Of Human Bondage: Analysis of Major Characters
"Of Human Bondage" is a novel by W. Somerset Maugham that intricately explores the complexities of human relationships through its major characters, centering on the life of Philip Carey, a clubfooted orphan. Philip's upbringing under the care of his strict uncle and aunt shapes him into a shy and idealistic individual, grappling with both personal insecurities and the search for meaning in life. Throughout the narrative, he navigates various professions and social circles, influenced by a diverse cast of characters, including Mildred Rogers, a waitress who wields significant emotional control over him, and Sally Athelney, who ultimately provides him with a sense of peace and stability.
Key figures such as William Carey, Philip's hypocritical uncle, and Louisa Carey, his timid aunt, contribute to Philip's early challenges, while friends like G. Etheredge Hayward and Cronshaw offer insights that lead him toward self-discovery. The novel delves into themes of love, desire, and the inherent struggles of forging one’s path, illustrating how each character plays a vital role in shaping Philip’s understanding of himself and his place in the world. Through these relationships, Maugham presents a poignant examination of the human condition, emphasizing that the journey of self-realization is fundamentally personal and often fraught with challenges.
Of Human Bondage: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: W. Somerset Maugham
First published: 1915
Genre: Novel
Locale: England
Plot: Naturalism
Time: Early twentieth century
Philip Carey, a clubfooted orphan boy reared by relatives under strict and pietistic conditions. The result of this rearing, and of his physical disability as well, is a retiring and idealistic boy who has ahead of him a long battle to overcome the inhibitions with which his aunt and uncle have saddled him and the lack of physical confidence that comes from his misshapen foot. To find his place in life, he tries many professions: clerk, medical student, art student—the list is quite long. He also listens eagerly to somewhat older friends who, supposedly, can tell him what life means. Through them, he learns that art and literature, morals and religion, are relative to the observer and that even the great truths of philosophers suffer similar limitations. Philip's emotional education is the work of several women, chief among them Mildred Rogers and Sally Athelney. Life with Sally and medical practice in a small English town finally make up Philip's “figure in the carpet,” which, according to a friend, each person must discover alone.
William Carey, Philip's uncle, an Anglican clergyman. Poorly equipped to rear a child, he is represented as fairly ignorant, thoroughly selfish, and completely hypocritical.
Louisa Carey, William's wife and Philip's aunt, a timid woman who fears to reveal to Philip how much she cares for him. An inheritance from her gives Philip needed funds at one point in his life.
Miss Wilkinson, a friend of the Careys, a governess on holiday from her winter post in Germany. It is she who initiates Philip into the life of love, but Philip soon finds her distasteful and has no more to do with her.
G. Etheredge Hayward, Philip's friend for many years. Philip first meets Hayward in Germany and constantly draws on Hayward's wider knowledge for ideas about life and books. He finally comes to see Hayward as a hollow man.
Fanny Price, an older art student of Philip's Paris years. She does more than guide Philip's artistic education; her suicide reveals to him the pain of her hopeless love for him, as well as the cruelty of love in general. Philip accepts as axiomatic the idea that in love there is always someone who loves and someone who lets himself be loved.
Cronshaw, a Parisian friend and a poet. It is he who reveals to Philip “the figure in the carpet”: the truth that each person must make out his own pattern in the carpet that life spreads before him.
Mildred Rogers, a waitress in a London teashop. Philip meets her during his early days as a medical student; from then on, Mildred exercises a monstrous power over him. Although she is vain, ignorant, and mildly ugly, he is utterly unable to resist the power of her whims or requests. She drains him of money, comes back to him when her own love affairs go badly, and senselessly ruins many of his possessions in a mad fury.
Norah Nesbit, a divorcée. A hack writer, a little older than Philip, she instructs him in taste and loves him truly. As usual, when Philip is loved, he cannot love in return.
Harry Griffiths, a handsome friend of Philip who takes Mildred away from him for a time.
Thorpe Athelney, a patient and an older friend of Philip. The humility and the wisdom of the man, his acceptance of a low place in life, and the routine pleasures of his family are what finally reveal to Philip his share of wisdom and deliver him from the bondage of false hopes and desires.
Sally Athelney, Thorpe's daughter, who first becomes Philip's mistress and then his wife. She is a simple creature and can give none of the excitement provided by Mildred nor the understanding that came from Norah. Yet she gives Philip what no other woman offered him: calm and peace.