Of Human Bondage

Philip continues his education by studying with private tutors. He learns mathematics from a man named Wharton, who drinks heavily and leads a bohemian life while studying at the local university. Wharton encourages Philip to stay longer in Germany since he thinks that Philip will learn more by experiencing life rather than studying at university. Philip also learns more about the young women living in his boarding house and their various romantic entanglements.

Philip studies German and becomes aware of innovations and debates in European culture, including plays written by Henrik Ibsen and operas composed by Richard Wagner.

Philip studies French with an older and enigmatic man named Monsieur Ducroz. One day, Philip notices that Ducroz seems ill, and he urges the man to end the lesson early, while still paying him the full fee. Later, Ducroz thanks Philip and explains that he had no money: He used Philip’s payment to buy much-needed food. Philip is shocked to realize the full extent of the poverty that even someone who is well-educated can experience.

After Philip has been living in Germany for a few months, an Englishman named Hayward moves into the boarding house. At first Philip is somewhat reserved, but Hayward makes friendly overtures, and the two of them begin to spend a lot of time together.

Hayward studied at Cambridge and had begun training to practice as a lawyer but is more interested in art and beauty. Hayward has abandoned his studies to spend time traveling. An American man named Weeks, who is also staying in the boarding house, is skeptical and disdainful of Hayward, sneering that “he does nothing but stay in pensions and write poetry” (104).

Philip, Hayward, and Weeks often talk together in the evening, usually discussing art, literature, philosophy, or religion. Weeks is better informed and often more practical, but Hayward finds him too cold and rigid in his thinking. Weeks thinks that Hayward is pretentious and not actually very smart. Philip mostly observes the two of them, noting that they often disagree, but their disagreement stimulates him to have new ideas about topics on which he has always held fixed opinions, such as religion and social class.

After listening to debates and discussions between Hayward and Weeks, Philip finds himself thinking seriously about religion. He has always been taught that individuals who were not religious, and those who practiced religions other than Christianity, were evil and damned for eternity. Nonetheless, he realizes he likes and respects people who identify as atheists. It seems to him to be a matter of chance what kind of religion someone happens to be born into. After thinking intently about all of this, Philip concludes that he no longer believes in God or the Christian faith that has long been a cornerstone in his life. This discovery is a major milestone in Philip’s independent development.

Weeks moves out of the boarding house and Philip now spends most of his time with Hayward. He is susceptible to Hayward’s ideas about becoming a freethinker who is mostly motivated by pleasure and aesthetic principles.

It is gradually becoming clear that there is a romantic relationship between two people living in the boarding house: Herr Sung, a Chinese man, and Fraulein Cacilie, a pretty young German girl. While some people, including Philip and Frau Erlin, try to turn a blind eye to the relationship, other residents (notably, the older women) are scandalized and want the relationship to end. Frau Erlin confronts Cacilie and is surprised when the young woman is unrepentant and refuses to cut off or conceal the relationship. In fact, the two of them become bolder. Eventually, Frau Erlin threatens to throw Cacilie out, but before she can do so, Cacilie and Herr Sung run away together.

Hayward departs for Italy and writes regularly to Philip, urging him to leave Germany and come to Italy. Philip desires to do so but doesn’t have enough money. He is also planning to return to England in July, having spent more than a year in Germany. By the time Philip leaves Germany, he is ready to move on.

Philip arrives back in England. A family friend named Miss Wilkinson is staying at the Carey household. Miss Wilkinson is quite independent and works as a governess in Germany. She praises Paris and often tells Philip that he should go there. Miss Wilkinson also alludes to having had lovers, which both scandalizes and titillates Philip to hear about.

Over time, Philip comes to find Miss Wilkinson more alluring, although he remains somewhat ambivalent because she is older, bold, and independent. Meanwhile, Philip and his uncle have to determine Philip’s future career plans. Philip is insistent on not going to university; there is some discussion of him practicing as a lawyer, but it is eventually decided that Philip will train to become a chartered accountant. He will be moving to London in September to begin his training; he doesn’t feel much enthusiasm about the profession, but he likes the idea of living in London.

Philip decides that he would like to pursue a relationship with Miss Wilkinson and gain some experience with women. He is shy at first but eventually summons the courage to flirt with her and finds that she is encouraging. One night, he kisses her while they are walking in the garden together.

