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Synopsis

Philip Carey, the protagonist in Of Human

Bondage, is a club-foot orphan. He was nine when his mother died. Then he lived with his aunt and uncle, the vicar of Blackstable in London. He is sent to

King's School to study for clergy. As a cripple, he does not have an easy life at school nor in his society. He is a lonely, introvert, sensitive, but intelligent boy.

At the age of eighteen, Philip gets a small inheritance from his mother and he goes to Berlin to study. There he studies German, French, and mathematics with tutors from the University of

Heidelberg. After he returns to England, he begins a career as a clerk in an accounting firm. He realises that he has a talent in drawing so he decides to go to

Paris and study art. But two years later he gives up the idea of becoming an artist and returns to England.

On returning to England again, he takes up the study of medicine, his father's profession.

In London, Philip meets Mildred Rogers, a waitress. When Philip sees her, he falls in love with

her and desires her above all else. She becomes the

obsession of his life and the major part of the book is devoted to his relationship with her. Mildred, who is not particularly attractive, is coarse and indifferent to Philip but in fact, Philip falls madly in love with her. He gives her presents which are extravagant for his small income. He neglects his studies in order to be with her. when he asks her to marry him, she refuses because he does not have enough money for her. Then, she tells him that she is going to marry another man, Miller.

Philip tries to forget Mildred in his affection for another woman, Norah Nesbit. At this time,

Mildred returns to London and tells Philip that Miller abandons her because he already has a wife and children. Miller leaves her while she is pregnant.

Knowing this fact, Philip also abandons Norah and takes Mildred back. He gives full attention to

Mildred, such as pays her hospital bill and sends her to the coast to take a rest after the birth of her baby. Philip also give3 the money for Mildred and his best-friend, Griffiths, to take a trip to . But Mildred makes an affair with Griffiths, tfhen Philip knows about this affair, he begs on Mildred to come back to him again but she never comes back to him.

This fact forces Philip to forget her forever and study harder than ever. Then he meets Thorpe Athelny, a patient in the hospital where he is studying, and these two men become good friends. Every Sunday

Philip visits the Athelny's house and meets his wife and children. On one evening, Philip sees Mildred and discovers that she becomes a prostitute. Although he has been hurt by Mildred's attitude, he still looks after her and her baby. Vhen Mildred tries to seduce him, he spurns her. This makes Mildred angry and leaves his apartment. She even destroys Philip's stuffs which left at his apartment. Later he finds that Mildred dying of a veneral disease.

Because of spending a lot of money for Mildred's needs, Philip loses his fortunes and all his money.

For a time he works as shopwalker in the store where

Thorpe himself is employed. Philip has to give up his studies at the hospital because he lacks of money. At the age of thirty, his uncle, William, dies and Philip inherits enough money to finish his medical school. After the graduation, he plans to go abroad, but instead he falls in love with the Thorpe's daughter,

Sally, and they become lovers. A few weeks after the trip with the Athelnys, Sally tells him that she may be pregnant. Philip immediately gives up his plans of travelling and accepts a small-salaried practice so that he and Sally can be married. They live in happiness and Philip that himself is his own master after his bleak, bitter years of mortal bondage.

Source : Roberts, James h. Maugham's : Of Human Bondage. Lincoln, Nebraska : C.K.

Hillegass, 1963. Biography

Villiam Somerset Maugham was born in Paris in

1874. His father, Robert Maugham was a solicitor to

the British Embassy in Paris. His mother was very popular and entertained extensively. She died when

Maugham was eight years old and his father also died

two years later. He was placed in the guardianship of his uncle, Reverend Henry Maugham, the vicar of

Vhitstable, and his aunt who were childless. At the age of ten, Maugham was sent to King's School,

Canterbury. When he grew up, he spent a year at

Heidelberg. Although he was not a member of the

University of Heidelberg, he attended the philosophy class there. Then, he returned to London to study medicine in St. Thomas.

When he was twenty-three, and during his last year of medical school, his first novel, Liza of

Lambeth, was published. The book was successful enough to enable Maugham to give up practice of medicine and devote himself to writing. This was the

time when Maugham regarded as a period of poverty. In

1908, his play was published and he had

several plays running in London, such as Jack Straw,

Mrs. Dot, and The Explorer. He retired from

drama temporarily to write Of Human Bondage. During

the World Var I, he joined a Red Cross in .

Here he corrected the proofs of Of Human Bondage

within the sound of German guns.

In 1916, he married Syrie in America. She was

the daughter of the famous Dr. Thomas John Barnardo

who became a well-known interior designer, both in

England and America. The marriage was a failure and

they were divorced in 1927. They had one daughter

from this marriage. At the same time, he had a male

lover, Gerald Huxton, with whom he travelled around

the world.

The Moon and Sixpence appeared in 1919, following

Maugham's travels in the Pacific. In the 1920's, he

travelled assiduously and wrote among other works,

like The Circus, The Breadwinner,

(all plays), , and short-stories. His most savage play is (1915) in which he pitches into the world of syrie and her friends, including the millionare store-owner Gordon Selfridge, who had been her protector; this kept the play off the

London stage until 1923.

Maugham returned to France in 1946. In 1950, The

Razor Edge was published. His later books were mainly critically works, like Ten Novelist and Their Novels,

The Writer's Point of View, The Vagrant Mood Point of

View and A Writer's Notebook. Very successful films,

Quartet, Trio, and Encore were made based on his short-stories. In 1954, the Insignia of the Order of the Companions of Honour was conferred upon him by the

Queen.

He died in France at the Villa Mauresque at Cap

Ferrat on December 16, 1965 when he was ninety-one.

Surprising enough, in the light of his feeling expressed in Of Human Bondage, he requested that his ashes should be laid in the ground of King's School,

Canterbury.

Source : Bunnell, V. S. Maugham's Of Human Bondage:

Brodie's Notes. London: Pan Books Ltd.,

1977.