《人生的枷锁》是英国作家毛姆的代表作之一,有明显的自传色彩。小说通过对主人公菲利普·凯里生活经历的描写,揭示他的个人矛盾冲突及情感历程,阐述当时悲惨的社会现实和人们的精神危机。威廉·毛姆是20世纪上叶最成功的英国小说家 “The chains of life” is one of the masterpieces of British writer Maugham, with obvious autobiography. By describing the life experience of protagonist Phillip Carey, the novel reveals his personal contradictions and conflicts and his emotional history, and expounds the then tragic social reality and people’s spiritual crisis. William Maugham is the most successful British novelist of the twentieth century