Philip is emboldened and begins to pursue Miss Wilkinson. He is surprised that she seems to be developing genuine feelings for him; this flatters his ego and makes the whole situation more exciting to him. He begins to pressure Miss Wilkinson to meet with him secretly and allow him to kiss and caress her.

One Sunday, Philip hatches a plan that leaves him and Miss Wilkinson alone in the house together while everyone else is at church. Philip has sex with her, even though he feels a sense of repulsion while doing so.

After she and Philip have sex, Miss Wilkinson is very affectionate and clingy with Philip, which he finds slightly annoying. Miss Wilkinson even begins to suggest that she could look for work in London rather than returning to Berlin: She wants to be able to continue to see Philip, while he is already relieved by the prospect of her departure. When he imagines telling the story to Hayward, he significantly changes the details, presenting Miss Wilkinson as much younger and more beautiful than she actually is.

Miss Wilkinson throws a jealous fit one day after seeing Philip flirting with some pretty girls who are much younger than she is. She is keenly aware that she is much older than Philip. Philip is relieved when she leaves to return to Berlin. He is also annoyed when he receives a letter from Hayward, in which Hayward applauds him for having such a romantic encounter. Philip is embarrassed by the difference between what Hayward imagines and what actually transpired.

Philip moves to London and starts his new job at the accounting firm. Philip meets a fellow clerk named Watson, who comes from a wealthy family and seems disdainful of the training. Philip is puzzled by the office environment but determined to try hard.

Philip begins his work at the accounting firm, reporting to two men named Mr. Goodworthy and Mr. Carter. Philip finds himself lonely and adrift without any friends or community: “He had never imagined that it was possible to be so lonely in a great city” (158). Philip also exchanges letters with Miss Wilkinson but is frustrated by her sentimentality and emotional excess. He spends a very sad Christmas alone in London, wondering why he can never seem to find a community.

As time passes, Philip’s skill with his work does not improve, and “when he discover[s] that he ha[s] no aptitude for it, he beg[ins] to hate it” (163). Philip grows increasingly unhappy. In his correspondence with Hayward, Hayward suggests that Philip go to Paris to study art rather than waste his life working in an office. At first, Philip dismisses this idea as reckless, but after going to Paris for a business trip, he falls in love with the city. Philip makes up his mind, and in August he tells Goodworthy and Carter that he is leaving his training.

Philip’s aunt and uncle are unhappy that he is not going to continue training as an accountant, and they do not approve of his plan to go to Paris. Since Philip has not yet turned 21, his uncle still has legal control over his inheritance and refuses to provide Philip with an allowance to use in Paris, even after Aunt Louisa tries to advocate for him. Philip defiantly decides to sell some jewelry that he has inherited and use the funds to live off of until he receives his inheritance. When Aunt Louise hears about this plan, she gives Philip money from her personal savings instead. 

Philip moves to Paris. Hayward has connected him with an art school and a boarding house to stay at. He will be studying at an art school called Amitrano’s. Philip meets several other students at the art school, including a young woman named Fanny Price and a man named Mr. Clutton.

While Philip finds it somewhat uncomfortable to be around Fanny Price, she seems to take a keen interest in him and is eager to give him advice. Philip much prefers to spend time with Clutton and some of the other male art students that Clutton introduces him to. Philip finds their heated debates about art intellectually stimulating.

Clutton and Lawson (another art student) introduce Philip to a poet named Cronshaw. Philip is excited by the intellectual and bohemian world in which he is now living and thinks to himself, “I know I shall be a great artist […] I feel it in me” (190).

The art students receive regular feedback when an art expert named Foinet comes to the school and looks at their work. He gives very harsh feedback to Fanny Price, telling her that she has no talent. Philip, having seen her work, has already noticed that Fanny’s art doesn’t seem to be very good, but he tries to be kind to her. Later, Fanny complains to Philip that she thinks two other female art students are conspiring against her. She is determined not to give up: “Art’s the only thing I care for, I’m willing to give my whole life to it” (197).

Philip and Fanny Price continue to spend time together, even though other art students tease him. Philip feels a certain repulsion toward Fanny, noticing that she wears shabby clothes and eats in a voracious manner. Philip also spends a lot of time with Clutton and Lawson, and the three of them aspire to find mistresses. Philip has stopped writing to Miss Wilkinson altogether, although he sometimes feels guilty, knowing that she is probably very upset with him.

