The last completed novel of William Makepeace Thackeray, The Adventures of Philip was originally serialized in twenty monthly installments in The Cornhill Magazine (January 1861-August 1862). Its subtitle, ...on His Way Through the World; Showing Who Robbed Him, Who Helped Him, and Who Passed Him By, alludes to the biblical parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-32) and summarizes the general plotline of the novel. Ostensibly the main character, Philip Firmin is a blustering but good-hearted young man whose fortunes variously rise and fall and rise again during the course of this Bildungsroman. At his mother's death, he becomes heir to a fortune of forty-thousand pounds, but he is estranged from h…
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Citation: MacKay, Carol Hanbery. "The Adventures of Philip". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 13 August 2008 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=15736, accessed 25 November 2024.]