160-MA-English-Sem-3-Nineteenth-Century-American-Literature-munotes

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IMPORTANT TERMS AND CONCEPTS - I
Unit Structure
1.0 Objectives
1.1 Introduction to the 19th Century American Literature
1.2 Romanticism
1.3 Transcendentalism
1.4 American Civil War and its Impact on Literature
1.5 Realism
1.6 Summing Up
1.7 Important Questions
1.8 References
1.0 OBJECTIVES
Dear learner, the purpose of this chapter is to comprehend certain aspects
and terms in the 19th Century American Literature . In the beginning, we
will take a look at the Introduction to 19th Century American Literature.
You will gain a better understanding of romanticism as a whole and
Romanticism in American literature, the origin and development of
Transcendentalism, and the American Civil War and its impact on literature .
You will also be acquainted with the practitioners of Romanticism,
Transcendentalism and Civil War . By revising your understanding of these
terms, you will be better prepared to understand and interpret 19th -century
American literature.
1.1 INTRODUCTION TO THE 19TH CENTURY
AMERICAN LITERATURE
Following the American Revolution, and particularly following the War of
1812, American authors were encouraged to compose truly indigenous
literature. Four well -known authors appeared, a lmost as though in
retaliation. A tremendous half -century of literary development was
launched by William Cullen Bryant, Washington Irving, James Fenimore
Cooper, and Edgar Allan Poe.
Bryant, a New England native, rose to prominence when the first edition of
his poem "Thanatopsis" was published when he was only 23 years old.
Some 18th -century English poets impacted this poem, as well as a few
others that followed. Later, under the influence of Wordsworth and other munotes.in

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2 Nineteenth Century American Literature
2 Romantics, he wrote nature poetry that clea rly mirrored the New England
location. He went on to have a long career as a combative liberal editor at
The Evening Post. In terms of renown, he was overshadowed by
Washington Irving, a native New Yorker.
1.2 ROMANTICISM
In romance, strange countries and wonderful adventures are depicted. It
allows the writer more leeway in combining the fantastic and the
commonplace. The typical hero on the white horse with the white hat; the
bad villain with the long black moustache; the gorgeous young woman in
need of rescue; and the hairbreadth rescue itself may all be part of the
romance.
Romanticism, a late -eighteenth -century movement centred on the
appreciation of nature, the supernatural, and the struggling individual versus
society —spread to England. It was brough t to America in the early to mid -
nineteenth century by writers like Hawthorne, Poe, and Cooper.
American Romanticism
The Romantic Movement, which was altering European society, began to
have an impact on America in the 1830s. In a broad sense, American
Rom anticism was a new attitude toward nature, mankind, and society that
championed individualism and independence, similar to the European
movement from which it was an offshoot. American Romanticism was
defined by several trends. Among the most important are the following:
• An impulse toward reform
• A celebration of individualism in Emerson, Thoreau
• A reverence for nature (Cooper, Emerson, Thoreau)
• A concern with the impact of new technology —the locomotive, for
example —
• An idealization of women in Poe’s Anabel Lee
• A fascination with death and the supernatural in Hawthorne, Poe
• Now let us take a look at some of the important writers associated
with Romanticism in American Literature.
• Ralph Waldo Emerson is famously known for his work, Self-
Reliance, and it left an impact on many authors, not just in America
but in the whole world.
• Henry David Thoreau is again known as one of the best authors of
Nature. Walden and Civil Disobedience are some of his famous
works. munotes.in

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3 Important Terms and Concepts - I • Washington Irving is known for his works like The De vil and Tom
Walker, Rip Van Winkle Tales etc.
• Edgar Allan Poe's The Pit and the Pendulum, The Masque of the Red
Death, The Raven and many more are famous for using romantic and
gothic elements.
• Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter became one of the mo st
famous works of American romanticism. His other major works are
The House of the Seven Gables , Doctor Heidegger’s Experiment,
Young Goodman Brown, and Rappaccini’s Daughter.
The Romantic Period
Romanticism is a school of thought that prioritises the individual over the
group, the subjective over the objective, and emotion over reason. It also
prioritises natural chaos over man -made order. Western Europe embraced
Romanticism as a worldview in the late 18th century, while American
writers embraced it in the early 19th century. During the 1830s and up until
his unexplained death in 1849, Edgar Allan Poe best embodied and
represented the Romantic individual —a genius who was frequently tortured
and con stantly rebelling against convention. Poe invented modern detective
fiction with "The Murders in the Rue Morgue." One of his poems is "The
Raven," a sorrowful tale of lost love. The metre and rhyme scheme adds to
the eerie atmosphere. The horror novels "Th e Fall of the House of Usher"
(1846) and "The Cask of Amontillado" (1846) are both scary. Multiple
groups of authors and thinkers emerged in New England after 1830, each
exploring the experiences of individuals in various aspects of American
society. James Russell Lowell was one of the poets who employed humour
and accent to represent everyday life in the Northeast in rhyme and prose.
The most notable of the upper -class Brahmins, Henry Wadsworth
Longfellow and Oliver Wendell Holmes, filtered their depictio ns of
America through European patterns and sensibilities. The
Transcendentalists established a complex philosophy that saw all of
creation as a single entity. Henry David Thoreau wrote Walden, an account
of his time alone at Walden Pond, while Ralph Waldo Emerson produced
significant writings. Margaret Fuller edited The Dial, a major
Transcendentalist publication. Three men —Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman
Melville, and Walt Whitman —began producing novels, short stories, and
poetry during the Romantic period, w hich would go on to become some of
America's most iconic works of literature. As a young man, Nathaniel
Hawthorne wrote short stories, the most renowned of which is the
allegorical "Young Goodman Brown." He met the Transcendentalists in the
1840s before be ginning to write his two most important novels, The Scarlet
Letter and The House of the Seven Gables .
One of Hawthorne's friends and neighbours was Herman Melville.
Melville's Moby Dick, which was the pinnacle of Melville's early life of
travelling and wri ting, was heavily influenced by Hawthorne. Walt
Whitman wrote poems in his hometown of New York City. In his collection munotes.in

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4 Nineteenth Century American Literature
4 of poems entitled Leaves of Grass , he rejected traditional rhyme and metre
in favour of free verse, and his candour in subject matter an d tone irritated
some critics. However, the book became a classic in American poetry, and
it typified the Romantic attitude. It was reprinted numerous times after that.
An increasing number of publications by and about slaves and free African
Americans wer e created as the United States headed into civil war in the
1850s.
Clotel , the first black American novel, was published in 1853 by William
Wells Brown. Also, he wrote The Escape , the first African -American play
to be published. Frances Ellen Watkins Harper and Harriet E. Wilson were
the first black women in the United States to write fiction in 1859. Uncle
Tom's Cabin , written by Harriet Beecher Stowe and initially serialised in
1851 –52, is credited with boosting anti -slavery sentiment in the North.
Emily Dickinson lived a life unlike that of other Romantic writers. She spent
most of her time alone. Only a few of her poems were published before she
died in 1886, and she was a woma n writing at a time when men controlled
the literary world. Her poems, like Walt Whitman's or Edgar Allan Poe's,
portray a Romantic vision. They're razor -sharp and emotionally charged.
1.3 TRANSCENDENTALISM
In the early nineteenth century, a cultural move ment called
transcendentalism arose. The notion of transcendentalism revolves around
the belief that humans have knowledge from nature that goes beyond what
the senses can comprehend. Two important elements prompted authors,
artists, and activists to unite behind this movement during this time.
At the turn of the century, Romanticism was the dominating artistic trend in
the United States and Europe. Romanticism emphasizes freedom,
spontaneity, and the value of love in literature and art, highlighting the
beauty of nature as well as the simplicity of existence. Many artworks from
this period portrayed farmers as idealised figures who could manage their
own time and were always in touch with nature. Despite the heat and hard
work involved in crop harvesting, a gricultural families are regarded as
peaceful and desired by many who have moved to cities. Industrialization
fueled this migration to cities in the United States. During the 1800s,
millions of people abandoned their farms to work in factories for a living .
This was in stark contrast to how people had lived in the country, and it
exposed them to hazardous working conditions and harmful gases.
The period of Transcendentalism overlaps with this desire for a simpler life
and the rising urbanisation of America ns. The Second Great Awakening,
which saw millions of Americans become devout Christians for the first
time in their lives, was one of the first answers to this shift in American
society. Many Americans sought meaning after moving to cities and
idealising the agrarian lifestyle they left behind, and the Christian revival
provided an answer. Transcendentalism was an attempt to find a more
secular solution to the unhappiness that people were experiencing. munotes.in

