Somerset Maugham "The Burden of Human Passions." Somerset Maugham “The Burden of Human Passion” (1915)
Depth dramatic conflicts determines the structure of Maugham's novels, which form a significant part of his literary heritage. The hero of The Burden of Human Passions, Philip Carey, suffers deeply. Having been orphaned early, he lost love, care and affection. His dream of becoming an artist does not come true, his relationship with Mildred is deeply painful.
IN literal translation the name of this is pretty much autobiographical novel- “About human slavery.” This is the name of one of the chapters of the work of the philosopher of the 17th century. Spinoza's Ethics. Spinoza's teaching is close to Maugham. The definition of affects as the cause of human slavery had a particularly strong influence on him. Man is a slave to his passions, his affects, but he does not know the reasons for the drives he experiences. And because they are hidden from him, his suffering increases. Only reason, only turning to activities useful to people can free a person from slavery. The hero of the novel “The Burden of Human Passions” goes through a difficult path of knowledge. Having become a doctor and helping people, he gains long-awaited freedom. But liberation from slavery occurs not only for this reason. Maugham believes that you can feel happy when you understand: “the pattern of human life” is very simple - “a person is born, works, gets married, gives birth to children and dies.” Awareness of this truth frees a person from many illusions, and thereby helps him to live.
By its nature, “The Burden of Human Passions” is “ Novel of education", the hero's entry into life. It conveys the movement from childhood to adolescence, and then to youth and maturity. This path is marked important events, many discoveries, overcoming difficulties. The hero gets to know himself, people, life. He has to make choices, solve more and more new problems. Most a difficult situation appears in the life of Philip Carey with the appearance of Mildred. The story of his love for this woman is described in detail, completely, and in detail. The full depth of the grief, pain, despair, humiliation, powerlessness he experiences is conveyed; the rise of hope and despair are shown. “His life seemed terrible while happiness was the criterion, but now that he decided that it could be approached with a different standard, he again gained strength. Happiness mattered as little as grief. Both of these, along with other small events of his life, were woven into its pattern.” Everything that happens to him next will only intertwine new thread into the complex pattern of his life, and when the end comes, he will rejoice that the pattern is close to completion. It will be a work of art, and it will not become less beautiful because he alone knows about its existence, and with his death it will disappear. Philip was happy.
In the context of early-century English literature, Maugham's novel is thematically close to such works as The Longest Journey (1907) by E. M. Forster, Sons and Lovers (1913) by D. H. Lawrence, and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916). ) D. Joyce. These novels were written by writers of different aesthetic orientations, but each of them tells about the hero’s entry into life, about the search for his calling.
In the novel "The Moon and a Penny" we're talking about about the tragedy of the artist. The theme of the scientist’s fate is heard in the novel “Color Cover”. The fate of the actress is described in the novel “Theatre”. The heroes of these works are people devoted to their calling, resisting the philistine elements for the sake of serving painting, science, and the stage. By finding himself, a person weaves a thread into his destiny.
Maugham's talent manifested itself with particular force in the short story genre. The peculiarity of Maugham's stories lies in the combination of sharp plotting and psychologism. “Character studies are my specialty,” said Maugham. At the same time, he noted his tendency to dramatize the action and the severity of the development of the conflict. In the story “Something Human,” Maugham wrote: “ I love stories that have a beginning, middle and end. I definitely need “salt”, some meaning. Mood is wonderful, but mood alone is a frame without a picture." Maugham followed the principle: to be entertaining without being whimsical, to create fascinating stories, remaining true to life. And one more feature: the presence in the story of the author himself, on whose behalf the story is most often told. Sometimes it's yourself Somerset Maugham- insightful, not striving for teachings and moralizing, somewhat alienated from what is happening; sometimes it is someone else - the “storyteller”, whose image, without merging with the image of the author, remains somewhat close to him; sometimes the narrator appears under the name of Ashenden, whose image and appearance are reminiscent of Maugham. No matter who tells the story, it always keeps the reader and listener in suspense, and the denouement impresses with its surprise.
The life situations that Maugham conveys may seem unexpected, a person’s behavior unpredictable, his actions unforeseen, but behind all this there is something completely understandable, “something human,” as the writer himself defines it. Many of Maugham's stories have become classics of the short story genre ("Rain", "An Hour Before Fife-O-Clock", "Sanator", etc.).
