Why Somerset Maugham’s 1915 masterpiece remains a profound meditation on the human condition
In short: Widely considered his greatest work, W. Somerset Maugham’s Of Human Bondage is a semi-autobiographical journey through the life of Philip Carey. Born with a club foot and orphaned at ten, Carey navigates the painful, often messy path toward maturity, eventually discovering that the simplest life may be the most perfect.
Published in 1915, Of Human Bondage serves as the definitive masterwork of W. Somerset Maugham. While the author insisted the novel was a work of fiction rather than a pure autobiography, it draws heavily from his own life experiences. Like the protagonist Philip Carey, Maugham was orphaned at a young age and educated at a public school in Canterbury before pursuing medical training at St. Thomas’s Hospital in London. The narrative follows Carey’s struggles with his physical disability, his failed artistic ambitions in Paris, and his tumultuous, often unrequited romantic entanglements.
The title itself, derived from Spinoza’s Ethics, reflects the novel’s central preoccupation: the struggle to find meaning and contentment in a world where human desires often lead to suffering. Carey’s journey is defined by a series of disillusionments, from his infatuation with the cold-hearted waitress Mildred to his financial ruin following the Boer War. These experiences force him to confront the limitations of his own agency and the inherent instability of seeking happiness through external validation or grand ambition.
Ultimately, the novel concludes with a shift in perspective. After inheriting enough money to complete his medical studies and finding stability through a modest marriage to Sally Athelny, Carey arrives at a profound realization. He abandons his restless pursuit of an extraordinary life, concluding that the standard pattern of human existence—working, marrying, and raising children—is the most perfect design. This resigned, skeptical outlook, which Maugham later refined in his philosophical writings, gives the novel its enduring, astringent power.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Of Human Bondage | Somerset Maugham, Autobiographical, Psychological Novel | Britannica
- Also: Of Human Bondage
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