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5 Important Terms and Concepts - I The Transcendental movement would be the first instanc e of a unique
American cultural identity developing. The Transcendentalist movement's
primary ideas concern human relationships with nature. The
Transcendentalists thought that everyone had a universal spirit that they
shared with nature. The Eternal One i s the name given to this eternal soul,
which leads to many of the movement's core ideas. People should follow
their instincts since humans and nature share a universal essence.
Transcendentalists objected to many forms of racism and sexism at the time
since everyone shares a similar connection to nature. Humans should learn
to be self -sufficient by relying on nature to meet their physical and spiritual
requirements. Rather than being destroyed, the natural world should be
treasured. These tenets of transcen dentalism were spread most by authors
who articulated this uniquely American movement in essays, books, and
poems.
Transcendentalism in American Literature: Transcendentalist literature
was the primary means by which Americans were introduced to this cult ural
movement. “The Dial”, which became the flagship publication of The
Transcendentalist, was founded by several of the movement's leading
personalities. Countless writings by Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David
Thoreau, and others were published in this per iodical. Margaret Fuller was
named editor of this publication, and she contributed to the movement's
message expansion. German thinkers such as Immanuel Kant impacted their
perspectives, proposing that everything in life appears a specific way
because of h ow humans perceive it, not because that is how it appears. His
writings were translated from German, allowing Americans to elaborate on
this through literature. Some of the earliest works of this movement were:
• Self-Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson
• Nature by Ralph Waldo Emerson
• Man versus Men . Woman versus Women by Margaret Fuller
• Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau
Because residents were disillusioned with their lifestyles in cities and
working in factories, these essays were popular with a huge numbe r of
Americans. These writings, many of which were written by Ralph Waldo
Emerson, appeared to offer an answer to Americans by highlighting nature's
healing and restorative powers. The tradesman, the lawyer, emerges from
the din and craft of the street, se es the sky and the trees, and returns to his
former self. He finds himself lost in their endless serenity.
The most well -known Transcendentalist authors are Emerson and Thoreau.
They also had a big influence on each other's opinions. Thoreau, who was
youn ger than Emerson, eventually moved into his house and the two worked
closely together. By moving to a hut on Emerson's estate and living on the
shores of Walden Pond for two years, Henry David Thoreau was able to
fully adopt transcendentalism in his own li fe. Thoreau came from the woods
after two years and authored the book Walden , in which he detailed what he
had learned and experienced living alone in nature for so long. Thoreau munotes.in

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6 Nineteenth Century American Literature
6 believes that the best way to connect with nature and live deeply is to live
as simply as possible. This long period of isolation transformed him into an
adept naturalist with a thorough awareness of plants and animals. Despite
the fact that the majority of Americans did not abandon their lives to live in
the woods, the movement ha d an impact on many aspects of American
culture.
1.4 AMERICAN CIVIL W AR AND ITS IMPACT ON
LITERATURE
The Civil Wars have provided rich material as well as a significant body of
writing. Most of the country's writers used them as a motif. Furthermore,
the C ivil War had a significant impact on American society. The literary
approach of the texts continues to shape current views of war and its aspects.
For example, over the previous decade, World War I spawned a plethora
of writing and attracted a great deal of examination. Many people were
affected by the Civil War. The first great Civil War writers experimented
with new literary genres and challenged many of the orthodox
preconceptions about the repercussions of the conflict.
The majority of writers wrote ab out the war's events and background from
both a literary and historical perspective. Literature has had a long -lasting
impact on how people view wars. Although the term "war" may appear to
be overly narrow, war and peace experiences frequently intersect an d
overlap in reality. Stephen Crane's The Red Badge of Courage is an example
of Civil War writing. Most war writers have viewed their work as a
portrayal of unique, exceptional events that truly merit the designation of
war. Plays, novels, poems, diaries, memoirs, and personal accounts are
among the various types of Civil War literature. The Civil War was a great
event that led to the transformation of American culture. Many people are
still haunted by recollections of the Civil War. Others, on the other ha nd,
were motivated by the occurrences. Most American political elites were
terrified of the fantasy because they recognised how it empowered many
people. Many people's passions, whims, and inclinations were catered for
in fiction about the Civil War. Durin g the American Civil War, American
leaders argued that fiction could cause chaos and destruction through
literature. For example, in 1818, Jefferson described literature as a poison
that influences people's minds. Furthermore, he thought that books would
increase people's imaginations, resulting in skewed judgements and hatred
for the real business of life.
The Civil War literature recounts the events that occurred during that time
period. It broadens readers' understanding of the war's qualities.
Furtherm ore, the literature explains how people lived during the time period
and how the conflict that ended it marked the era. The significance of the
escalating sectional struggles that split America between the industrialised
North and South was acknowledged an d appreciated by Americans. The
American Civil War was a tragic event that changed the course of history.
It attracted a large number of writers, who used it as a backdrop for literary
works about the American character. There were numerous peculiarities i n munotes.in

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7 Important Terms and Concepts - I American writing, such as the fact that it absorbed a large amount of
material. The material needed to fuel poems, novels, and plays was viewed
as a serious crisis in America's existence. The failure was more obvious
because whites and southerners shared a compulsive remembrance of the
Civil War. In many ways, the Civil War inspired American literature. The
majority of literary artists involved in the writings were also intimately
involved in the battle. The events of the war inspired the writers, who hel ped
readers better understand the conflict. They also got the opportunity to
identify the problems. The writers, who included novelists and poets, were
inspired by the brutality and glory of the Civil War scenes and based their
personal non -fiction writing s on their experiences and what they saw in the
battle scenes. Some poets and novelists were even present throughout the
agony of their loved ones. In addition, some authors chose to write about
the romantic aspects of the conflict, while others preferred to write about
the bloody battle scenes.
Elizabeth Akers Allen, whose piece In the Defense was composed while she
attended to a wounded soldier during the Civil War, was one of the Civil
War literature writers. She worked as a federal clerk in Washington.
Another prominent Civil War author is Thomas Bailey Aldrich, who
published the book Freder icksburg and worked as a combat journalist for
The New York Tribune magazine and later as an editor for the Atlantic
monthly. The inaugural address of Abraham Lincoln is the source of some
Civil War literature. The main topic of the speech was to restore p eace and
order, which had become a distraction from the country's dire situation. The
Emancipation Proclamation was also written by Lincoln. The book was
given an official order ordering that all slaves were to be executed
psychologically and morally. The author also stated in the book that the
fight was being fought to free the slaves from slavery and to bring the
citizens of the nation back together. Slavery was a key issue in this literary
masterpiece. The author had strong sympathies for slaves and was against
slavery.
James Dickey, who wrote his book while serving as a fighter pilot during
the Civil War, was another noteworthy Civil War author. He also worked
in the advertising industry. According to Hedinand Cronkite, another
notable Civil War literatu re writer was Sidney Lanier, who served in the
Confederate Army and witnessed several major Civil War battles.
Stonewall Jackson's Dying Words were written by him. The war was
translated with a romantic tone in Sidney's poems, with a group of gallant
knights seeking to defend their country as well as their honour.
The potential of literature can elicit additional emotions, create
bewilderment, sweep horrible images with a panoramic lens, and end agony
or courage has been demonstrated. The Civil War litera ture led to mourning,
eventual reconciliation, and healing. Furthermore, Civil War literature
elicited a range of emotions that influenced America's history.
Transcendentalist ideology was prevalent throughout the Civil War.
Spiritualism was emphasised abo ve empirical reality in transcendentalism.
The articles also showed a commitment to abolitionism's ideals and
achieving the goals through whatever means were available. Conflicts, for munotes.in

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8 Nineteenth Century American Literature
8 example, were strikingly congruent with transcendentalism's worldview.
Furthermore, many outstanding people around the world were changed by
the horrific realities of the scenes observed during the civil war.
Finally, the Civil Wars had ramifications for writers; for example, few
writers had time to devote to their creative w ork. It was expected that some
of the writers would assist the war effort. As a result, the tone of much of
the fiction and poetry about the war was martial and argumentative. At its
best, Civil War writing stimulated the study of regional identity, which
culminated in the twentieth century with the arrival of the Southern Literary
Renaissance. The literature of the Civil War drastically altered many
Americans' romanticised viewpoints, which were quickly shattered by the
extraordinary murder or volume of c arnage represented by the Civil Wars,
as well as the associated atrocities.
Most authors have been rudely awakened by situations that have ripped at
their own creativity. The most dramatic impact of Civil War literature on
American history began with a str uggle between the actuality of the fight
and the authors' fundamental doubts regarding wars as a legitimate means
of achieving good policy goals. Dramatic developments followed the Civil
War in literature. Following the Civil War, poets waxed lyrical about the
country's achievements. Instead of abandoning religious motifs, they tried
to secularise religious language. In addition, stories about women of African
descent yielded some of the most insightful insights. Furthermore, some of
the most insightful ins ights were made in stories about women of African
descent. Furthermore, the writers were concerned with the problem of race,
which was seen as a major worry and could be found in almost every story
with African American protagonists. According to several w riters, the
current world has a literary cohort that has grown increasingly uneasy with
certainty.
1.5 REALISM
In literature, realism refers to a school of fiction authors who, in contrast to
romanticism or classicism, describe life with uttermost adheren ce to reality
and detail. This inclination toward realism can be found in modern writing
from various times, but it established a distinct school in the late nineteenth
century as a result of French influence. Although Balzac and Stendahl
emphasised thorou gh study and characterization, it was Flaubert who
outperformed them in Madame Bovary, his masterwork. Goncourts, J.K.
Huysmans, de Maupassant, Zola, and others were inspired by Flaubert's
achievement. The tendency of realistic writing to overemphasise wha t is
corrupt and sordid sparked a heated debate, but their influence in the novel
has become apparent, and their detailed descriptions have lessened.
In American literature, the term "realism" refers to the time period between
the Civil War and the turn of the century, when authors such as William
Dean Howells, Rebecca Harding Davis, Henry James, Mark Twain, and
others wrote fiction devoted to the accurate representation and exploration
of American lives in various contexts. As the United States grew rapidl y
after the Civil War, rising rates of democracy and literacy, rapid munotes.in