In critical and biographical literature, the interpretation of Maugham's work and personality is contradictory and ambiguous. One of the first biographers of the writer (T. Morgan, 1980) focuses on the negative aspects of Maugham’s nature and character. He writes about him as a cynic, a misogynist, a person who reacts painfully to any criticism and easily compromises. R. Calder (1989) creates a different image: not a misanthrope or a cynic, not a bitter and embittered person, but a witty and ironic, sympathetic and tolerant, invariably hardworking and firm, independently and decisively making his way in literature. There is no unity in assessments either artistic merit works of the writer: for some, Maugham is the author of works designed for the undemanding reader, whose tastes he is guided by, for others, he is the creator of novels and stories that have deservedly taken a prominent place in the literature of modern times. The reader made his choice independently, having long shown interest in Maugham’s works.
Maugham's uncompromising critique of moral and many social phenomena in bourgeois society it gets along with conciliation. The aristocrat's contempt for bourgeois commercialism was combined with the bourgeois idea of the struggle for existence.
Maugham devoted over thirty years to the theater. All creative path Maugham the playwright is conventionally divided into three periods. During the first period, which lasted from the early 900s to 1910. Maugham created mainly farcical comedies: Lady Frederick (1905), Mrs. Dot (1904), Jack Straw (1905). The second period of the playwright's work (1910-1920) is characterized by the creation of serious social and everyday plays. The play "The Circle" (1919). Among the works of the third period (1920-1933), the socio-political anti-war plays “The Unknown” (staged in 1920) and “For Military Merit” (1932) stand out.
Maugham the novelist (he wrote 19 novels) convincingly showed that at the center of the most powerful and rich empire tens of thousands of her subjects eke out a half-starved existence (“Lisa from Lambeth” - 1897). The main theme of the novel “Mrs. Craddock” (1900) is the decline of the nobility and the collapse of the power of the aristocracy under the pressure of the advancing bourgeoisie. “The Burden of Human Passions” (1915) is an autobiographical work written in the traditions realistic novel education. His hero Philip Carey is gradually freed from a sense of class superiority and contempt for people physical labor. He comes to the conclusion that only work, kindness, love and family give true satisfaction and happiness. The novels “The Moon and a Penny” (1919) and “The Painted Veil” (1925) reveal the drama of an intellectual in bourgeois society. Maugham wrote over 100 stories. They are conventionally divided into three groups. The first series of stories, published in the early 20s, has an anti-colonial theme.
Second series of stories dedicated to work Maugham in the Intelligence Service, published as a separate collection in 1928 under the title Ashenden, or the British Agent. The author debunks the myth created by the bourgeois press around the Intelligence Service, whose activities were presented in a semi-legendary light.
From the third group of stories, the story “The Fall of Edward Barnard” should be highlighted. Maugham exposes severe criticism cult of money in bourgeois society. In one of latest stories- “Unconquered” - Maugham expressed his admiration for the heroism of the French people in their fight against the fascist invaders. D. Aldridge praised the story.
Maugham's works are characterized by social protest, loyalty to high moral principles, deep humanism, realistic approach to reality. Simplicity, clarity and euphony characterize the writer’s works.
This piece is included in the 100 best books according to Modern Library.
"The Burden of Human Passions" Of Human Bondage) is one of the most famous novels English writer William Somerset Maugham, written in 1915. The main character of the book is Philip Carey, a lame orphan whose fate can be traced from an unhappy childhood to student years. The hero of the novel, Philip Carey, faced many trials. Having been orphaned early, he was deprived of parental care and affection, his dream of becoming an artist remained a dream, and his love for a limited, vicious woman brought only suffering. But Philip courageously went through all the trials prepared for him and managed to find his place in life.
According to Maugham, The Burden of Men is "a novel, not an autobiography: although there are many autobiographical details in it, much more is fictional." And yet it should be noted that, like his hero, Maugham lost his parents at an early age, was raised by a priest uncle, grew up in the town of Whitstable (in the novel Blackstable), studied at the royal school in Canterbury (in the novel Turkenbury), studied literature and philosophy in Heidelberg and medicine in London. Unlike Philip, Maugham was not lame, but he did stutter.
My impressions:
I liked the novel. I generally love English writers. Interesting read, captivating plot.
