A Psychoanalytic Study of Destructive Aspects of Love and Desire in Somerset Maugham’s Human Bondage: A Lacanian Psychoanalytic Reading

Abstract

The present study is a comprehensive psychoanalytic approach to Destructive aspects of Love and Desire in Somerset Maugham’s Human Bondage. W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) is one of the twentieth century's most productive, multitalented, and famous writers. His works depict the life of people who struggle despite all the destructive relationships they have to gain something. Philip, as the main character in the novel, is a typical representation of one who suffers from human bondages and struggles for freedom and finding truth. Human Bondage is one of the most famous and intimate novels that tells us about the main character’s way of life, which is filled with difficult trials. Philip has not been in a safe holding environment in the absence of his mother, and he was born with a clubfoot. As object relation theory mentions, all incomplete relationships throughout childhood reveal themselves in one’s adulthood, especially in destructive relations and friendships. According to Lacanian Psychoanalysis, False Self is such a mask for the child whenever he/she feels him/herself in danger. He rejects being in and tries to find a replacement for the absence of his mother.

Back to Human Bondage, Philip, due to the loss of his mother, gives a sense of insecurity that would transform itself into something else, finally leading to unpredictable results. So, he always chooses to be the child of his partner instead of having a mutual relationship with her. The subject of the relationship for Philip is destructive and devastating, so much so that it brings about some bondage. His love for Mildred is a relationship of bondage within which he loses his true self and falls into the state of a “desiring subject” who is irresistibly dependent on another. We understand one of Lacan's most well-known maxims that "Man's desire is the desire of the other". To enrich the analysis further, Lacan states that there is never one true love between the people who claim to love each other, and desire can never be satisfied. The nature of desire is that one asks for something, but when he gets closer to attaining it, he feels it is not exactly what he wanted, and so he shifts to something new in the hope of satisfying his desire. It is argued in the present study that Philip desires his mistress to such an extent that he fails to develop his own independent identity and contributes to his self-deterioration. This is a hazardous situation for him since he finds out that he plays no role in satisfying his desire. Therefore, in the process of satisfying his desire, Philip has to negotiate with others whose desires are different from those of Philip. The very contrast is the leading cause of the bondage explored in the present study.