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9 Important Terms and Concepts - I industrialization and urbanisation, an expanding population base due to
immigration, and a relative rise in middle -class affluence created a fertile
literary environment for readers inter ested in understanding these rapid
cultural shifts.
In William Dean Howells' words, “Realism is nothing more and nothing
less than the truthful treatment of the material.” Ambrose Bierce, in his The
Devil's Dictionary, said that "Realism, the art of depict ing nature as it is
seen by toads. The charm suffusing a landscape painted by a mole, or a story
was written by a measuring worm. " Now let us take a look at some of the
major authors in realism and their contributions.
Samuel Langhorne Clemens, best know n as Mark Twain, is our next
American realist writer. Clemens was born on November 30, 1835, in
Florida, Missouri. He began his career as a composer. He became a
Mississippi steamboat pilot in 1851. His pen name "Mark Twain," a
leadman's yell meaning "two fathoms," came from this life. He began his
writing career. He attempted mining and journalism in San Francisco and
visited the Sandwich Islands after working as a reporter in Virginia City,
Nevada. He was termed "the father of American literature" by Will iam
Faulkner. Among his works are The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and
its sequel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884), the latter of which
is frequently referred to as the "Great American Novel."
Henry James was a New York -born Anglo -American nov elist. William
James was his older brother. He studied law at Harvard, but shifted his focus
to literature early on, publishing short tales and essays in magazines. He is
regarded as a pivotal figure in the transition from literary realism to literary
mode rnism, and many consider him to be one of the greatest novelists of
the English language. He is best known for his novels about the social and
marital interplay of émigré Americans, English, and continental Europeans.
Novels like The Portrait of a Lady, Th e Ambassadors, and The Wings of the
Dove are examples of this type. His later works have become more
experimental. James frequently used a style in which ambiguous or
contradictory motives and impressions were overlaid or juxtaposed in the
discussion of a character's psyche when describing the internal states of
mind and social dynamics of his characters. His late works have been
compared to impressionist painting because of their unique ambiguity, as
well as other aspects of their composition.
Stephen Cran e is an American writer, who was born in Newark, New
Jersey, in 1871. He travelled to New York City in 1890 to work as a
freelance reporter for the Herald and Tribune. His debut work, Maggie: A
Girl of the Streets, depicting life in the slums, was regarded as the United
States' first naturalistic fiction. Crane's famous realistic depiction of
ordinary men among the tempest and commotion of war, The Red Badge of
Courage , was published in 1895.
Frank Norris is an American novelist Frank Norris was born in Chicago
and educated in Paris, Harvard, and the University of California. In 1896,
he was a war correspondent for the San Francisco Chronicle in South Africa. munotes.in

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10 Nineteenth Century American Literature
10 In 1807, he was the editor of the San Francisco Wave. His notable works
include McTeague: A Story of San Francisco , The Octopus: A Story of
California and The Pit . The Epic of the Wheat , his unfinished trilogy, is
widely regarded as his best work.
After an extended analysis of the works by the above -mentioned authors
known to be American realists, it is not easy to come up with an original
definition of American realism. In American literature, realism refers to a
style of fiction influenced by the French in which life is depicted with strict
adherence to fact and detail. Naturalism, on the other hand, is a subgenre of
American fiction which involves the main character's singular struggle
against the forces of war, nature, and the like. Although there are a lot of
similarities between American realism and Europ ean realism, from which
it originated, the former puts stress on that which is optimistic and aesthetic,
reflecting the American way of viewing life.
1.6 LET'S SUM UP
Dear learner, let us sum up what we have learned in this chapter. We
discussed the intro duction to 19th Century American Literature and
comprehended certain aspects and terms of the same era. Thereafter, we
have arrived at a basic understanding of terms like Romanticism in
American literature, the origin and development of Transcendentalism, the
American Civil War and its impact on literature, etc. Lastly, the chapter also
discussed the practitioners of Romanticism, Transcendentalism, and the
Civil War in American literature.
1.7 IMPORTANT QUESTI ONS
Consider working on the following concepts with the help of notes and the
references given at the end of the chapter.
• The Beginning of the 19th Century American Literature.
• Romanticism in 19th Century American Literature
• Comment on the origin and development of transcendentalism in
American literature.
• Write an essay on the American Civil War and its impact on literature.
• What is realism? Its practitioners in the 19th Century American
Literature.
• Compare and contrast the features of Romanticism,
Transcendentalism, and Realism in 19th century American literature.
1.8 REFERENCES
• Adams, Richard P. "Romanticism and the American Renaissance."
American Literature 23.4 (1952): 419 -432. munotes.in

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11 Important Terms and Concepts - I • Allen, John. Homelessness in American literature: Romanticism,
realism, and testimony. Routledge, 2018.
• Goodman, Rus sell. "Transcendentalism." (2003).
• Hart, James D., and Phillip Leininger. The Oxford Companion to
American Literature Oxford University Press, 1995.
• Hicks, Granville. The Great Tradition: An Interpretation of American
Literature Since the Civil War. Biblo & Tannen Publishers, 1935.
• Jockers, Matthew L., and David Mimno. "Significant themes in 19th -
century literature." Poetics 41.6 (2013): 750 -769.
• Lundberg, David. "The American Literature of War: The Civil War,
World War I, and World War II." American Quarte rly 36.3 (1984):
373-388.
• Tadjibayev, Musajon, Alla Shegay, and Galina Krivosheeva. "The
development of realism in American literature." European Journal of
Research and Reflection in Educational Sciences 8.10 (2020): 145 -
150.
• Packer, Barbara L. The Transc endentalists. University of Georgia
Press, 2007.
Web Sources:
• https://ivypanda.com/essays/realism -in-american -
literature/#:~:text=%20Realism%20in%20American%20Literature
%20Essay%20%201,as%20Mark%20Twain.%20Born%20in%20Fl
orida%2C...%20More%20
• https://public.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amlit/realism.htm
• https://www.britannica.com/art/American -literature/The -19th-
century
• https://www.britannica.com/art/American -Renaissance
• https://infoguides.pepperdine.edu/c.php?g=1052087&p=7645574
• https://www.slu.edu/arts -and-
sciences/english/pdfs/19thcenturyamericanliterature.pdf
• https://sharonvirts.com/2020/04/18/american -romanticism -19th-
century -literature -and
ideology/#:~:text=Am erican%20Romanticism%3A%2019th%20Ce
ntury%20Literature%20%26%20Ideology%20The,own%20identity
%20and%20a%20culture%20of%20its%20own .
• https://sharonvirts.com/2020/04/18/american -romanticism -19th-
century -literature -and-ideology/ munotes.in

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12 • https://www.britannica.com/event/Transcendentalism -American -
movement
• https://study.com/learn/lesson/transcendentalism -movement -authors -
literature.html
• https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo -
9780199827251/obo -9780199827251 -0086.xml
• https://www.easternct.edu/speichera/understanding -literary -history -
all/american -literature -after-the-civil-war.html
• https://dcc.newberry.org/?p=14417
• https://www.humanitiestexas.org/news/articles/how -civil-war-
transformed -american -literatur e-talk-randall -fuller
• https://samples.primeessays.com/world -literature/civil -war-era-
literature.html
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13 2
IMPORTANT TERMS AND CONCEPTS - II
Unit Structure
2.0 Objectives
2.1 Naturalism
2.2 Local Color Movement
2.3 19th-century American women writers
2.3.1: Kate Chopin
2.3.2: Harriet Beecher Stowe
2.3.3: Fanny Fern
2.3.4: Louisa May Alcott
2.3.5: Edith Wharton
2.4 Summing Up
2.5 Important Questions
2.6 References
2.0 OBJECTIVES
Dear learner, the purpose of this chapter is to comprehend certain aspects
of 19th century American literature . You will gain a better understanding of
Naturalism, the Loca l Color Movement, and 19th -century American women
writers like Kate Chopin, Harriet Beech er Stowe, Fanny Fern, Louisa May
Alcott, Edith Wharton, etc. You will also be acquainted with the meaning
and characteristic features of Naturalism, the Local Color Movement and
the writings of women of 19th -century America . It is believed that a
revisiona ry study of these terms will prepare you to understand 19th
Century American Literature .
2.1 NATURALISM
Naturalism was a late 19th - and early 20th -century literary and artistic
movement inspired by the adoption of natural science concepts and
methods, particularly the Darwinian view of nature, to literature and art. It
was a literary extension of the realism tradition, striving for a more genuine,
unselective picture of reality, a veritable "slice of life" presented without
moral judgement. Naturalistic authors emphasised man's incid ental and
physiological nature rather than his moral or rational traits, which set them
apart from realism. Individual characters were viewed as hapless products munotes.in