The love story of the main character, Philip Carey, really struck me. In my opinion, this is not even love, but some kind of painful addiction.
“Philip perfectly sees all her shortcomings: she is ugly, vulgar, her manners are full of disgusting affectation, her rude speech speaks of poverty of thought. However, Philip wants to get her at any cost, even to the point of marriage, although he realizes that this will be ruinous for him” (source:). This moment is not clear to me at all.
The history of their relationship is a series of constant humiliations for Filipai, and it seems that there will be no end to them.
But no, the end has come. When in her fall this woman was already at the very bottom, earning a living as a prostitute, he saved her again. He pulled me out of this hole together with a small child, took him for support with his already meager financial situation. But he saved her out of pity, philanthropy, in memory of past feelings, without the desire for her love and renewal of relations. But this was not enough for the short woman; she wanted everything that had happened before and that could no longer be.
The one who was lying at his feet like a rug suddenly no longer begs for love, but experiences physical disgust...
This affected Mildred so much that she chose to continue her fall rather than live near him. God be with her, I don’t feel sorry for her, I feel sorry for her small child, whom she dragged with her to hell. The girl died, and Philip became so attached to her.
At the end of the novel, Philip marries the girl Sally, the daughter of his friend, without love, experiencing sympathy and friendly feelings for her. Sally - good girl, and against the background of past “love” it seems that main character will find peace of mind.
This is not the first work by Maugham that I have read, in which the idea unobtrusively sounds that love is not good at all, does not bring happiness, but rather the opposite...
More strong impression affected me the story of Fanny Price , supporting characters. Philip met Fanny in Paris, in art studio“Amitrino”, they studied painting together. She is very ugly and unkempt, they can’t stand her for her rudeness and huge conceit when complete absence drawing abilities. Fanny previously worked as a maid. She quit her job and began to study painting, she believed that this was her calling, that she had talent.
Fanny was very sloppy and wore the same dirty and old dress all the time, but it never occurred to anyone that Fanny had nothing to live on and was starving in literally words. One day, Philip, as a thank you for his guardianship, invited Fanny to have lunch at a cafe. Her first reaction is that I have what I have. As a result, she agreed, but in the cafe she did not behave very nicely - she greedily rushed into food and also ate greedily and sloppily. Philip decided that this was a lack of manners and proper education.
Then it turned out that Fanny’s funds were only enough to pay for several months of training, and she herself lived on one bottle of milk a day for more than three months. Her brother refused to give her financial assistance; Fanny did not ask Philip, with whom she was in love. And, in the end, Fanny hanged herself from hunger and hopelessness. She deliberately chose to die. She did not want to earn a living from another craft. This story really shocked me. Such confidence in your calling and abilities!!! Such a sad end to life. Was one worth the other...
Quotes:
A person makes a decision, but when the time comes to act, he bows helplessly under the burden of his instincts, passions and God knows what else. He is like a machine driven by two forces - environment and character; his mind is only a contemplator, registering facts, but powerless to intervene; his role is reminiscent of those gods of Epicurus who observe human affairs from their empyrean heights, but do not have the power to change one iota of what is happening.
You don’t need wealth, but give a person enough so that he can maintain his dignity, create without hindrance, be generous, magnanimous and independent.
And art is luxury. The main thing for people is the instincts of self-preservation and procreation. And only when these instincts are satisfied does a person allow himself to have fun with the help of writers, artists and poets.
In life, what goes around comes around, but its whole tragedy lies in the inexorability with which the effect follows from the cause.
Parental love is the only unselfish feeling in the world.
Need makes a person petty, greedy, envious, cripples the soul and makes him see the world in an ugly and vulgar light. When you have to count every penny, money takes on a monstrous meaning: you need to be wealthy in order to treat money the way it deserves to be treated.
A person can do as he pleases if he agrees to be responsible for it.
Is it really always the case that when you manage to insist on your own, you regret it later?
I have no idea where love comes from, but no matter where it comes from, it’s all about it, and if it doesn’t exist, you can’t evoke it either with affection, or generosity, or anything else.
Philip was still so young that he did not understand how much less obligation those to whom the service is rendered feel than those who do it.
There are only two things in the world that justify human existence - love and art.
He had firm belief that every job started must be completed. Like all weak-willed people, he insistently demanded that others not change their decisions.
