“The Burden of Human Passion” is one of William Somerset Maugham’s iconic works, a novel that brought the writer worldwide fame. If you are in doubt whether to read or not to read the work, you should familiarize yourself with the plot of “The Burden of Human Passion” by William Maugham. Reviews of the novel will also be presented in the article.
Summary
The novel is about a long period of formation of the personality of the young man Philip Curry, about finding yourself, meaning in life, first love and the formation of values. The novel covers the path of growing up a hero from childhood to age, when, having gone through all the trials of youth, the character is mature and steady in his views.
Philip, early left an orphan, was raised by his uncle in accordance with strict religious guidelines. He has a physical ailment that causes him great discomfort - this is lameness on one leg. Due to his lack, the boy suffers from childhood bullying of his peers, and blames himself, believing that he is hampered by the lack of unconditional faith in God and the inability to pray with full devotion.
Going to Berlin to get an education, Philip meets a young man who, not distinguished by high intelligence, but claiming to be it, significantly affects the views of the protagonist. The character shares the atheistic convictions of a friend, believing that it is necessary to observe moral standards that are generated by conscience, but not blind faith.
A year later, upon returning home, the hero meets his first love, which, however, does not differ in depth: Philip himself soon realizes that he fell in love not with a real person, but with a beautiful image drawn by imagination.
Next, the main character leaves for London to comprehend accounting. This happens at the insistence of his uncle and brings only disappointment, Philip feels the routine and boredom of paper and computing.
The hero decides to join old friends who study art in Paris. Such a choice goes against the will of the uncle, but at first it brings satisfaction: the opportunity to become part of the creative circle of the capital captivates the young man with his romance.
A new love drama leads to another change in worldview, after which the main character goes to London with the intention of becoming a doctor. Here he finally meets a woman who is ready to give love, take care of him and seems to suit him perfectly. But the meeting with the waitress, once exciting the imagination of Philip, revives old feelings in him.
It is likely that relations with this girl, not distinguished by her intelligence, caring, or elevated aspirations, are turning points: they are full of mutual insults, pains and obviously pull the young man down and prevent them from developing. Only when he was at the bottom, without money, without love, without work, Philip recovered himself and found the strength in himself to fix everything.
In the last chapters of the book, the hero finishes his studies and begins medical practice, meets a worthy girl and makes her an offer, stops asking endless unanswered questions about the meaning of life, and learns to find joy in earthly and simple but important things - in family, home, work.
about the author
The author of The Burden of Human Passion, Somerset Maugham, was born in Paris in 1874 into a lawyer's family.
The first of his novels (Lisa from Lambeth, Mrs. Craddock) did not have much success. However, the writer made a firm decision to devote himself completely to a literary career. Success came in the field of drama: the author was especially good at dialogues. Subsequently, Maugham became a recognized and wealthy writer. About twenty of his great works and a huge number of stories and short stories are now published and translated into Russian.
Critic reviews
Critics have written a lot of positive reviews about the “Burden of Human Passion” by William Maugham.
It is customary to attribute the work to the genre of the "novel of education." That is, he is put on a par with books such as Jane Air by Charlotte Bronte, The Education of Feelings by Gustav Flaubert or The Ordinary Story of Ivan Goncharov, which also tell about the way a person grows up. Maugham focuses on the relationship between external changes in the hero’s love and career and the internal state, current ideas about the future.
The author does not bring to the fore the influence of the political and public life of that time (the novel takes place at the beginning of the 20th century), he equally considers the significance of society, the closest circle of communication and internal reflection in the formation of the character. The surrounding world, including the bohemian, and the so-called "higher" society, are described by Maugham in a characteristic ironic manner with great attention to detail.
In reviews of Somerset Maugham's “The Burden of Human Passion”, critics draw attention to a large number of deep philosophical reflections and the difficult message of the novel. The writer not only raises the question of the meaning of life and the right path in it, but also offers his answer. Probably, the answer to which the character comes will not satisfy someone and not everyone will like it, but he seems to be close enough to the author: happiness is in simplicity, unpretentiousness, gratitude to fate.