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14 Nineteenth Century American Literature
14 of heredity and the environment, driven by powerful innate desires from
within and harried by external social and economic pressures. As a
consequence, they had very little say or influence over their fate, and their
"cases" had a poor prognosis from the outset.
Naturalism began in France, with its direct theoretical foundation in
Hippolyte Taine' s critical approach, "There is a cause for ambition, courage,
and truth, just as there is for digestion, muscular action, and animal heat,"
he said in his preface to Histoire de la littérature anglaise. Despite the fact
that the Goncourt brothers' Germinie Lacerteux (1864), a case study of a
servant girl, was the very first "scientific" book, Émile Zola's piece "Le
Roman expérimental" (1880) became the school's literary manifesto.
According to Zola, the novelist was to become a detached scientist who puts
his characters and their passions into a series of experiments and works with
emotional and social facts in the same way that a chemist works with the
matter. Following Zola's lead, the naturalistic style spread widely,
influencing most of the period's grea t writers to vary degrees. The popular
story "The Necklace" by Guy de Maupassant introduces a figure who will
be handled like a specimen under a microscope. Early works by Joris -
Karlysmans, as well as those of German dramatist Gerhart Hauptmann and
Portugu ese author José Maria Eça de Queirós, were based on naturalistic
principles.
Naturalistic writers believed that by studying people objectively, the laws
underlying the forces that govern their lives could be studied and
understood. Naturalistic writers wrote their novels using a model of the
scientific approach; they studied human beings governed by instincts and
passions as well as the ways in which the characters' lives were governed
by forces of heredity and environment. Although they used the techniques
of accumulating detail pioneered by the realists, the naturalists chose the
part of real life that they desired to convey with a particular object in mind.
Naturalism was proposed and developed by Emile Zola, a French novelist,
and was brought to America by American novelist Frank Norris. It's a new,
tougher realism. It's a litera ry view of life that emphasizes direct observation
rather than idealism or rejection of the unpleasant. Naturalists in American
literature questioned the validity of comforting moral truths. They
attempted to achieve extreme objectivity and frankness by po rtraying
characters from lower social and economic classes who were influenced by
their environment and heredity. The melancholy and determinism concepts
of naturalism pervade the writings of authors such as Stephen Crane, Frank
Norris, Jack London, Henry Adams, Theodore Dreiser, Ernest Hemingway,
and others.
Both André Antoine and Otto Brahm formed the Théâtre Libre in Paris in
1887 and the Freie Bühne in Berlin in 1889, respectively, to produce real
works in a naturalistic style with a naturalistic settin g. In the visual arts, a
parallel progression happened. Following the example of realist painter
Gustave Courbet, painters chose themes from daily life. Many of them left
the studio for the streets, where they discovered subjects among the peasants
and tra ders and photographed them as they happened, unplanned and munotes.in

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15 Important Terms and Concepts - II unposed. Their finished canvases possessed the freshness and immediacy of
drawings as a result of this approach. The first to champion Édouard Manet
and the Impressionists was Zola, the advocate fo r literary realism.
Despite their claims to impartiality, the literary naturalists were hampered
by biases in their deterministic ideas. They correctly portrayed nature, but
it was always "red in tooth and claw." Their beliefs about inheritance led
them t o choose basic characters with powerful, elemental passions. Because
of their beliefs in the overpowering influences of the environment, they
chose the most miserable locations for their subjects —the slums or the
underworld —and photographed them in gloomy and disgusting detail.
Finally, they couldn't keep a romantic element of revolt against the societal
conditions they detailed from coming through.
Naturalism was a short -lived historical trend, but it contributed to the
refinement of realism in art, new fi elds of subject matter, and largeness and
formlessness that was closer to life than art. Its plethora of impressions gave
the image of a world in perpetual motion, necessarily jungle -like due to the
abundance of interdependent lives. In American literature , it flourished late
in the writing of Hamlin Garland, Stephen Crane, Frank Norris, and Jack
London, and culminated in the work of Theodore Dreiser. The "Studs
Lonigan" trilogy by James T. Farrell is one of the most recent instances of
pure realism.
Other American writers pushed toward naturalism, a more sophisticated
kind of realism, toward the end of the nineteenth century. Hamlin Garland's
writings exhibited part of this evolution when he used short tales and novels
as vehicles for philosophical and soci al preaching, and he was franker than
Howells in emphasising the harsher elements of the farmer's hardships and
in dealing with the subject of sex. Garland's talents were showcased in films
like Main -Traveled Roads and Rose of Dutcher's Coolly . These, toge ther
with Crumbling Idols , a critical manifesto for new fiction, were crucial
contributions to a growing movement.
Other American authors of the same era or slightly later were ardent
supporters of Émile Zola's French naturalists. For example, Theodore
Dreiser dealt with subjects that previous realists deemed too hazardous and,
like other naturalists, used his characters and narratives to express his own
ideas. He portrayed characters who couldn't control their actions, claiming
that men's actions were "che mical compulsions." He also showed characters
being destroyed by stronger and more vicious opponents, believing that the
race was to the swift and the battle to the strong. Sister Carrie , Jennie
Gerhardt , The Financier, The Titan , and much later An America n Tragedy
were among his greatest works.
Dreiser was unconcerned about or uninterested in the finer points of style
or intricate symbolism found in French naturalistic works, but Stephen
Crane and Frank Norris were. In his short novels Maggie: A Girl of th e
Streets and The Red Badge of Courage, as well as several of his short stories
like In McTeague, The Octopus, and The Pit, Crane was an artistic genius
who created his details and brought them out to represent a picture of a man munotes.in

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16 Nineteenth Century American Literature
16 heavily burdened by enviro nment and situation. Frank Norris, who loved
Crane's aptitude for making phrase sparks that cast a momentary gleam
upon whole phases of life, strove to create phrases, scenes, and entire
narratives that cast similar gleams. Both Crane and Norris died young , their
full powers unfulfilled, but their experiments foreshadowed great successes
in the book in the twentieth century.
In Henry James' writings, fiction took a new course. He believed, like other
realists and naturalists of his period, that literature s hould reflect reality.
However, he saw reality as being translated twice: first, through the author's
unique experience of it, and then, through his distinctive description of it.
As a result, deep knowledge and extensive expertise were less necessary
than the artist's difficult and delicate duty. His articles on authors, “The Art
of Fiction”, and magnificent prefaces to his collected works showed him
grappling deeply and consciously with the issues of his craft. They produced
an important body of work on f ictional craftsmanship when read together.
Despite being a great short story writer, James is best known for his novels
in which his beliefs are put into action. The American , The Portrait of a
Lady , The Spoils of Poynton , What Maisie Knew , The Wings of th e Dove ,
The Ambassadors , and The Golden Bowl were among the most notable
works. The first of them were international books, in which tensions
originated from interactions between Americans and Europeans, each with
its own set of traits and ideals. With tim e, he became more concerned with
his characters' psychological processes, as well as a subtle representation of
their restricted insights, perceptions, and feelings.
Realism and Naturalism
The Civil War in the United States cost more than 2.3 million sold iers their
lives, with an estimated 851,000 individuals dying between 1861 and 1865.
Walt Whitman foretold it, and the years that followed saw the emergence
of literature that presented a clear and unembellished vision of the world as
it truly was. This wa s the core of reality. Naturalism was a form of realism
that was taken to its logical conclusion. They were the writers' principal
means of expression after the dismal reality of a disastrous conflict.
Before becoming Mark Twain in 1863, at the age of 27, Samuel Clemens
worked as a typesetter, journalist, riverboat captain, and itinerant labourer.
He first went by that moniker when covering politics in the Nevada
Territory. The short story "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras
County," published in 1865 , propelled him to national prominence.
Although Twain's story was a hilarious tall tale, the characters were accurate
representations of real Americans.
Naturalism is a branch of realism that has many characteristics in common
with realism but differs in some ways. Naturalism emerged in 1859 and,
like realism, presented real people in genuine settings, but it was thought
that factors greater than the person, such as nature, fate, and genetics,
affected people's fates. This branch represents a transition fr om idealism to
reality. munotes.in

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17 Important Terms and Concepts - II The Civil War provides the historical backdrop for this time period.
Agriculture, which was considered the south at the time, was competing
with industry, which was deemed the north. A session from South Carolina
was held in the Uni on in 1861. The Civil War resulted from the partition of
nations. The conflict sprang from disagreements over state's rights and
slavery. This definitely had a negative impact on the United States, as well
as the literature of the historical period. Recons truction began once the
conflict was over. The homestead acts launched the United States' westward
expansion, and Indian reserves were now being seized in order for the
country to expand its borders. This development aided the country's growth
and eventual ly led to the Second Industrial Revolution, which saw the
introduction of electricity, telephones, and vehicles. The rise of cities as a
result of the second industrial revolution led to immigration.
Spirituals and slave narratives centred on slavery were prevalent in realism
and naturalism literature. These essays provide compelling proof that
slavery ruins people's personalities. Frederick Douglass, for example,
authored "My Bondage and My Freedom," a book about his life as a slave
that exposes the negati ve aspects of slavery. War memoirs and frontier
stories are among the other written works. Because the Civil War had no
concern for anyone and people were killed or injured on a daily basis, we
may detect a theme of a loss of innocence in these written wor ks.
Naturalism, like realism, was a literary style inspired by 19th -century
French authors who aspired to capture the reality they saw around them via
fiction, particularly among the middle and working classes in cities. Paul
Laurence Dunbar was an African American poet who wrote popular poems
in the black vernacular for a white audience, such as "Possum" and "When
de Co'n Pone's Hot," and gave them a glimpse into what black Americans
were like. Dunbar also wrote non -dialect poetry, such as "We Wear the
Mask" and "Sympathy," which depicted racism in America during and after
Reconstruction.
While Henry James shared the realists' and naturalists' belief that literature
should convey reality, his writing style and use of literary form aimed to
produce an aesthetic experience as well as document the truth. He was
enthralled by the clash of Ameri can and European values. Both 19th -
century realism and naturalism, as well as 20th -century modernism, may be
found in his writing. The American, The Portrait of a Lady, What Maisie
Knew, The Wings of the Dove, and The Golden Bowl are just a few of his
renowned novels.
2.2 LOCAL COLOR MOVEMENT
The local colour writing style is generated from the presentation of a certain
location's and its residents' traits and characteristics. “Local color" can be
applied to any type of writing, it is almost solely used to define the type of
American literature that first occurred in the late 1860s, sometime after the
War Had ended. For nearly three decades, The Local Color was probably
the most popular form of American literature, satisfying the newly
awakened interests of the public in distant parts of the U S and, for some, munotes.in