Giving up everything for the sake of personal happiness may mean defeat, but this defeat is better than any victory.
People never commit suicide because of love, as one would expect if one listens to the writers; people commit suicide because they have nothing to live on.
Oh God, it's always the same! If you want a man to treat you well, behave like a piece of trash with him; and if you treat him like a human being, he will drain the soul out of you.
The worst thing in the world is when people who are not given talent stubbornly want to do art.
The action takes place at the beginning of the 20th century. Nine-year-old Philip Carey is left an orphan and sent to be raised by his priest uncle in Blackstable. The priest does not have tender feelings for his nephew, but in his house Philip finds many books that help him forget about loneliness. At the school where the boy was sent, his classmates bully him (Philip is lame from birth), causing him to become painfully timid and shy - it seems to him that suffering is the lot of his whole life. Philip prays to God to make him healthy, and for the fact that a miracle does not happen, he blames only himself - he thinks that he lacks faith. He hates school and doesn't want to go to Oxford. Contrary to his uncle’s wishes, he strives to study in Germany, and he manages to insist on his own. In Berlin, Philip falls under the influence of one of his fellow students, the Englishman Hayward, who seems extraordinary and talented to him, not noticing that his deliberate unusualness is just a pose, behind which there is nothing. But the debates between Hayward and his interlocutors about literature and religion leave a huge mark on Philip’s soul: he suddenly realizes that he no longer believes in God, is not afraid of hell, and that a person is responsible for his actions only to himself. After completing a course in Berlin, Philip returns to Blackstable and meets Miss Wilkinson, the daughter of Mr. Carey's former assistant. She is about thirty, she is cutesy and flirtatious, at first Philip does not like her, but nevertheless soon becomes his mistress. Philip is very proud; in his letter to Hayward he writes a beautiful romantic story. But when the real Miss Wilkinson leaves, she feels great relief and sadness that reality is so different from her dreams. His uncle, having come to terms with Philip's reluctance to enter Oxford, sends him to London to study as a chartered accountant. Philip feels bad in London: he has no friends, and his work brings unbearable melancholy. And when a letter arrives from Hayward with an offer to go to Paris and take up painting, it seems to Philip that this desire has long been brewing in his soul. After studying for only a year, he, despite his uncle’s objections, left for Paris. In Paris, Philip entered the Amitrino art studio; Fanny Price helps him get used to his new place - she is very ugly and unkempt, they can’t stand her for her rudeness and huge conceit with a complete lack of drawing ability, but Philip is still grateful to her. The life of a Parisian bohemian changes Philip's worldview: he no longer considers ethical tasks to be fundamental to art, although he still sees the meaning of life in Christian virtue. The poet Cronshaw, who does not agree with this position, offers Philip to understand the true goal human existence look at the pattern of the Persian carpet. When Fanny, having learned that Philip and his friends were leaving Paris in the summer, made an ugly scene, Philip realized that she was in love with him. And upon his return, he did not see Fanny in the studio and, absorbed in his studies, forgot about her. A few months later, a letter arrives from Fanny asking him to come see her: she has not eaten anything for three days. When Philip arrives, he discovers that Fanny has committed suicide. This shocked Philip. He is tormented by a feeling of guilt, but most of all by the meaninglessness of Fanny’s asceticism. He begins to doubt his painting abilities and turns to one of his teachers with these doubts. And indeed, he advises him to start life again, because he can only become a mediocre artist. The news of his aunt's death forces Philip to go to Blackstable, and he will never return to Paris. Having parted with painting, he wants to study medicine and enters the institute at St. Luke in London. In his philosophical reflections, Philip comes to the conclusion that conscience is main enemy personality in the struggle for freedom, and creates a new life rule: You need to follow your natural inclinations, but with due regard for the policeman around the corner. One day in a cafe he started talking to a waitress named Mildred; she refused to continue the conversation, hurting his pride. Soon Philip realizes that he is in love, although he perfectly sees all her shortcomings: she is ugly, vulgar, her manners are full of disgusting affectation, her rude speech speaks of poverty of thought. Nevertheless, Philip wants to get her at any cost, including marriage, although he realizes that this will be his death. But Mildred declares that she is marrying someone else, and Philip, realizing that main reason His torment is wounded vanity, despising himself no less than Mildred. But he needs to move on with his life: pass exams, meet