69 pages • 2 hours read
W. Somerset MaughamOf Human Bondage
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1915A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Background
Authorial Context: W. Somerset Maugham
William Somerset Maugham was born in Paris in 1874 and died in 1965 in Nice, France. Many events from Maugham’s life seem to mirror plot events that occur in Of Human Bondage, which have led to some biographical interpretations of the novel.
Maugham was orphaned at a young age and went to live with his aunt and uncle in the small town of Whitstable, England (possibly the inspiration for the fictional town of Blackstable, where Philip spends his childhood). As a child, Maugham spoke with a stammer, which may parallel Philip’s experience of having clubfoot. Maugham was unhappy at the boarding school where he studied; he eventually went to Heidelberg, Germany, and then spent a brief stint training to be an accountant. Eventually, he settled on a career as a doctor, completing his medical training in London. Maugham’s experiences as a physician led him to write his first novel, and he eventually moved into a career as a writer. In its general outlines, Maugham’s early life and the formative events that occurred are thus very similar to what Philip experiences in the novel.
Maugham was also primarily attracted to other men, although he did have long-term relationships with women as well. Philip does not share this sexual orientation, which likely would have been controversial in a novel published in 1915. However, some readers have noted that Mildred, Philip’s main love interest, is consistently described with a somewhat androgynous appearance and that Philip is highly ambivalent about his persistent desire for her. Some critics have interpreted Philip’s desire for Mildred as a coded way for Maugham to express and explore his attraction to other men.
Literary Context: The Bildungsroman
Bildungsroman, a German term meaning “forming,” refers to a literary narrative—often a novel—that focuses on the experiences of a single central protagonist as they mature into an adult. The form arose in the 18th and 19th centuries: Many cite the 1796 German novel Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe as the first example of the genre. Well-known examples include Great Expectations and David Copperfield, both by Charles Dickens; Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte; and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce.
The protagonist of the genre is often an orphan and typically occupies a somewhat ambiguous class position, wherein they need to arrive at a career or some means of financial security. This ambiguous class position differentiates them from someone who is wealthy enough to rely on inherited assets or someone who will have no options other than continuing with subsistence labor. The genre’s popularity reflects changing social norms under the rise of industrial capitalism in western Europe and North America, attempting to grapple with an increasingly complex world in which there was both greater choice and greater confusion. Individual protagonists often grapple with a need to create systems of meaning and come to understand their own values, especially as a result of false starts and mistakes.
By the end of the classical bildungsroman, the protagonist typically arrives at a settled career and social position and often reflects an integration into the social order through marriage. While the genre has evolved and has been modernized, critiqued, and subverted by subsequent writers, many novels that can be considered contemporary examples of the bildungsroman continue to be published.
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By W. Somerset Maugham