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18 Nineteenth Century American Literature
18 presenting a nostalgic memory of the past times. It was concerned primarily
with showing the character of a specific region, focusing on the peculiarities
of dialect, manners, folklore, and landscape that distinguished the area.
The first p opular group of fiction writers, the local colorists, took over some
of the work of portraying sectional groups that had been neglected by the
new humorists. Bret Harte, one of these writers to achieve widespread
popularity, confessed to being inspired by prewar sectional comedy writers,
as did some others, and they all had commonalities with the prior
generation. Harte's Luck of Roaring Camp, and Other Sketches, funny and
emotional tales of California mining camp life; Harriet Beecher Stowe's
Oldtown Folks and Sam Lawson's Oldtown Fireside Stories, beautiful
vignettes of New England ; and Edward Eggleston's Hoosier Schoolmaster,
a novel of the early days of the settlement of Indiana, all appeared within a
short period of time. Short tales in the patterns est ablished by these three
continued to appear well into the twentieth century.
Local -color fiction has ultimately been portrayed in practically every
section of the country. Among the other works by George W. Cable are
depictions of Louisiana Creoles, Virgin ia Blacks by Thomas Nelson Page,
Georgia Blacks by Joel Chandler Harris, Tennessee mountaineers by Mary
Noailles Murfree (Charles Egbert Craddock), New England tight -lipped
folk by Sarah Orne Jewett and Mary E. Henry Cuyler Bunner and William
Sydney Porter 's works include Wilkins Freeman and New York City
citizens. A few of these authors declared that their purpose was to portray
the lives of people from various walks of life in an honest manner in order
to promote compassion in a united nation. However, be cause the authors
tended to nostalgically relive the past rather than portraying their own
period, winnowing away less attractive aspects of life or developing their
stories with pathos or humour, the novels were only partially realistic. Even
if they were tinged with romanticism, because they delicately described
common people, were concerned with dialect, and avoided obsolete
emotional or romantic clichés, these fictional works were a step toward
realism.
James Fenimore Cooper's frontier novels have been recognised as
forerunners of the local color narrative, as have Washington Irving's New
York Dutch tales. The California Gold Rush provided a vivid and exciting
backdrop for Bret Harte's stories, including The Luck of Roaring Camp ,
which uses miners' diale ct, colorful characters, and a California setting.
Harte wasn't the only regional colorist who began his career as a stand -up
comic. In the end, his unsuccessful attempts to find excellent writing for the
Overland Monthly led him to just lampoon the slave ring authors of the
American West with overblown verse. A number of men, including George
Horatio Derby and Robert Henry Newell, the master of dialect spelling,
followed his humorous lead. Other "Old Southwest" writers joined in the
satirical, broadly humo rous style. Samuel Clemens, afterwards known as
Mark Twain, apprenticed with Harte at this time. Twain's tall tales (most
notably "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County," 1865) and munotes.in

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19 Important Terms and Concepts - II books about life on the Mississippi River show the clearest influ ence of the
local color story —and the humorist subgenre.
2.3 19TH -CENTURY AMERICA N WOMEN WRITERS
Modern thoughtful evaluation of nineteenth -century women's literary works
attempts to understand the deeper causes of why women authors,
particularly in America, Britain, and France, were able to attain such
widespread exposure and significance in a period known for its male
dominance and often lackadaisical attitude toward women's intellectual
capabilities. Furthermore, scholars have investigated the broad thematic
concerns that characterise much of the literary output of nineteenth -century
women writers, with m any arguing that it was in the nineteenth century that
gender -consciousness and feminist attitudes first came to the forefront of
the literary imagination, forever changing how female authors' works would
be written and regarded.
In the nineteenth century, there were more published women authors than
in any previous century. During the century, women's access to higher
education improved dramatically, equipping them with the ability to further
their work. Women in Europe and the United States were required to adapt
to new cultural constraints such as market economies, cities, and life
expectancies grew, and many women became more aware of their imposed
social, legal, and political inequality. Finally, nineteenth -century women's
social reform movements, such as religious revivalism, abolitionism,
temperance, and suffrage, provided a background, an audience, and a place
for women authors to express their opinions. While most scholars agree that
many women writers accepted the separate sphere of domesticity that the
age expected of them, they also argue that as the century progressed, an
increasing number of women began to express their dissatisfaction with
gender relations and the plight of women in general through their writing.
The "woman question" about a wom an's true role in art and society, was a
passionately discussed topic during the Victorian era, fueled in part by the
rapid development of women's literature.
Women writers in the nineteenth century broadened their subject matter
beyond spotlighting the li ves and hardships of women imprisoned in
domestic jails at the end of the century. Instead, they were more
individualistic and expected more equal partnership with males in marriage,
public life, law, and politics.
2.3.1 Kate Chopin
Kate Chopin is known pr imarily for her short stories and essays about life
in the South of the United States. The Awakening is her most well -known
piece (1899). Many critics considered Chopin, a native of Louisiana, one of
the first feminist writers to represent the South. Her s tories were published
in prestigious journals such as Vogue and Atlantic Monthly, and they varied
from toddlers to adults. She established herself as a key writer and figure in
early feminist movements, not just as a female novelist but also as a feminist
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20 Nineteenth Century American Literature
20 2.3.2 Harriet Beecher Stowe
Stowe's work as a novelist and abolitionist aided the abolitionist
movement's advancement throughout the nineteenth century. Uncle Tom's
Cabin, her most renowned novel, highlighted the harsh conditions of
enslav ed Black people across the United States. The work attracted great
notice and resistance in the United States after it was published in America
and even Great Britain. During the Civil Conflict, she saw former President
Abraham Lincoln, who greeted her by crediting her writing as a spark for
the war. "So you're the woman who wrote the book that started this great
war," he allegedly told her. while speaking of female empowerment.
2.3.3 Fanny Fern
Sara Payson Willis, better known as Fanny Fern, was a writer and humorist
who contributed to novels, children's literature, and journalism. Her writing
style appealed to middle -class women and became synonymous with it.
Fern was the highest -paid newspaper writer by the time she was 44, earning
$100 per week for the New York Ledger. Ruth Hall, a fictional
autobiography based on her life that feminist experts hail as a seminal
feminist literary work, is her most recognised work today.
2.3.4 Louisa May Alcott:
Alcott was known as one of the best known American novelists , short story
writers, and poets best known for her work Little Women and its sequels,
Little Men, Abigail May and Amos Bronson Alcott were both
transcendentalists who grew up in New England among many famous
thinkers of the day, including Ralph Waldo Eme rson, Nathaniel Hawthorne,
Henry David Thoreau, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
Alcott's family was poor, so she started working at an early age to help
support them while also looking for a creative outlet in writing. In the 1860s,
she began to receive cr itical acclaim for her work. Early in her career, Alcott
used various pen identities, including A. M. Barnard. She wrote brutal short
stories and adult sensation novels about desire and revenge under this pen
name. Little Women, published in 1868, is large ly based on Alcott's
childhood experiences with her three sisters, Abigail May Alcott Nieriker,
Elizabeth Sewall Alcott, and Anna Alcott Pratt, and is set in the Alcott
family home, Orchard House, in Concord, Massachusetts. The novel was
well-received at t he time, and it continues to be popular among children and
adults today. It has been adapted for the stage, cinema, and television
numerous times. Throughout her life, Alcott was an abolitionist and a
feminist who was active in reform organisations such as temperance and
women's suffrage. Alcott did not marry. She died of a stroke two days after
her father in Boston on March 6, 1888.
2.3.5 Edith Wharton
Edith Newbold Jones was an American author, short story writer, and
designer who lived from January 24, 1862, until August 11, 1937. Wharton
drew on her intimate understanding of upper -class New York aristocracy to munotes.in

