OF HUMAN BONDAGE

'''Of Human Bondage''' (1915) is a novel by William Somerset Maugham. It is generally agreed to be his masterpiece, and to be strongly autobiographical in nature, although Maugham stated in a signed inscription: "This is a novel, not an autobiography, though much in it is autobiographical, more is pure invention."^[1]

Contents

Plot Summary

Film versions

External link

Notes

Plot Summary

The book begins with the death of the mother of the protagonist, Philip Carey. As Philip's father had already died a few months ago, Philip is sent to live with is aunt and uncle, who is the vicar of Blackstable, a small village. The couple has no children of their own and therefore do not have experience in raising kids. Early chapters relate Philip's adventures at the vicarage. At the age of eleven, Philip is sent to a boarding school so he can eventually go to Oxford to study to become a clergyman. While at school, Philip is ostracized by much of the student body because he has a clubfoot.He does not make many friends and eventually wishes to leave the school and go to Germany. After much persuasion, his aunt and uncle reluctantly let him go to Heidelburg for a year. He lives at a boarding house with other foreigners and learns German, among other things. At the boarding house he acquaints a fellow Englishman, Hayward. Philip falls under the spell of Hayward's long discourses 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 falls under the spell of one Miss Wilkinson. Philip breaks the news to his guardians that he does not wish to become a clergyman and they accept his decision, albeit unwillingly.They 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 believe he is above them and is a "gentleman." He goes on a buisiness trip with one of his managers to Paris and is inspired by this trip, and the urging of Miss Wilkinson, who convinces Philip that he draws well enough to become a professional, and so he moves to Paris to study art. There he makes a few close friends, including Lawson and Cronshaw and comes into acquaniance with Miss Price, who apparently leads a very miserable life. Philip is the only one who is kind to her and when she commits suicide, he is left to tend to her affairs. Realizing his art skills are less than mediocre, Philip moves comes back to England to his uncle's. Soon he decides to pursue medicine, his late father's field. Before he leaves for London, his aunt dies, leaving him with a small amount of money. He does farely well at medical school and comes across Mildred, a tawdry waitress at a local cafe. He falls in love with her although she does not show any emotion for him. They break apart and come back together a few times, mostly when she is in desperate need of money. While working at the hospital, Philip befriends Thorpe Athenly and is invited to his house every Sunday because his eight kids love Philip and call him "uncle." At one point, Mildred comes back with a baby and Philip, feeling sorry for her, takes her in to do his housework. She gets angry at him and leaves after a few months and trashes his house. He is left with no money and is forced to leave medical school and is on the streets for a few days. The Athelnys take him in and find him a job at a retail store, which he hates. Eventually he saves up enough money to go back to medical school and finishes. He goes on a small summer vacation with the Athelnys at a village to go hop picking. There he finds that one of Athelny's daugters, Sally, likes him and eventually he asks her to marry him.

Film versions

★ ''Of Human Bondage'' - Filmed in 1934 with Leslie Howard as Philip and Bette Davis as Mildred, the girl who torments him through her rejections of him.

★ ''Of Human Bondage'' - The novel was directed by Edmund Goulding in 1946 with Paul Henreid and Eleanor Parker in the lead roles.

★ ''Of Human Bondage'' - The 1964 film featured Laurence Harvey and Kim Novak taking the lead roles.

External link

★

Notes

1. Dated August 28, 1957, in collection of Ingle Barr.