Of Human Bondage W. Somerset Maugham

The following entry presents criticism on Maugham's novel Of Human Bondage (1915). See also W. Somerset Maugham Criticism (Volume 1) and W. Somerset Maugham Criticism (Volume 11).

Of Human Bondage is arguably Maugham's most popular work and has steadily gained readers and influence since its publication in 1915. Often described as a bildungsroman, the novel chronicles the youth and early adulthood of Philip Carey as he struggles to retain his freedom and individuality within a rigid society. Clubfooted and orphaned, Philip struggles with his differences and sensitivities, which he comes to believe have made him more perceptive than others to art and beauty. Though the first manuscript of the novel was completed in 1898 and titled "The Artistic Temperament of Stephen Carey," Maugham was unable to find a publisher and pursued other writing interests. In 1911, after achieving some success as a playwright, he rewrote the novel, believing that he was now more adept at portraying the themes and characters that concerned him in his youth, and changed the title to Of Human Bondage. Commenting on the novel's autobiographical aspect, Maugham stated in the preface to the abridged edition that he wrote it to "rid myself of a great number of unhappy recollections that had not ceased to harrow me." Criticized on publication for its pessimistic world view and frank, dispassionate view of sexuality, Of Human Bondage has been alternately praised and condemned for its sometimes unflattering depiction of a hero who tends towards self-pity and self-absorption.

Plot and Major Characters

The novel opens when Philip is sent from London to live with his aunt and uncle in Blackstable after the death of his mother following a stillbirth. His uncle, a vicar, shows little interest in the boy beyond providing basic provisions, and young Philip quickly becomes adept at spotting the vicar's hypocrisy, which includes treating his family with a frugality to which the vicar himself is not held. This hypocrisy leads to Philip's early rejection of Christianity. When he is sent away to school, Philip's painful adolescence continues as he withdraws socially from the other boys; his clubfoot prevents him from joining in sports and games. The novel also depicts Philip's coming-of-age as a man, whose early experiences with women—most notably the aging governess Miss Wilkerson and the penny-novel writer Norah Nesbitt—are physical acts marked with pathos and disdain on Philip's part. After a year of studying business in Heidelberg, Germany, Philip returns to London, only to reject a respectable living as an accountant for the romance of being an artist in Paris. But in France he encounters only poverty and hunger. Following the sui-cide of Fanny Price, an untalented fellow artist whose passion could not save her from her squalid circumstances, he returns to London to begin medical school. When he meets Mildred Pierce, a decidedly plain-looking, emaciated tea-shop girl—whom one critic dubbed "an implacable, pale green worm"—he is inexplicably drawn to her and exhibits an irrational passion of the type that has brought many of his friends to ruin. Mildred rejects his overtures of affection and uses him repeatedly until their relationship reaches masochistic proportions. As Mildred's position in society continues to decline, she resorts to prostitution despite Philip's attempts to help her. When she destroys his art in a fit of rage and condemns him as a cripple, his passion for her is finally extinguished. Finally determining that life is random and meaningless, Philip trades his dreams of freedom and travel for responsibility and respectability when he asks the simple and pleasing Sally Athelny, towards whom he feels some affection but no love, for her hand in marriage.

Major Themes

Of Human Bondage, a title borrowed from a chapter in Baruch Spinoza's Ethics (1677), examines Philip's psychological growth, his aesthetic pursuit of beauty in a world in which beauty is constantly juxtaposed with struggle, and the paradox of his love for Mildred, who represents none of the ideals he cherishes. Philip's quest for beauty becomes inextricably tied to his intense desire to follow his dreams at the risk of losing respect within a strict Edwardian society. His decision to study art in Paris, for example, is condemned by his uncle, who derides painting as a "disreputable, immoral" profession and considers Paris "a sink of iniquity." Philip engages in many pursuits on his journey to self-understanding, and his self-absorption frequently discounts the importance of nurturing relationships on human development. Love of beauty alone, however, proves unsustainable; as Philip becomes impoverished and tragedy befalls his friends and acquaintances, his staunch individualism yields to more conventional societal norms. Eventually, he realizes that though life contains patterns, the patterns themselves are essentially meaningless. The novel also examines the conventions of Edwardian society. As a student and young man undergoing a strict upbringing, Philip battles society's definitions of what it means to be a gentleman and he variously accepts and rejects roles as an accountant, store clerk, art student, and medical student. In this respect, Philip's situation mirrors Maugham's, who was orphaned at the age of ten and sent from Paris to live with an uncle in England, where his profound stutter impeded his social development and drove him into the solitary pursuits of art and literature.

Critical Reception

Of Human Bondage received mixed reviews and fleeting attention on its initial publication. A reviewer in the Athenaeum took issue with the novel's morality: "The values accorded by the hero to love, realism, and religion are so distorted as to have no interest beyond that which belongs to an essentially morbid personality." Conversely, Theodore Dreiser praised the novel as an "autobiography of utmost importance," and appreciated the moral circumstances with which Philip grappled. A typical critical reaction, however, is echoed in the sentiments of a Dial reviewer, who admitted that the detail contained within six-hundred pages "can hardly fail to leave us with the feeling of intimate acquaintance," but that the novel ultimately imparts a "depressing impression of the futility of life." While noting the similarities between the author's life and Philip's, some critics have contended that the compromised ending, in which Philip finds comfort and security with the understanding and proper Sally is wishful thinking, especially in light of the author's homosexual tendencies: for Maugham, though he graduated from medical school like Philip, never practiced medicine, and remained unmarried until the age of forty. Several years after its initial publication, however, the novel gained a sizable following among the American reading public through word-of-mouth and a few strategic mentions in the press. Subsequent printings and editions added to the novel's popularity, and in 1946 Maugham presented the original manuscript to the Library of Congress. Maugham stated that his place in literature was "in the very first row of the second-raters," and many critics have been inclined to agree. Likewise, Maugham's contention that he "painted easel pictures, and not frescoes" was enough to earn the dismissal of many critics. Contrasting Maugham's public success with his failure among many critics, Theodore Spencer has argued that the "problem for anyone trying to judge Maugham's permanent value is to decide whether the critics or the public are right."