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21 Important Terms and Concepts - II realistically portray the lives and morals of the Gilded Age. She was the
first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize in Literature in 1921 for her nov el The
Age of Innocence. She was inducted into the National Women's Hall of
Fame in 1996. The House of Mirth and the novella Ethan Frome are two of
her other well -known works.
2.4 SUMMING UP
Dear learner, let us sum up what we have learned in this chapter. We have
understood certain aspects of 19th century American Literature. We have
arrived at a basic understanding of Naturalism, the Local Color Movement,
and 19th -century American women writers like Kate Chopin, Harriet
Beecher Stowe, Fanny Fern, Louisa May Alcott, and Edith Wharton etc.
The chapter also discussed the meaning and characteristic features of
Naturalism, the Local Color Movement, and the writings of women of 19th -
century America. Lastly, we studied the contributions of American women
authors to the history of 19th -century American literature.
2.5 IMPORTANT QUESTIONS
The questions in this unit will be asked in the short -notes format, so the
learner needs to comprehend each literary term in detail. The following are
some of the sample questions.
• The Origin of Naturalism in America
• The Local Color Movement and its impact on literature.
• The Contribution of the Nineteenth -Century American Women
Writers
• The Similarities and differences between Naturalism and Realism
• The writings of 19th -century women authors
2.6 REFERENCES
• Gatti, Lauren. "Seriously popular: Rethinking 19th -century American
literature through the teaching of popular fiction." English Journal
(2011): 47 -53.
• Gray, Richard. A history of American literature . John Wiley & Sons,
2011.
• Hart, James D., and Phillip Leininger. The Oxford Companion to
American literature. Oxford University Press, 1995.
• Hendler, Glenn. Public Sentiments: Structures of Feeling in
Nineteenth -Century American Literature. Univ of North Carolina
Press, 2001. munotes.in

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22 Nineteenth Century American Literature
22 • Higginson, Thomas Wentworth, and Henry Walcott Boynton. A
Reader's History of American Literature . Houghton, Mifflin, 1903.
• Pattee, Fred Lewis. A History of American Literature Since 1870 .
Century Company, 1923.
• Tanner, Tony. Scenes of nature, signs of men: essays on 19th and 20th
century American literature. No. 31. Cambridge University Press,
1989.
• Zhang, Xiaof en. "On the Influence of Naturalism on American
Literature." English Language Teaching 3.2 (2010): 195 -198.
Web Sources:
• https://www.encyclopedia.com/social -sciences/encyclopedias -
almanacs -transcripts -and-maps/womens -literature -19th-century -
introduction
• https://thedramateacher.com/realism -and-naturalism -theatre -
conventions/
• http://fivetimeperiodsoflit.weebly.com/the -period -of-realism -and-
naturalism -1870 -
1910.html#:~:text=The%20period%20of%20realism%20and%20nat
uralism%20lasted%20from,to%20the%20Civil%20War%20and%20
the%20frontier%20line .
• https://public.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amlit/natural.htm
• https://www.britannica.com/art/local -color
• https://www.silverpetticoatreview.com/top -20-18th-and-19th-
century -women -
writers/#:~:text=Top%2020%2018th%20and%2019th%20Century%
20Women%20Writers,of%20the%20Rights%20of%20Women%20
More %20items...%20
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:19th -
century_American_women_writers
• https://centur ypast.org/women -authors/
• https://thelibrary.org/blogs/article.cfm?aid=772
• https://infoguides.pepperdine.edu/c.php?g=1052087&p=7645574#:~
:text=American%20Literature%20in%20Special%20Collections%3
A%2019th%20Cent ury%20Literature,10%20Harriet%20Beecher%2
0Stowe.%20...%20More%20items...%20
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IF -XEhyNFLs&t=5s
7777777munotes.in

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23 3
CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF WALT
WHITMAN’S “I HEAR AMERICA
SINGING”, “THOU GHTS”, “I SIT AND
LOOK OUT”, “A GLIMPSE” AND “ALL IS
TRUTH”
Unit Structure
3.0 Objectives
3.1 Walt Whitman
3.2 I Hear America Singing
3.3 Thoughts
3.4 I Sit and Look Out
3.5 A Glimpse
3.6 All is Truth
3.7 Summing up
3.8 Suggested Reading
3.9 Self-check exercises
3.10 References
3.0 OBJECTIVES
In this chapter, the learner is provided with a brief introduction of the author
Walt Whitman and shares some snippets of his life. The learner will be
introduced concisely to the poems prescribed in the syllabus. Each poem is
summarized and analyzed criti cally. By the end of the chapter, the learner
will be advanced to understand the famous American poet Walt Whitman
and his famous poems . Thereafter, all the learnings will be summed up in
short for the learner, followed by a self -check exercise.
3.1 WALT WHITMAN
American poet, journalist, and essayist Walt Whitman was born on May 31,
1819, New York, and passed away on March 26, 1892, New Jersey.
Whitman was raised in Brooklyn and dropped out of school at the age of
12. He later held a wide range of positio ns, such as writing and editing for
magazines. His revolutionary poetry celebrated the shared experience of an
idealised democratic American society while addressing incredibly avoided
realities. Whitman is acclaimed as the first "Poet of Democracy" in add ition
to being recognized as a great American poet. He is also regarded as the
father of free verse poetry. His first edition of Leaves of Grass (1855), was munotes.in

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24 Nineteenth Century American Literature
24 revised and greatly expanded in later editions that included his subsequent
poems, would be too bru tally honest and unconventional to find universal
support in its day, but it was praised by his contemporaries. He had a
significant impact on both American and foreign literature. Poems like "I
Sing the Body Electric" and "Song of Myself," which were writ ten without
rhyme or conventional meter , claimed the beauty and the significance of the
human body. Later editions also included few more his well -known works
like "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry," and elegies on Abraham Lincoln, including
"O Captain! My Captain! " Throughout the Civil War, Whitman served in
the hospitals in Washington. He borrowed heavily from his wartime
experiences and post -war musings for the prose works Democratic Vistas
(1871) and Specimen Days & Collect (1882 -83).
Walt Whitman is renowned for his masterwork, Leaves of Grass , a
collection of poetry that he revised and expanded on over the course of his
lifetime. The original edition, which is regarded as a turning point in the
history of American literature, was a co mpact volume containing just
twelve poems, whereas the final version contained more than 400. He
worked on his final years' edition of Leaves of Grass on his deathbed (1891 -
1892). Harold Bloom in one of his interviews with Harper Magazine in the
year 2011 described Walt Whitman as “ a heroic individualist; he was
marked by enormous kindness towards his fellow man. From 1863 to 1867,
he tended to between 35,000 and 40,000 men in hospitals – Yankees and
Confederates alike. He did this as a volunteer, as a love r of humanity. He
brought them bags of peppermint, sips of brandy.” Harold Bloom presented
Whitman as an important man and citizen, who is not only a poet but
someone who acquired successfully the American soul. He worked in a
hospital during Civil War as a volunteer nurse and crossed the ordinary
boundaries of duty , charity and love to serve his country men and to those
whom he considered as fellow human being s. Through his poetry, he creates
a link between the reader and himself. Some of the m ajor themes in the
poems of Walt Whitman are the self the body and the soul, nature, time,
cosmic consciousness, mysticism, death, transcendentalism and democracy.
3.2 I HEAR AMERICA SI NGING
Walt Whitman's masterpiece, I Hear America Singing, has been studied
from a number of angles, but the working class of a thriving American
society has received the most emphasis. Overall, his poetry prose is lively
and simply respectful and appreciative of America's proletariat. Walt
Whitman included this poem in his poetry collection Leaves of Grass in
1860.
Walt Whitman's optimistic viewpoint reveals a prospering American nation.
As each proletariat -class member sings his own song, the poetry is
straightf orward and clear. The boatman, mason, mechanic, wood -cutter,
shoemaker, and carpenter are all contributing to the overall picture of
America. Even the female population is appropriately taken into account,
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25 Critical Analysis of Walt Whitman’s “ I Hear America
Singing” , “Thoughts”, “ I Sit
and Look Out”, “ A Glimpse”
and “ All is Truth” When th e patriotic poem starts, Whitman begins to praise the proletariats in
American society and emphasises unique qualities with genuine emotion.
The poem has a happy tone as a result, and it encourages encouraging words
of support for the people it is addresse d to. The expression "I hear American
singing" is important in preserving respect for the American working class,
which is acknowledged as having contributed equally to the advancement
of American society.
The poet now commits himself to documenting many people involved in
contributing to American culture in their own unique ways. Each individual
character or professional is portrayed happily travelling down his or her
predetermined path, being admired for playing a role in contributing to the
society. Ea ch character articulates their own distinctiveness as he sings
about their line of work. Overall, all of these singing characters are
portrayed as being Americans. It is obvious that the poet imagines his own
image of America, one built on the labour of th e proletarian class, by
dividing society along socioeconomic lines. Lincoln's "for the people, by
the people", political philosophy is used here as a core principle. It
symbolizes his own ideal vision of a future America, one that welcomes the
bourgeoisi e class into regular public service jobs.
Whitman has specifically devoted two lines —which feature a sewing girl,
a wife, and a mother —to the female population of prosperous America. He
sees each of these contributions as crucial turning points for progres s and
transformation in a developing American nation. It serves as an allegory for
a time when women were denied the right to vote at the federal level. They
thus had no input towards the functioning of the government or elected
politicians.
After highligh ting people's contributions and all the various professionals
connected in an industrial system, he closes his cheerful song. He also
appeals to the right to rejoice and celebrate after a hard day's labour as the
poem comes to a close.
In the poem, we see, Walt Whitman values individualism and appears to be
focused in that regard. It is admirable and respectable that people sing songs
that are uniquely their own. Through their singing, the diverse occupations
and professions are connected. There are eleven lines in this poem's single
stanza. The poem, which was written in free verse, is a drop -down list of
professionals from the working class who are striving to make ends meet.
He depicts them as genuine supporters of the present and future of America,
and does so in a positive light. The poem avoids using traditional poetic
forms. He creates a patriotic anthem for future Americans through music,
elevating and admiring them. Whitman has filled the poem with American
pride and inspires the reader with free rh yme and emotive language.
Overall, the poem has a positive, lively, and cheerful vibe. He plays down
any idea of despair and the struggles proletariat society faces by using a set
of inspirational words. In the end, it is comparable to the American natio n's
national anthem. As is generally known, Walt intended for his poems to be
read aloud, giving other listeners a sense of optimism, inspiration, and
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26 Nineteenth Century American Literature
26 3.3 THOUGHTS
Whitman's "Thoughts" is a compilation of his ideas on various topics,
organised into numbered sections. This poem is written in free verse and
does not adhere to any particular meter or rhyme system, as is typical of
Whitman's approach. The poem is divided into seven various lengths of
stanzas, or divisions. Every section of the poem is a list that addresses a
distinct problem that Whitman was strongly considering. The majority of
the beginning lines start with "of," as the speaker discusses the topic that
occupies his thoughts the most at that precise moment.
Whitman considers indivi duals in the opening paragraph. Instead of simply
scanning their "visages," he considers going farther and learning more about
them. He considers ugliness because he acknowledges that it is as
significant to beauty. He expresses concern about "detected per sons" and
criminals and declares his conviction that everyone, including the President,
has the ability to commit a crime.
Nature is discussed in the second section. The speaker considers the
advancements that humans have brought to the world, as well as t he water,
trees, hills, and other lovely views. In the third segment, he considers those
whom society celebrates and makes the case that accolades have no bearing
on a person's physical or spiritual makeup. He notes that these "persons of
high positions" f requently live under illusions, which he calls "sad." They
are also constantly "walking in the dusk," according to him. Here, in this
section, Whitman criticises those in positions of power. He holds the view
that pursuing material prosperity destroys the "center of existence" and that
those who do so are living in a false reality and are disconnected from their
humanity. Whitman emphasises his conviction that pleasure does not
depend on wealth or social standing but rather on truth and introspection.
In the fourth stanza, the speaker considers justice and freedom, and he
questions why society thinks it is appropriate for certain people to have
greater rights than others. While the section 5 takes a different tone again
and with the exception of him thinkin g on these subjects and not mere any
observation. It's probable that Whitman's questions about humanity and
the soul in this section were inspired by the feast goers. The speaker
mentions being at a feast when all of a sudden, he starts to think of a
shipwreck in the water and all the people who are drowning. He ponders if
the soul can endure beyond physical death or if it perishes together with the
body. He questions, in the sixth stanza, if recorded history is as "full" and
"enduring" as his own poems because "shreds" of events that were recorded
may ultimately come to represent the history of an entire country. Whitman,
however, in the sixth stanza, goes so far as to assert that his poems are more
significant than the contents of written history. He ba cks up his assertion by
describing history as "shreds, the chronicles of countries," in contrast to his
universal poems, which are applicable to anybody from any nation without
omission. In the last stanza, he questions why people are so prone to follow
leaders who don't give a damn about their subordinates' individual well -
being. munotes.in