with friends... Meeting a young, pretty woman named Nora Nesbit - she is very sweet, witty, knows how to take life’s troubles lightly - restores his faith in himself and heals his emotional wounds. Philip finds another friend after falling ill with the flu: his neighbor, doctor Griffiths, carefully looks after him. But Mildred returns - having learned that she is pregnant, her betrothed confessed that he was married. Philip leaves Nora and begins to help Mildred - his love is so strong. Mildred gives up the newborn girl to be raised, not having any feelings for her daughter, but she falls in love with Griffiths and enters into a relationship with him. The offended Philip nevertheless secretly hopes that Mildred will return to him again. Now he often remembers Hope: she loved him, and he acted vilely to her. He wants to return to her, but finds out that she is engaged. Soon word reaches him that Griffiths has broken up with Mildred: he quickly grew tired of her. Philip continues to study and work as an assistant in an outpatient clinic. Communicating with many of the most different people, seeing their laughter and tears, grief and joy, happiness and despair, he understands that life is more complex than abstract concepts of good and evil. Cronshaw arrives in London, finally getting ready to publish his poems. He is very sick: he suffered from pneumonia, but, not wanting to listen to the doctors, he continues to drink, because only after drinking does he become himself. Seeing the plight of his old friend, Philip takes him to his place; he soon dies. And again Philip is depressed by the thought of the meaninglessness of his life, and the life rule invented under similar circumstances now seems stupid to him. Philip becomes close to one of his patients, Thorpe Athelney, and becomes very attached to him and his family: his hospitable wife, healthy, cheerful children. Philip likes to visit their house, warm himself by their cozy hearth. Athelny introduces him to the paintings of El Greco. Philip is shocked: it was revealed to him that self-denial is no less passionate and decisive than submission to passions. Having met Mildred again, who now makes a living as a prostitute, Philip, out of pity, no longer having the same feelings for her, invites her to live with him as a servant. But she doesn’t know how to run a house and doesn’t want to look for work. In search of money, Philip begins to play on the stock exchange, and his first experience is so successful that he can afford to operate on his sore leg and go with Mildred to the sea. In Brighton they live in separate rooms. Mildred is angry about this: she wants to convince everyone that Philip is her husband, and upon returning to London she tries to seduce him. But she does not succeed - now Philip feels physical disgust for her, and she leaves in a rage, causing a pogrom in his house and taking away the child, to whom Philip had become attached. All of Philip's savings were spent on moving out of an apartment that brings back painful memories for him and is also too big for him alone. In order to somehow improve the situation, he again tries to play on the stock exchange and goes bankrupt. His uncle refuses to help him, and Philip is forced to leave his studies, move out of his apartment, spend the night on the street and starve. Upon learning of Philip's plight, Athelney gets him a job in the store. The news of Hayward's death makes Philip think again about the meaning of human life. He recalls the words of the now deceased Cronshaw about the Persian carpet. Now he interprets them as follows: although a person weaves the pattern of his life aimlessly, but, weaving various threads and creating a pattern at his own discretion, he must be satisfied with this. The uniqueness of the drawing is its meaning. Then it happens last meeting with Mildred. She writes that she is sick, that her child has died; In addition, when Philip comes to her, he finds out that she has returned to her previous activities. After a painful scene, he leaves forever - this darkness of his life finally dissipates. Having received an inheritance after the death of his uncle, Philip returns to college and, after graduating, works as an assistant for Dr. South, and so successfully that he invites Philip to become his partner. But Philip wants to go traveling “to find the promised land and to know himself.” Meanwhile eldest daughter Philip really likes Athelney, Sally, and one day while picking hops, he gives in to his feelings... Sally reveals that she is pregnant, and Philip decides to sacrifice himself and marry her. Then it turns out that Sally was mistaken, but for some reason Philip does not feel relieved. Suddenly he realizes that marriage is not self-sacrifice, that giving up fictitious ideals for the sake of family happiness, even if it is a defeat, is better than all victories... Philip asks Sally to become his wife. She agrees, and Philip Carey finally finds the promised land to which his soul has longed for so long.
Beginning of the 20th century Nine-year-old Philip Carey is left an orphan and sent to be raised by his priest uncle in Blackstable. The priest does not have tender feelings for his nephew, but in his house Philip finds many books that help him forget about loneliness.
