# Sally Athelny — Of Human Bondage character guide

> Sally Athelny in Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Sally

**First appearance:** 0069-lxx

## Snapshot

The eldest Athelny daughter, fifteen but steady as a woman of thirty, she pours the beer and quietly anchors Philip's chaotic London life.

## Who they are

Sally moves through her father's theatrical Sunday dinners with a slow smile and an easy modesty, taking the children to Sunday school and serving roast beef without fuss. Her father boasts she'd make a lucky man a wife; she demurely tells him not to swear and gets on with the pudding. In a novel crowded with women who take from Philip, she is the one whose plain kindness and unromantic steadiness suggest a different kind of life entirely.

## Relationships

### [Philip Carey](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/of_human_bondage_se/characters/philip_carey)

_romantic_

A warm, wholesome relationship that evolves from friendship into love, offering Philip stability and happiness.

### [Philip Carey](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/of_human_bondage_se/characters/philip_carey)

_romantic_

A warm, wholesome relationship that evolves from friendship into love, offering Philip stability and happiness.

### [Philip Carey](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/of_human_bondage_se/characters/philip_carey)

_romantic_

A warm, wholesome relationship that evolves from friendship into love, offering Philip stability and happiness.

## In the story

### [LXXXVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/of_human_bondage_se/chapters/lxxxvii)

Athelny's eldest daughter, age fifteen, helps serve dinner.

### [LXXXIX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/of_human_bondage_se/chapters/lxxxix)

Sally helps with tea, is teased by her father about suitors, and shows a self-possessed demeanor.

### [XCIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/of_human_bondage_se/chapters/xciv)

Mentioned fondly by Philip as part of the Athelny family, noted for her grave, maternal ways.

### [CI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/of_human_bondage_se/chapters/ci)

Sally lays the table and teases Philip about his thinness, showing concern for his well-being.

### [CVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/of_human_bondage_se/chapters/cviii)

Growing up, listens to Philip and her father's Spanish conversations, admires her father.

### [CXV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/of_human_bondage_se/chapters/cxv)

Now grown and apprenticed as a dressmaker; receives a gold necklace from Philip, rejects a marriage proposal from an electrical engineer, and displays a quiet, enigmatic, and independent demeanor.

### [CXVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/of_human_bondage_se/chapters/cxviii)

Appears in a print dress and sunbonnet, described as a rural goddess; attends to Philip's needs and goes bathing with him.

### [CXIX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/of_human_bondage_se/chapters/cxix)

Picks hops with skill, blushes when hands touch Philip's, yields to his kiss.

### [CXX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/of_human_bondage_se/chapters/cxx)

Shows no change in behavior after the intimate encounter; treats Philip with maternal care and later confesses she has always liked him.

### [Chapter CXXI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/of_human_bondage_se/chapters/cxxi)

Sally informs Philip that she is pregnant, and he resolves to marry her, envisioning a life together by the sea.

### [CXXII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/of_human_bondage_se/chapters/cxxii)

Meets Philip at the National Gallery; informs him her pregnancy suspicion was false, and accepts his marriage proposal.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/of_human_bondage_se/characters/sally_athelny
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/of_human_bondage_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/of_human_bondage_se/characters