Many people call Maugham’s book “The Burden of Human Passion” a program in Somerset Maugham’s work. The theme of overcoming earthly base motives and finding a spiritual beginning in oneself is one of the key topics in almost every book of his. This is the “Moon and a penny” or “Theater”, where art and talent are the winners in the battle with everyday life, earthly turmoil, age, as well as “Razor-edge”, where mercy comes to the fore.
At the same time, in terms of style and plot, the novel is somewhat atypical for the writer. Firstly, the distance between him and his main character is so small that many called the “Burden of Human Passion” a biography. Secondly, Maugham, as in no other work before, makes the reader empathize with the hero, abandoning the usual writer's mask of a detached satirist. Although the author has repeatedly emphasized how important it is for him to remain an observer, albeit sometimes subjective and interested.
The irony of Maugham, if manifested, does not look evil or one-sided. The writer only states the existing shortcomings and contradictions in the thoughts and character of the character. Given many autobiographical details, it can be interpreted as a critical view of the author on himself in his young years.
Negative criticism
As for the negative reviews about the “Burden of Human Passion” by Maugham, the storyline devoted to the relationship between Philip and the waitress Mildred, and the fact that she was given a huge amount of text, became the most discussed and misunderstood.
In particular, many people call inexplicable tolerance and mercy of Philip to a girl, shown in spite of the unpleasant joint past.
Readers and critics have repeatedly asked questions: how could a deep and kind-hearted youth without memory fall in love with an unremarkable and frankly empty, immoral woman? For the sake of what endures her whims and remains with her, although obviously the misfortune of both? Why helps her even when she no longer loves?
One of the readers in the review of the book “The Burden of Human Passion” finds the answer in the hero’s penchant for masochism, blaming the author for the unworthiness and even absurdity of the behavior of the characters of the love line. But they explain Philip’s strange attraction in another way - namely, as a manifestation of a person’s inconsistency deep in his essence. Indeed, the ambiguity of the nature of people is a key motive of many works of the author.
Overcoming precisely this inexplicable passion is one of the main stages of the hero’s moral development and achievement of harmony.
Another well-known claim to the novel is the ambiguity of the ending. Finding a family, work, the transition from endless quests to everyday work, a calm measured life is presented by Maugham as a happy ending.
Authors of reviews of the book “The Burden of Human Passion” object: how can a character’s usual immersion in routine be considered a good end? In the novel there is not even any indication that Philip has a real love for his future wife. And the girl herself is pragmatic and, although her mature wisdom is an undoubted advantage, she clearly does not glow with romantic feelings.
Heroes are waiting for a life ahead, which seems to be good, but too banal, not elevated and not inspiring.
In contrast to such an accusation, the arguments of other critics who believe that Philip reasonably determined the main values ​​for himself and build a future life in accordance with them are cited. In addition, the writer does not depart from the realistic style of narration, and the end of the book remains within the framework of a realistic development of events. The hero, having gone through a difficult path, understood a lot, and it is not necessary at all that readers must absolutely agree with his conclusions. It is unlikely that the author claimed the invention of a "recipe for happiness", suitable for everyone.
Opinion of the author
Contrary to numerous positive reviews of contemporaries, the author himself did not consider the novel his best work. Subsequently, he emphasized the role of chance in the fact that the work became so popular. In the book “To summarize,” where the writer discusses his own works and reveals some secrets of their writing, Maugham mentions several famous American writers who timely praised the novel. He thanks them for the scale of the book’s fame.
Somerset Maugham called his novel somewhat drawn out, admitting that at the time of its writing he was influenced by the general ideas that were significant for fiction. At that time, a long and maximally detailed work was recognized as a masterpiece. In later years, Maugham even rewrote the novel, excluding large chunks of text and striving for brevity, but the earlier version of the novel remained popular and more recognized.