At the school where the boy was sent, his classmates bully him (Philip is lame from birth), causing him to become painfully timid and shy - it seems to him that suffering is the lot of his whole life. Philip prays to God to make him healthy, and for the fact that a miracle does not happen, he blames only himself - he thinks that he lacks faith.
He hates school and doesn't want to go to Oxford. Contrary to his uncle’s wishes, he strives to study in Germany, and he manages to insist on his own.
In Berlin, Philip falls under the influence of one of his fellow students, the Englishman Hayward, who seems extraordinary and talented to him, not noticing that his deliberate unusualness is just a pose, behind which there is nothing. But the debates between Hayward and his interlocutors about literature and religion leave a huge mark on Philip’s soul: he suddenly realizes that he no longer believes in God, is not afraid of hell, and that a person is responsible for his actions only to himself.
After completing a course in Berlin, Philip returns to Blackstable and meets Miss Wilkinson, the daughter of Mr. Carey's former assistant. She is about thirty, she is cutesy and flirtatious, at first Philip does not like her, but nevertheless soon becomes his mistress. Philip is very proud, in a letter to Hayward he composes a beautiful romantic story. But when the real Miss Wilkinson leaves, she feels great relief and sadness that reality is so different from her dreams.
His uncle, having come to terms with Philip's reluctance to enter Oxford, sends him to London to study as a chartered accountant. Philip feels bad in London: he has no friends, and his work brings unbearable melancholy. And when a letter arrives from Hayward with an offer to go to Paris and take up painting, it seems to Philip that this desire has long been brewing in his soul. After studying for only a year, he, despite his uncle’s objections, left for Paris.
In Paris, Philip entered the Amitrino art studio; Fanny Price helps him get used to his new place - she is very ugly and unkempt, they can’t stand her for her rudeness and huge conceit with a complete lack of drawing ability, but Philip is still grateful to her.
The life of a Parisian bohemian changes Philip's worldview: he no longer considers ethical tasks to be fundamental to art, although he still sees the meaning of life in Christian virtue. The poet Cronshaw, who does not agree with this position, suggests that Philip look at the pattern of a Persian carpet to understand the true purpose of human existence.
When Fanny, having learned that Philip and his friends were leaving Paris in the summer, made an ugly scene, Philip realized that she was in love with him. And upon his return, he did not see Fanny in the studio and, absorbed in his studies, forgot about her. A few months later, a letter arrives from Fanny asking him to come see her: she has not eaten anything for three days. When Philip arrives, he discovers that Fanny has committed suicide. This shocked Philip. He is tormented by a feeling of guilt, but most of all by the meaninglessness of Fanny’s asceticism. He begins to doubt his painting abilities and turns to one of his teachers with these doubts. And indeed, he advises him to start life again, because he can only become a mediocre artist.
The news of his aunt's death forces Philip to go to Blackstable, and he will never return to Paris. Having parted with painting, he wants to study medicine and enters the institute at St. Luke in London. In his philosophical reflections, Philip comes to the conclusion that conscience is the main enemy of the individual in the struggle for freedom, and creates a new life rule for himself: one must follow one’s natural inclinations, but with due regard for the policeman around the corner.
One day in a cafe he started talking to a waitress named Mildred; she refused to continue the conversation, hurting his pride. Soon Philip realizes that he is in love, although he perfectly sees all her shortcomings: she is ugly, vulgar, her manners are full of disgusting affectation, her rude speech speaks of poverty of thought. Nevertheless, Philip wants to get her at any cost, including marriage, although he realizes that this will be his death. But Mildred declares that she is marrying someone else, and Philip, realizing that the main reason for his torment is wounded vanity, despises himself no less than Mildred. But we need to move on with our lives: pass exams, meet friends...
Meeting a young, pretty woman named Nora Nesbit - she is very sweet, witty, and knows how to take life's troubles lightly - restores his faith in himself and heals his emotional wounds. Philip finds another friend after falling ill with the flu: his neighbor, doctor Griffiths, carefully looks after him.
But Mildred returns - having learned that she is pregnant, her betrothed confessed that he was married. Philip leaves Nora and begins to help Mildred - his love is so strong. Mildred gives up the newborn girl to be raised, not having any feelings for her daughter, but she falls in love with Griffiths and enters into a relationship with him. The offended Philip nevertheless secretly hopes that Mildred will return to him again. Now he often remembers Hope: she loved him, and he acted vilely to her. He wants to return to her, but finds out that she is engaged. Soon word reaches him that Griffiths has broken up with Mildred: he quickly grew tired of her.
