Of Human Bondage Summary
W. Somerset Maugham

Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham William Somerset Maugham, born in 1874, was orphaned at the age of ten and placed under the guardianship of his uncle, the vicar of All Saints' Church in Whi... Read more

I The day broke gray and dull.  The clouds hung heavily, and there was a rawness in the air that suggested snow.  A woman servant came into a room in which a child was sleeping and drew the ... Read more

Biography EssayIn a career spanning more than sixty years, W. Somerset Maugham wrote a handful of novels which are still studied as modernist works. His ear for language, the use of actual—somet... Read more

W. Somerset Maugham was one of the most prolific and popular authors in world literature. During a career that spanned sixty-five years, he attained great renown, first as a dramatist, then as the aut... Read more

In a career spanning more than sixty years, W. Somerset Maugham wrote a handful of novels which are still studied as modernist works. His ear for language, the use of actual--sometimes grim--experie... Read more

Few modern writers have been as prolific or as versatile as William Somerset Maugham. He wrote twenty novels-the best of which are Of Human Bondage (1915), The Moon and Sixpence (1919), Cakes and Ale ... Read more

W. Somerset Maugham ranks among the most prolific, versatile, and successful British authors. Among his more than eighty books, five are usually classified as travel literature. The composition of the... Read more

In the following essay, published as a foreword to the first edition of Of Human Bondage, Maugham describes the book as an autobiographical novel that freed him "from the pains and unhappy reco... Read more

Naik is an Indian educator and critic. In the following excerpt, he argues that Of Human Bondage is a "novel of adolescence"—the purpose of which was for the author to find himsel... Read more

In the following excerpt, Burt comments on the autobiographical aspects of Of Human Bondage as well as the dramatic skill with which Maugham relates the various forms of "bondage" the ch... Read more

In the following excerpt, Loss argues that Of Human Bondage meets the criteria for a bildungsroman and examines Maugham's twin themes of bondage and grace in regards to Philip's relation... Read more

In the following excerpt, Payne commends Maugham for creating a sustained interest in his protagonist, but criticizes him for missing "the broad effects" and "large issues of a hu... Read more

In the following essay, Goodrich summarizes the critical reaction to Of Human Bondage. During the last decade, the vast, passive jury, in whose hands rests the fate of all writing aspiring to a ber... Read more

In the following excerpt, Spencer discusses the strengths and weaknesses of Of Human Bondage. One of the difficulties involved in writing a critical essay on Somerset Maugham is that he seems to ha... Read more

In the following essay, Spence traces the novel's rise in popularity and notes the critics whom he believes played a fundamental role in the novel's emergence as a classic. W. Somerse... Read more