old doctor he is assisting, and the townspeople. Dr. South offers Philip a partnership, which Philip at first refuses because he still intends to work and travel to exotic places. When Philip later decides to marry Sally, a girl whom he believes he has gotten pregnant, he accepts Dr. South’s offer and is utterly astounded at how happy the prospect of marriage and life in this small fishing village makes him. Even when it develops that Sally is not pregnant after all, Philip proposes to her, because he has now come to believe that life in Farnley represents the simplest and most beautiful life pattern to which a man can aspire.

By arranging the story in chronological order, Maugham provides readers with a clear and straightforward plot. His style, characterized by idiomatic, colloquial, and fluent English, achieves the ideals of simplicity, clarity, and euphony that he advocated.

The plot naturally splits into significant episodes, based on Philip's location or his search for a profession. For instance, his trip to Germany makes him realize he does not want to be a clergyman, while his time in Paris leaves him with a lasting interest in art but convinces him not to pursue a career as an artist. Through a process of trial and error and numerous false starts, he eventually chooses medicine as his career.

Maugham saw himself primarily as a storyteller rather than a social analyst or critic. As a result, his views on society are conveyed more subtly than directly. Of Human Bondage is mainly an existentialist novel focused on character development and the shaping of an individual's life. The protagonist, Philip Carey, matures from boyhood to early adulthood, struggling with his overly emotional nature and losing his illusions along the way. As a ward of his uncle, the Vicar of Blackstable, Philip finds conventional village life to be confining and the villagers to be intolerant, snobbish, and hypocritical. At King's School, a boarding school in Tercanbury, he realizes these traits are present in both the teachers and students.

Seeking to escape his discontent, Philip goes to Germany to study and finds life there more intellectually and aesthetically stimulating, though he still encounters middle-class prejudices. Later, in Paris, as an art student, he enjoys the thrill of freedom but soon understands that most of his fellow students lead unsuccessful lives.

After abandoning his pursuit of art, Philip returns to England and settles in London. There, he observes that English snobbishness is unfounded, especially as the military setbacks of the Boer War cast doubt on the aristocratic leadership England held in high regard. Eventually, Philip accepts the societal limitations he encounters once he discovers his own purpose in life. Rather than rebelling against the social system, he finds a form of personal happiness within it by the novel's conclusion.

Of Human Bondage serves as both a bildungsroman and an autobiographical novel. The emotions and themes accurately reflect Maugham's youth, even though the story includes many fictional events and characters. Maugham follows the tradition of authors such as Charles Dickens in David Copperfield (1849-1850) and Samuel Butler in The Way of All Flesh (1903). Similar to these writers, he chose to narrate the story using a third-person omniscient perspective, adhere to a strict chronological order, and base many fictional characters on real people he knew. His approach to novel writing does not showcase significant innovation.

Of Human Bondage has been adapted into two successful films, both of which required significant editing. This resulted in a focus on the tumultuous relationship between Mildred and Philip. Bette Davis played Mildred in the 1934 film, while Kim Novak took on the role in the 1964 version.

The intensity and suspense of Maugham's "The Letter" led to its adaptation into a stage thriller. Subsequently, it was made into two films, released in 1929 and 1940. Maugham's novel The Narrow Corner was also turned into a film in 1933.

The novel The Moon and Sixpence was adapted into a stage play in 1925, enjoying a run of seventy-five performances before closing. It was later made into a film in 1942.

Toward the end of Maugham's life, several of his short stories were compiled into feature-length films, with the author himself appearing on screen to introduce them. In Quartet (1948), Maugham was reportedly dismayed by the censorship imposed on some stories, especially "The Colonel's Lady," which the producer felt needed a sentimental ending. The film also included adaptations of "The Kite," "The Alien Corn," and "The Facts of Life." The movie Trio (1950) featured three stories: "The Verger," "Mr. Know-All," and "Sanatorium." Encore included film versions of "The Ant and the Grasshopper," "Winter Cruise," and "Gigolo and Gigolette." In 1952, these three stories were published in a separate volume alongside their screen adaptations.

(For more details on adaptations of Maugham's works, please refer to the entries on "Rain" and The Razor's Edge.)