Philip continues to study and work as an assistant in an outpatient clinic. Communicating with many different people, seeing their laughter and tears, grief and joy, happiness and despair, he understands that life is more complex than abstract concepts of good and evil. Cronshaw arrives in London, finally getting ready to publish his poems. He is very sick: he suffered from pneumonia, but, not wanting to listen to the doctors, he continues to drink, because only after drinking does he become himself. Seeing the plight of his old friend, Philip takes him to his place; he soon dies. And again Philip is depressed by the thought of the meaninglessness of his life, and the life rule invented under similar circumstances now seems stupid to him.
Philip becomes close to one of his patients, Thorpe Athelney, and becomes very attached to him and his family: his hospitable wife, healthy, cheerful children. Philip likes to visit their house, warm himself by their cozy hearth. Athelny introduces him to the paintings of El Greco. Philip is shocked: it was revealed to him that self-denial is no less passionate and decisive than submission to passions.
Having met Mildred again, who now makes a living as a prostitute, Philip, out of pity, no longer having the same feelings for her, invites her to live with him as a servant. But she doesn’t know how to run a house and doesn’t want to look for work. In search of money, Philip begins to play on the stock exchange, and his first experience is so successful that he can afford to operate on his sore leg and go with Mildred to the sea.
In Brighton they live in separate rooms. Mildred is angry about this: she wants to convince everyone that Philip is her husband, and upon returning to London she tries to seduce him. But she doesn’t succeed - now Philip feels physical disgust for her, and she leaves in a rage, causing a pogrom in his house and taking away the child to whom Philip had become attached.
All of Philip's savings were spent on moving out of the apartment, which brings back painful memories for him and is also too big for him alone. In order to somehow improve the situation, he again tries to play on the stock exchange and goes bankrupt. His uncle refuses to help him, and Philip is forced to leave his studies, move out of his apartment, spend the night on the street and starve. Upon learning of Philip's plight, Athelney gets him a job in the store.
The news of Hayward's death makes Philip think again about the meaning of human life. He recalls the words of the now deceased Cronshaw about the Persian carpet. Now he interprets them this way: although a person weaves the pattern of his life aimlessly, but, weaving various threads and creating a pattern at his own discretion, he must be satisfied with this. The uniqueness of the drawing is its meaning. Then the last meeting with Mildred takes place. She writes that she is sick, that her child has died; In addition, when Philip comes to her, he finds out that she has returned to her previous activities. After a painful scene, he leaves forever - this darkness of his life finally dissipates.
Having received an inheritance after the death of his uncle, Philip returns to the institute and, having completed his studies, works as an assistant to Dr. South, and so successfully that he invites Philip to become his partner. But Philip wants to go traveling “to find the promised land and to know himself.”
Meanwhile, Athelney's eldest daughter, Sally, really likes Philip, and one day, while picking hops, he gives in to his feelings... Sally reveals that she is pregnant, and Philip decides to sacrifice himself and marry her. Then it turns out that Sally was mistaken, but for some reason Philip does not feel relieved. Suddenly he realizes that marriage is not self-sacrifice, that giving up fictitious ideals for the sake of family happiness, even if it is a defeat, is better than all victories... Philip asks Sally to become his wife. She agrees, and Philip Carey finally finds the promised land to which his soul has longed for so long.
- Philip Carey, a young man gradually growing up and learning about life
- Mildred, waitress, friend of Philip
- Philip's uncle, priest
Other heroes
- Hayward, Philip's classmate
- Fanny, art student
- Griffiths, doctor, friend of Philip
- Atelny, Philip's patient
- Sally, daughter of Athelny
Summary of the novel “The Burden of Human Passions”
Part one
At the very beginning of the 20th century, a boy named Philip Carey, who was barely nine years old, loses his parents and finds himself under the tutelage of his priest uncle. The vicar behaves sternly and distantly with his nephew, but he has many books in his house that brighten up the loneliness and melancholy of the orphaned child.
At school, his friends make fun of Philip, who has been early years limping quite noticeably, the boy begs the Lord to restore his health, but this does not happen. However, the boy blames only himself for his injury, believing that he simply lacks faith in God to heal.
