Bondages of the Protagonist Philip Carey in Maugham's of Human Bondage and His Long Pilgrimage towards Freedom

DOI

10.2991/icelaic-17.2017.109How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Of Human Bondage; spiritual pilgrimage; style; freedom

Abstract

The strength of W. Somerset Maugham's Of Human Bondage mainly lies in its themes pursued with thoroughness and intensity, in its honesty and sincerity of feeling. The protagonist Philip's experiences is a typical representation of one who suffers from human bondages and struggles for freedom, and eventually finds truth and meaning in the chaotic life. In this novel, Maugham expressed more strongly the central concern of his writing: the importance of the physical, intellectual and spiritual freedom of the individual. The novel concerns with varieties of personal bondage. Through Philip's travail, we see he suffers from the bondage of passion, of religious belief and of emotional dilemmas, etc. Philip gradually frees himself from the bondages of religion, passion, class-prejudice, art, ambition, economic dependence, and the natural human desire to discover meaning and order in the universe. The revelation of life philosophy through his pilgrimage gives the enlightenment: one can overcome his weak points and surpass human bondages by exerting his will and reason.

Copyright

© 2017, the Authors. Published by Atlantis Press.

Open Access

This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Xiaohong Ji
PY  - 2017/12
DA  - 2017/12
TI  - Bondages of the Protagonist Philip Carey in Maugham's of Human Bondage and His Long Pilgrimage towards Freedom
BT  - Proceedings of 4th International Conference on Education, Language, Art and Intercultural Communication (ICELAIC 2017)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 482
EP  - 490
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/icelaic-17.2017.109
DO  - 10.2991/icelaic-17.2017.109
ID  - Ji2017/12
ER  -