# Weeks — Of Human Bondage character guide

> Weeks in Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham.

**Role:** supporting

**First appearance:** 0029-xxx

## Snapshot

An American expatriate in Philip's Paris circle whose patient, probing intelligence turns every casual conversation into a debate about art, religion, and how to live.

## Who they are

Weeks drifts through the same studios and cheap restaurants as Philip, an outsider twice over — American among the English, thinker among the painters. He argues without heat, listens harder than anyone else, and treats Philip's opinions as worth testing rather than dismissing, which is precisely what Philip's brittle pride cannot easily withstand. Through Weeks, Philip encounters a mind that takes ideas seriously without becoming dogmatic, and the friendship quietly widens the intellectual horizons of a young man who has until now mostly read to escape himself.

## Relationships

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

_friendship_

An American expatriate in Paris who engages Philip in intellectual debates about religion and philosophy.

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

_friendship_

An American expatriate in Paris who engages Philip in intellectual debates about religion and philosophy.

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

_friendship_

An American expatriate in Paris who engages Philip in intellectual debates about religion and philosophy.

## In the story

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

Weeks is an American theologian studying in Heidelberg, who sees through Hayward's pretensions and describes him as a typical waster.

### [XXVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/of_human_bondage_se/chapters/xxvii)

Hosts the discussions; reveals his scholarly depth; gently mocks Hayward's pretensions; identifies as a Unitarian.

### [XXVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/of_human_bondage_se/chapters/xxviii)

Weeks engages Philip in philosophical discussions about religion, challenging his assumptions and demonstrating that virtue and unbelief can coexist.

### [XXIX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/of_human_bondage_se/chapters/xxix)

Mentioned as having gone to Berlin to attend lectures by Paulssen.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/of_human_bondage_se/characters/weeks
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