What else do readers pay attention to in reviews of Somerset Maugham's “Burden of Human Passion”? Many note that from the point of view of working with the word, the writer considered clarity and simplicity as the key principles in writing the novel, abandoning the then fashionable, but not always appropriate metaphor of presentation and emphasized sophistication of the syllable.
The reaction of contemporaries
Maugham’s novel The Burden of Human Passion, published in 1915, was immediately very warmly received both at the writer’s homeland and abroad. It turned out to be attractive to the reader by the lack of explicit propaganda of any particular ideology. At the same time, the author’s position is clear and is manifested mainly not in words, but in the behavior of the hero.
It turned out that the author’s non-standard approach to prescribing the character’s motivation was well received. Most of the actions committed by the heroes on the pages of the novel are explained primarily by personal characteristics of the character, and not by the position in society or belonging to a particular class. For Somerset Maugham, personalities are important. Universality and high collectivity, a description of a whole generation or a large category of people is not characteristic of the novel.
For example, the rejection of Philip's religious beliefs instilled in childhood, Maugham explains by the fact that the young man by nature had no predisposition to faith.
The writer fundamentally refuses to convey in detail the political and social situation in which the characters are. According to him, novels whose action is too closely tied to time and place of action too quickly lose their relevance.
The writer is right or not, but it’s hard to argue that Somerset Maugham’s book “The Burden of Human Passion” was interesting to the contemporaries of the writer and remains so for the current reader.
Autobiographical motifs in the novel
The “burden of human passions” is not an autobiography in the strict sense of the word. The novel has many fictional and collective images. Nevertheless, many key events in the life of the main character of the book and its author coincide.
Like Philip, the writer was orphaned early and was raised by his uncle in an atmosphere of religiosity and severity.
Somerset Maugham endows his hero with a significant physical defect - limp. The illness causes the boy great suffering - the evil ridicule of peers leads to great shyness and low self-esteem. The writer himself throughout his childhood also suffered because of another drawback - stuttering.
As a result, being a rather reserved child, Maugham became interested in books early and called reading his favorite pastime, which again united him with Philip.
The character of the book, like the author, receives a medical education, having received many life lessons during his studies. He is closely confronted with poverty and lives for several years in severe financial difficulties, meets people of different views and social status.
The writer does not deny that many of the thoughts expressed by the hero about philosophy, science, literature, art and relations with people are his own views in this or that period of his life.
The author admits that not all the events described in the book were experienced by him personally. He watched some from the side, but they had a great influence on him. Be that as it may, the writer, in his own words, had to experience the feelings and emotions of Philip Curry.
Characters
In addition to the main character of the novel, which the reader observes throughout the development of the plot, the book contains many rather remarkable characters who are no less detailed and bring to Philip's life a certain philosophical thought that affects his views.
For example, the poet Kronshaw, who reasoned in accessible terms about the theory of determinism, deserves attention. Having studied some other works of the author ("Catalina", "Patterned Veil"), you can see that a character with a similar worldview appears more than once in Maugham.
Read or not read
Having read the reviews of readers, it can be noted that the book was most enjoyed by those who got acquainted with it in their youth, since at this age the issues of self-determination are most relevant, which are inevitably accompanied by dilemmas and doubts.
The choice of books to read is a very individual matter, but it is safe to say that the “Burden of Human Passion” is worth reading. Many readers attribute the novel to significant works that must be read by all cultural people. Literary scholars have long included the novel in the hundred best works of the millennium. Few people leave the book indifferent.
Original or translation
In reviews of the novel, readers note the author’s excellent syllable, its light and at the same time recognizable style. It is interesting that the native language of the writer was French, and he fully mastered English only by the age of 10-12.
At the disposal of the Russian reader, if it is not possible to read the original work, there are several translations that are considered quite good.
Distributed, for example, is a translation by E. Golysheva and B. Izakov, edited by S. Markish, preserving, as far as possible, the writer's narrative.
Of course, some linguistic and semantic subtleties in translation are extremely difficult to convey. So for anyone who can boast a good command of English, it is preferable to familiarize yourself with the novel in the original.