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27 Critical Analysis of Walt Whitman’s “ I Hear America
Singing” , “Thoughts”, “ I Sit
and Look Out”, “ A Glimpse”
and “ All is Truth” Together, these ideas don't really make sense. Whitman was not the only
poet to suggest that his poems would address universal issues and the human
condition. Whitman gives his r eaders scattered, brief flashes into his
thoughts instead. He poses open -ended questions that urge the reader to
consider the same problems that trouble him. This poem contains many
concepts that go against widely held social norms. For instance, Whitman
claims in the opening verse that everyone, including the President, has the
potential to turn into a criminal.
3.4 I SIT AND LOOK OU T
In his poem "I Sit and Look Out," Walt Whitman evokes the echoes of all
the miseries and cruelties of life that emerged in the wake of capitalism. The
19th century saw a turning point in people's lives as the vicious circle for
materialistic wealth became more influential and principles were
abandoned, emotions and feelings were sidelined from within human
beings.
I Sit and Look Out, is a poem in free verse which is used to connote the
never ending and never changing situation. The poem is more of a study
and a bitter commentary of this dystopian world where violence and
complete disgrace run the society. The capitalization of the verb "sit" in the
title denotes the action of an onlooker. Here, as an onlooker , Whitman
witnesses suffering, exploitation, humi liation, misery, lack of regard by the
children, mistreatment of women, sickness, irrationality, and other forms of
suffering.
In the poem's last line, "All these - All the meanness and agony without end,
I sitting, look out upon, See, hear, and am silent, " the poet blames others of
mistreating people rather than attempting to understand the reasons behind
their suffering or to provide any solutions to reduce it.
In the poem, we also witness the loneliness and unhappiness of a woman
who has been mistreated by her own children. The children being neglected
of her lonesome scream. Heartless suitors pick up young women and betray
them without showing any remorse or shame. The poet also observes a rise
in the number of unrequited loves and jealousies that are ke pt secret from
the public. The World War was a moment of disgrace and persecution for
the young. The poet's unease, discomfort, and the worry and tension that
run through his thoughts as he sits back are a wake -up call to the audience
to act to improve cir cumstances.
Walt Whitman penned, "I observe a famine at sea, I observe the sailors
casting lots as to who shall be killed to save the lives of the rest, I observe
the slights and degradations cast by arrogant people upon labourers, the
poor, upon negroes, and the like; All these -all the meanness and agony
without end I sitting look out upon, See, hear, and am silent." Because the
poet appears to be at an extremely higher elevation and far from the pictures munotes.in

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28 Nineteenth Century American Literature
28 of sorrow, the theme of "I Sit and Look Out" convey s a sense of solitude.
However, his suffering and cruelty are brilliantly captured.
The pen picturization is horrifying according to the poet as he has to endure
such excruciating pain at the expense of his sight that it is worse to watch
than to be the vi ctim. In other words, the poet challenges everyone to act
morally and stand up to free themselves from the bonds of suffering.
3.5 A GLIMPSE
A free verse poem by Whitman is titled “A Glimpse”. Instead of following
the structure of metrical speech, free ve rse poetry typically follows the
patterns of speech and pictures. A Glimpse is about making observations
while remaining unnoticed, moving from the outside to the inside, from
raucousness outside to silence within. It is a poem full of inconsistencies.
The poet is inspecting the inhabitants of the poem's, he contrasts his
particular views and beliefs with the surroundings, "crowd of labourers and
drivers," in a pub.
The poem opens by giving the reader a sense of the one sight the poet chose
to think on. "A glimpse through an interstice" may also refer to a singular
viewpoint held by the poet. The words "a glimpse" and "interstice" in the
first phrase both imply hidden or invisibility. Additionally, it can entail
focusing on a single set that, as we later lea rn, the barroom's frenzied
environment contrasts with the man's peaceful demeanor . The second
sentence, "Crowd of labourers and drivers in a bar -room," implies that they
are simply relaxing and socializing with one another after work. The second
line's wor d "unremark'd" distinguishes the narrator from the rest of the
"crowd." This stresses how we view and interpret the scenario through his
perspective. The contrast between the pleasant atmosphere of the barroom
and the quietness inside him afterwards emphas ises the idea of the exterior
and the inner being in opposition to one another.
The poem's second and third lines explain "the outside" in terms of poet,
but if we start reading it without them, lines 4 and 5 provide a quite different
introduction to the s cenario. These lines reveal the poet's inner thoughts.
The narrator is completely at ease in the barroom's ambiance, yet he inhabits
it differently than the "drivers" and "workmen" do. Lines four and five
imply this, as his lover is "seating himself near” to anything that accentuates
homosexuality. The word "silently" in line four contrasts the quietness of
the poet's mind and his relationship with his beloved with the atmosphere
of "the outside." "He might hold my hand" implies warmth in their
relationship, which in a way connects them to "the outside," while also
highlighting how different their relationship is from the environment of "the
outside." This lends credence to the poem's dual subjectivity of "the outside"
and "the interior," or the environment and the person.
The phrase "a long while" in line six supports the idea that the character and
his lover were sitting quietly and holding hands the entire time,
contradicting the silence and warmth of their relationship. The split munotes.in