Philip does not want to continue his education at Oxford, which his guardian insists on, and as a result, his uncle nevertheless agrees to the young man’s education in Germany. In Berlin, a young man listens carefully to the conversations of his classmate named Hayward with his friends and draws extremely important conclusions for himself. Philip feels that he no longer believes in the Almighty, in hell and heaven, that the fate of a person depends only on himself, and it is he who must bear responsibility for each of his actions.
Part two
His uncle, realizing that Philip will always refuse to study at Oxford, sends the guy to London to master the profession of an accountant. However, the young man does not like this profession at all, and besides, he does not have a single friend in the English capital. An old acquaintance, Hayward, sends him an invitation to come to Paris to study painting, and young Carey willingly agrees to try his hand at art.
Despite his uncle's objections, Philip actually goes to one of the most brilliant and unusual cities in Europe, where he begins to study in an art studio. A certain Fanny, an unattractive and sloppy girl who is clearly disliked by his comrades for her inhospitability and lack of any talent, helps him get used to the new environment, but Philip still feels some gratitude towards her.
Fanny shows Cary annoying attentions, but the guy does not realize until a certain moment that this undoubted loser is not indifferent to him. Upon returning to Paris after summer holiday Philip does not remember this girl at all for several months, but then a note comes from her, begging him to visit her, as Fanny claims, she has not had a crumb of food in her mouth for three days.
Philip actually looks in on her and learns about her suicide, and most of all young man I am saddened by the senselessness and futility of all her sacrifices “in the name of art.” After consulting with one of experienced teachers, Carey understands that it is better for him to take a different path in life, since he can only become an extremely mediocre painter and will never achieve success in this field.
Part three
Philip decides to devote himself noble cause healing, and begins intensive study of medicine in London. One day in a cafe, a young man pays attention to the waitress Mildred, although this girl is unattractive in appearance, rude, vulgar and definitely not particularly intelligent. Nevertheless, Cary is ready to achieve her favor by any means; he is even thinking about marrying this person, although he understands that she is by no means a suitable match for him.
However, Mildred tells him that she is already engaged to another man, and her wedding will take place very soon. Philip, although her words deeply hurt him, continues to live on, communicating with friends and passing the necessary exams.
But soon Mildred returns to him, it turns out that her fiancé admitted to her that he was already married, having learned about the waitress’s pregnancy. The young woman immediately gives the girl up to be raised by strangers, immediately entering into a relationship with Philip’s acquaintance, Dr. Griffiths.
After some time, Mildred again appears on Carey's path, now forced to earn a living by selling own body. Philip, feeling sorry for the unfortunate woman, invites her to work as a servant for him, but she is not satisfied with this option. Having started playing on the stock exchange, the man quickly achieves success and goes to the sea with his former waitress.
Mildred tries to assure others that Philip is her legal husband. She tries in every possible way to get close to him again, but Cary now feels obvious disgust for her. Having failed, the enraged woman leaves Philip’s house, taking with her the baby, whom he has already truly fallen in love with.
Part four
Carey again takes up the game on the stock exchange, but this time he is completely ruined. He has to sleep under open air and often go hungry, but Mr. Athelney, one of his former patients, comes to the rescue and helps Philip get a job in a store.
At the same time, Carey learns about the death of his longtime friend Hayward, and he again indulges in painful thoughts about whether human life at least some sense. He receives a letter from Mildred, the woman writes that she is seriously ill and her child has died. Having visited her, Philip is convinced that she has again taken up her former shameful occupation. After a very unpleasant scene, the man breaks up with her completely and feels a clear liberation, deliverance from a certain nightmare of his existence.
After Uncle Philip passes away, he receives a certain inheritance, graduates from college and begins working as an assistant to a famous doctor who is ready to accept him as a partner. But Carey himself strives to first spend some time traveling in order to better know the world and, first of all, himself.
The man is very attracted to young Sally, the daughter of his former patient, who helped him in the most Hard time. One day intimacy happens between these two, soon the girl reports her “ interesting position" Philip is ready to marry her without hesitation; his decision does not change at all even after Sally announces that her assumption about pregnancy turned out to be wrong.
But now Carey is confident that marriage is exactly the happiness that he has been looking for throughout his life, that he has finally found the real “promised land” and true meaning of its existence.