Study On Philip’ Inferiority Feelings In Of Human Bondage

Among William Somerset Maugham’s works, his autobiographical novel Of HumanBondage is acknowledged as his masterpiece. And it lays the foundation for him to be aworld-class novelist. Ever since its publication in1915, the book has drawn wide attentionamong readers and critics all over the world. In1998, the Modern Library ranked it on the listof the100best English-language novels of the20thcentury.This thesis initiates the attentive analysis of the splendid work from the perspective ofIndividual Psychology, more specifically, Adlerian Theory. As the founder of the school ofIndividual Psychology, Alfred Adler asserts that human beings are in a permanent mood ofinferiority feelings, which constantly spurs them on to strive for completion and perfectionthrough active association with society. Similarly, in Of Human Bondage, Maugham not onlyportrays Philip’s inferiority feelings, but also reflects the process of Philip’s ridding ofinferiority feelings, striving for compensation and acquiring transcendence. Therefore, thisthesis attempts to interpret the novel from Adler’s inferiority-compensation-transcendencetheory based on affinity between them.The paper consists of four chapters apart from introduction and conclusion. Introductionprovides a general introduction to William Somerset Maugham and his literary works, theliterature review, the framework and the significance of this thesis.Chapter One centers on exploring the causes of Philip’s inferiority feelings from fouraspects including lack of love, physical disability, family and social elements. In light ofAdler, lack of parental love, physical defect and social factors can lead to inferiority feelings.Living in an indifferent world, it is impossible for Philip to avoid inferiority feelings. ChapterTwo goes on to deal with Philip’s efforts to cast off his inferiority feelings and his dynamic force of striving for superiority and compensation through continuous pursuing, namely, thethree interdependent life tasks: work, love, and friendship, which indicates the necessary waysto obtain compensation. Chapter Three is an analysis of Philip’s physical and spiritualtranscendence, which covers a detailed analysis of Philip’s physical transcendence. He hasbroken out of bondages, such as family, deformity and the chains of poverty. At the sametime, in the process of cultivating social interest, Philip has determined to come down to earth,and devote himself to society and lead a worldly life with Sally. Chapter Four tries to pointout Maugham’s creative motivation by analyzing Maugham’s life experiences. Maugham, toa certain extent, suffers from severe inferiority feelings, which impels him to shape thecharacter Philip to relieve his pain through a process of emotional catharsis and venting ofemotional problems.The conclusion summarizes what have been discussed in the previous chapters, that is,the causes of Philip’s inferiority feelings, his compensation and transcendence andMaugham’s creative motivation. Through the analysis of Of Human Bondage from Adleriantheory, the aim of the present thesis is to let people have a broader understanding of the novel.It also restates that people can increase the individual’s ability to fulfill his/her potential bymeans of building a harmonious relationship with the social world and devoting themselves tothe social life. What is more, it provides one way of getting salvation for modern people.