Philip, Lawson, and Clutton are all fascinated by Cronshaw and the bohemian life he leads. Cronshaw sometimes talks with Philip about his views on life and morality, and Philip reflects on how different these views are from the values he grew up with. Cronshaw playfully tells Philip that he if wants to know the meaning of life, he should look at some ornately embroidered Persian carpets.

Philip is spending more money than he anticipated in Paris, but he consoles himself that he will soon be turning 21 and will have access to his inheritance. In February, Philip decides to move in with Lawson; the two young men rationalize that they will spend less money living together, even though they continue to spend recklessly.

Philip continues to try to be kind to Fanny Price, even though she is often surly with him. One day, Fanny invites Philip to her lodgings and asks him to give her his honest opinion about her art. Philip thinks the art is terrible, but he lies and tells her that it is good.

Philip continues to enjoy life with his fellow art students. During the summer months, Philip and Lawson plan to go away together; the location they choose in the French countryside is near to where Ruth Chalice (a fellow art student) is staying for the summer. Fanny accuses Philip of wanting to pursue a relationship with Ruth, and Philip worries that Fanny has fallen in love with him.

During the summer months, Philip quietly observes the romantic relationship unfolding between Lawson and Ruth. He hopes to eventually have a love affair of his own but has very high standards and ideals about what this relationship will be like.

In the autumn, Philip returns to Paris and continues painting. He begins working on a portrait of a Spanish man and becomes friends with his model. Philip is intrigued by what he hears of Spain and begins to dream of visiting the country someday.

Fanny has stopped coming to the art school, and Philip wonders what happened to her. One day, Philip receives a note from Fanny begging him to come to her apartment; the note also mentions that Fanny has not eaten for days. Alarmed, he hurries to her home and finds that Fanny has died by suicide.

In the aftermath of Fanny’s death, Philip learns more about Fanny’s life and realizes she has been suffering in abject poverty for months. Philip contacts Fanny’s brother, Albert, who is reluctant to leave England and come to Paris. Albert is judgmental about Fanny, and Philip detests him. After arranging everything for Fanny’s funeral, Albert even hints that he wants to experience the pleasures of Paris, but Philip refuses to participate.

After Fanny’s death, Philip is deeply shaken, wondering if there is any point pursuing life as an artist. He is haunted by how Fanny’s stubborn determination led to her death. After Philip’s portrait is rejected by an important exhibition, he asks Lawson if he should give up, but Lawson thinks that Philip is wrestling with self-doubt after a setback. More accurately, “It was this desire to make a success of life which was at the bottom of Philip’s uncertainty about continuing his artistic career” (242). Philip also talks with Clutton about whether or not it makes any sense to pursue a career as an artist. Philip seeks out advice from Cronshaw, and the older man rebukes Philip for romanticizing a life that is often difficult, sordid, and impoverished.

Philip agonizes for a few more months and then asks the art expert who provides critiques (Foinet) to tell him honestly whether he has any talent. Foinet inspects Philip’s work and tells him, “I see no talent in anything you have shown me. I see industry and intelligence. You will never be anything but mediocre” (246). Foinet also cautions Philip not to romanticize poverty. Immediately after this conversation, Philip receives a letter from England and learns that Aunt Louise has died suddenly.

Philip hurries to England. He is somewhat surprised to find Mr. Carey calmer than he expected. After the funeral, Philip and Mr. Carey discuss Philip’s plans. Mr. Carey assumes that Philip will stay for a few weeks and then return to Paris in September. He is surprised and irritated to learn that Philip has decided to give up art. Mr. Carey scolds Philip: “It seems to me that what you lack is perseverance” (253). However, since Philip is now of age and has access to his inheritance, he can do whatever he wants. Mr. Carey cautions Philip that the money will run out if he is not careful. Philip impulsively announces that he wants to train to become a doctor.

Philip reflects on his decision to give up art: He does not believe his time abroad was wasted because he thinks it taught him how to think for himself and have a keen appreciation of beauty. Philip feels a sense of optimism as he prepares to “set out for the second time to London to make his third start in life” (259).