Of Human Bondage

I. Background Information A. Title – Of Human Bondage B. Author – W. Somerset Maugham C. Type of Plot – Fictional Biography D. Setting – England, Germany, and France between the years 1885 and 1905 E. Date first published – 1915 II. Opening Episode The novel begins in London, England, around the year 1885. Philip Carey is a young boy with a physical handicap; he has a clubfoot. Philip is brought in by his nurse to see his mother one last time before she …

…which course to follow.” This theme tends to be exemplified throughout the course of the novel. The author does an excellent job showing the reader that no man is all good or all bad, and that there is no such thing as all loving or all hating in any human relationship. IX. Summary Sentence Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham, is the tale of one man’s struggle to overcome the ambivalence of life.