Of Human Bondage

A Fool's Love Story or A Foolish Love Story?

The synopsis reads:
One of the great novels of the twentieth century, Of Human Bondage tells a fascinating tale of sexual obsession . . . The unforgettable love story is as timeless as it s involving, an intimate tale of human relationships that Theodore Dreiser called “a work of genius.”

At the time I read More Far Eastern Tales, I fell in love with W. Somerset Maugham’s simple but lucid style of writing. So when I started reading Of Human Bondage, it was with great expectations. But soon I found that completing the book was not only an onerous task but also an unpleasant one.

Of Human Bondage is a hopeless one-sided love story of Philip and Mildred. Philip, orphaned at nine, is adopted by his vicar uncle and wife. The couple’s strict Christian upbringing leaves Philip yearning for a life filled with adventure. Soon he leaves home filled with hope only to meet failure in every pursuit before enrolling for Medicine at 23. As a medical student, he meets Mildred—an ugly but haughty waitress—and falls in love to such an abysmal depth from where there’s no rescuing him. And the saga of obsession, betrayal and self-realization begins.

Critics claim this book to be Maugham’s autobiography with Philip playing his self. Maugham, orphaned at 10, was raised by his uncle, the Vicar of Whitstable, England. He also studied Medicine at his uncle’s insistence but never practiced it and saw success as a writer. Maugham was a bisexual; his bitter and unsuccessful marriage with Syrie Wellcome led him to portray the women in his novels in a bad light. The portrayal of Mildred is testimony to this fact.

Of Human Bondage (1915) initially received bad criticism both in England and America, with the New York World describing the subject of the main protagonist Philip Carey as the sentimental servitude of a poor fool. However the influential critic, also a novelist Theodore Dreiser rescued the novel referring to it as a work of genius, and comparing it to a Beethoven symphony. This criticism gave the book the lift it needed and it has since never been out of print. [Source: Wikipedia]

This “love” story is neither romantic nor melodramatic that after a while, the reader stops commiserating with Philip’s failures and feels a strong urge for reproaching him for his foolishness. The characterization of Philip as a saint and of Mildred as nothing short of a slut can only be a work of fiction or the author’s addled brains.

As Philip flings himself to the throes of obsessive love to abject poverty, even the most kindest of readers could not care less about the hero finding his true love or his true purpose in life. A fool’s love story or a foolish love story is for you to decide.