William Somerset Maugham [ˈsʌməsɪt mɔːm] (January 25, 1874 in Paris – December 16, 1965 in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat near Nice), also known as W. Somerset Maugham, was an English novelist and playwright. He is one of the most widely read English-language authors of the 20th century.
William Somerset Maugham was the son of an English lawyer who worked for British clients in Paris. His older brother was the jurist Frederic Maugham. His parents died when he was still a child. As an orphan, he spent his youth under the supervision of a sanctimonious uncle and in boarding schools. He suffered from a stutter. He studied German, literature, and philosophy at the University of Heidelberg, and later medicine at King’s College London. Despite his passion for literature, Maugham successfully completed his medical studies in 1898—largely under pressure from his uncle.
William Somerset Maugham achieved early literary success with his first novel, Liza of Lambeth, published in 1897, and simultaneously caused a scandal. In the novel, Maugham processed experiences he had as a trainee doctor in the slums of London. The middle class considered it inappropriate to portray the world of the working class in such a naturalistic way.
The book was followed by years of self-determination as an author. At first, he worked as a playwright, writing plays such as The Circle, Our Betters, and The Constant Wife. In the early 20th century, four of his plays were performed simultaneously in London. His productivity was astonishing: he usually needed only a week to write each act and another week to edit the play. Later, he devoted himself to prose and wrote numerous novels and short stories.
Maugham’s most important work is generally considered to be the novel Of Human Bondage, an autobiographical story whose hero, Philip Carey, like Maugham, grows up as an orphan with his sanctimonious uncle and is handicapped by a clubfoot. Maugham himself stuttered.
In the English-speaking world, Maugham’s work is considered middle-brow literature, which, while easy to read and highly entertaining, nevertheless achieves a remarkable artistic and formal level.[2] A theme that repeatedly occupied Maugham in his dramatic and narrative work is adultery.