anyway; she accepts.

Film versions

• Of Human Bondage (1934) – Leslie Howard as Philip, and Bette Davis as Mildred, the role that established her as a star.
• Of Human Bondage (1946) – Directed by Edmund Goulding, with Paul Henreid and Eleanor Parker in the lead roles.
• Of Human Bondage (1964) – Laurence Harvey and Kim Novak in the lead roles.

References in other literature

• Of Human Bondage is mentioned by the character Holden Caulfield in The Catcher in the Rye.
• In Philip K. Dick's science fiction novel Dr. Bloodmoney, the character Walt Dangerfield reads Of Human Bondage to humanity from his spaceship orbiting the Earth.
• In Gloria Sawai's short story "The Day I Sat with Jesus on the Sundeck and a Wind Came up and Blew my Kimono Open and He Saw My Breasts," Of Human Bondage is the example the narrator gives of "a great book" that "unsettles you and startles you into thought," immediately before beginning the narrative of her encounter with Jesus.
• The novel is mentioned in the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (episode "The Freshman") and Family Guy.
• In Wolfgang Bauer's theatre play Singapore Sling (1981) main character Tristan is reading Of Human Bondage.

See also

• Bildungsroman

External links

• Of Human Bondage at Project Gutenberg