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29 Critical Analysis of Walt Whitman’s “ I Hear America
Singing” , “Thoughts”, “ I Sit
and Look Out”, “ A Glimpse”
and “ All is Truth” subjectivity is supported by "Noises of Coming and Going," as what lies
beneath the poem's words and the narrator's thoughts are invisible to the
passerby and even to the patrons of the bar. The atmosphere of people
talking in the barroom is infused with the idea of ch arged male sexuality
through drinking, swearing, and crude humour. It also implies that the
narrator and his lover occupy this sexually charged environment differently
from "the outside," setting them apart from and in opposition to "the
outside," even in this case, to society.
The final line emphasises the intersubjectivity that the narrator and his lover
share by contrasting "quietness" against "warmth," which are both present
in their connection.
As a result, the poem's significance extends much beyond simple
observation because it pits the individual against society and minorities —
such as homosexuals —against communities where they are unwelcome.
Here, "the outside" and "the inside" are opposed to one another, dividing
them and underlining their inabilit y to converse with one another.
3.6 ALL IS TRUTH
Walt Whitman believes that "all is truth" in his poem, as suggested by the
poem's title. Even things we perceive to be "false" aren't always false. In
reality, "there is no falsehood or type of lie." This demonstrates that
everything —even what we perceive to be wrong and a lie in our minds —is
actually true; a true perspective, vision, or goal, as well as any other mistake
of a falsehood, are only projections of ideas or ideals offered by a forebear.
Instea d of focusing on religion and the way that religion wants you to think,
this poetry truly focuses on people and the way that they think. It's as though
when it comes to its worthiness and coherence in relation to its source, truth
is often what we define i t to be. However, it is always a true representation
of what it appears to be. The poet offers a different approach that
incorporates wisdom and insight to develop a notion based on lie/truth.
Truth is what each individual perceives, hears, tastes, feels, and smells.
These truths always return flawlessly and their quality is gradually
disclosed.
Where has fail’d a perfect return indifferent of lies or the truth?
... is compact just as much as space is compact, And that there is no
flaw or vacuum in the am ount of the truth —but that all is truth without
exception
In the physical sciences, where "everything exactly embodies itself and
what has preceded it," these statements express an unshakable belief. "All
Is Truth" asserts that reality's nature is indepen dent of our disagreements in
a time when the centuries -old conflict between men of faith and men of munotes.in

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30 Nineteenth Century American Literature
30 science was intensified with each new unbiblical idea. It is just how it is;
the world is "indifferent" to what we categorise as "lies or the truth."
He seems to be trying to make the point that we should all acknowledge that
we have all misled about who we are in order to fit in with society. We may
see evidence of this today, and it is quite real. People don't mean to be this
way; they just believe that it's an intrinsic desire that drives us to want to be
a part of something greater than ourselves, and we accomplish this by
altering our personalities to fit those of others.
In spite of the fact that it is a falsehood, it is being said that people will
believe anything they want to believe when they hear it. Despite the fact
that what you say is untrue, I believe that the way you respond to people
genuinely reveals the real you.
Whitman writes, "And henceforth I will go rejoice whatever thing I see or
am, and sing and laugh and deny nothing" as he puts the poem to rest. It
essentially says to enjoy and appreciate who you are and your surroundings.
So, let's follow his wise advice and take in everything, deny nothing, and
decide what lessons experience has to teach.
Self-Check Exercise 1
1. Discuss the underlying message in all the above poems.
2. Find out the writing style of the poet.
3. Major themes in Walt Whitman’s poetry.
4. Surf the web and read more about Walt Whitman and his other works.
3.7 SUMMING UP
Dear learner, let us sum up what we have learned in this chapter. In brief,
we learned about Whitman’s life. We also studied and did a critical analysis
of each prescribed poem in the syllabus. We analyzed the poems with a
similar set of themes, like life beyon d what we perceive at the surface level.
We conclude the chapter by understanding what Whitman perceives life as
and how he wants to put it across to the readers.
Some questions in the self -check exercise are provided further for the
learners to ponder on the subject.
3.8 SUGGESTED READING
Bloom, Harold. Walt Whitman: Comprehensive Research and Study Guide .
New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1999.
Justin Kaplan, "Introduction," Leaves of Grass (Bantam Classic: 1997).
Whitman, Walt. Complete Poetry and Col lected Prose. Ed. Justin Kaplan.
New York: Library of America, 1982. munotes.in

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31 Critical Analysis of Walt Whitman’s “ I Hear America
Singing” , “Thoughts”, “ I Sit
and Look Out”, “ A Glimpse”
and “ All is Truth” 3.9 SELF -CHECK EXERCI SES
Ɣ Self-Check Exercise 1 Refer to the end of Section 2.6
References
Bloom, Harold. Walt Whitman: Comprehensive Research and Study Guide .
New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1999.
Whitman, Walt. Leaves of Grass , Brooklyn, New York (1855). John
Hay Library, Brown University.
Whitman, Walt and Gary Schmidgall. Walt Whitman: Selected Poems,
1855 -1892: A New Edition. New York, St. Martin’s Press, 2000.
Matthiessen, Francis Otto. American Renaissance: Art and Expression in
the Age of Emerson and Whitman. New York: Oxford University Press,
1941.
Moon, Michael. Disseminating Whit man: Revision and Corporeality in
Leaves of Grass. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1991.
Nathanson, Tenney. Whitman’s Presence: Body, Voice, and Writing in
Leaves of Grass. New York: New York University Press, 1992.
Ramazani, Jahan. Poetry of Mourni ng: The Modern Elegy from Hardy to
Heaney. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994.
Reynolds, David S. Walt Whitman’s America: A Cultural Biography. New
York: Vintage Books, 1996.
Warren, James Perrin. Walt Whitman’s Language Experiment. University
Park: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1990.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Whitman
https://www.litcharts.com/poetry/walt -whitman/i -hear-america -singing
https://poets.org/poem/thoughts
https://engli shpoetsummary.blogspot.com/2016/08/i -sit-and-look-out.html
https://englishtutorhub.com/poems/a -glimpse -by-walt-whitman -summary -
and-lesson -2022/
https://www.bartleby.com/essay/Walt -Whitmans -All-Is-Truth -
727998F43E2A4E50
https://whitmanarchiv e.org/published/LG/1871/poems/157
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32 Nineteenth Century American Literature
32 4
Critical Study of Emily Dickinson’s “Because
I could not Stop for Death”, “I Heard a Fly
Buzz – When I Died”, “Hope is the Thing with
Feathers”, “A Bird Came Down the Walk”
and “A Light Exists in Spring”
Unit Structure
4.0 Objectives
4.1 Emily Dickinson
4.2 Because I could not stop for Death
4.3 I heard a Fly buzz – when I died
4.4 Hope is the Thing with Feathers
4.5 Bird Came Down the Walk
4.6 A Light Exists in Spring
4.8 Summing up
4.9 Suggested Reading
4.10 Self-check exercises
4.0 OBJECTIVES
In this chapter, the learner is provided with a brief introduction of the author
Emily Dickinson and shares some snippets of her life. The learner will be
introduced concisely to the poems prescribed in the syllabus. Each poem is
summarized and analyzed critically. By the end of the chapter, the learner
will be advanced to understand the famous American Poet Emily Dickinson
and her famous works. Thereafter, all the learnings will be su mmed up in
short for the learner, followed by a self -check exercise.
4.1 EMILY DICKINSON
American lyric poet Emily Dickinson, also known as Emily Elizabeth
Dickinson, was born in Amherst, Massachusetts, the U.S. on December 10,
1830, and passed away on May 15, 1886. Dickinson received her education
at Amherst Academy and later on joined college lectures at Amherst
College. She was the granddaughter of Amherst College's co -founders. Her
writings reflected the education she gained in this college. She was bor n to
Edward Dickinson, a member of the United States Congress and Emily
Narcross Dickinson. She lived a private life and two of her siblings, brother
Austin and sister Lavinia were her windows to the outside world. She
herself confessed that “I don’t go fr om home, unless emergency leads me munotes.in

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33 Critical Study of Emily Dickinson’s “Because I could
not Stop for Death”, “I Heard
a Fly Buzz – When I Died”,
“Hope is the Thing with
Feathers”, “A Bird Came
Down the Walk” and “A
Light Exists in Spring” by hand, and then I do it obstinately, and drew back if I can” (Bradley and
Beatty 148)
She started writing in the 1850s; by 1860, she was freely breaking grammar
and versification traditions. Almost 1,800 poems Emily Dic kinson wrote
throughout her lifetime and had only seven confirmed published. She sent
hundreds of poems to her friends and acquaintances, but she seems to have
kept many of them to herself. Sometimes her countless letters are as artistic
as her poems. She frequently wrote in poetic styles characteristics of hymns
and ballads. She also displayed great boldness and authenticity in her
literature's intellectual content. One of the scholar/writers of that age
Thomas Wentworth Higginson accepted that the poetry of Dickinson was
witty.
Her poetry stands out for its intriguing beauty, succinct compression, and
evocative real voice, yet they seem unpolished. Love, mortality, and nature
are among the topics of her seemingly straightforward poems, whose
profundity a nd intensity contrast with the seeming serenity of her existence.
Casey Russel Hayes in his dissertation “The Spiritual Seesaw: Emily
Dickinson and the Paradox of Belief” pointed out that the central themes in
Dickinson’s poetry is the acceptance of God, n ature and death. Her poetry
reflects both doubts and beliefs where she mixed personal thought with
motivation from higher power and conclusion is left up to the readers.
Following posthumous writings, her popularity expanded, and is highly
respected. Afte r her death in 1886, Lavinia her sister found a number of
Dickinson’s writing and manuscripts in her room and asked some scholars
for help in editing these writings. Since the publication of her complete
works in 1955, she has earned a reputation as one of America's best poets.
Dickinson is frequently cited as one of the two most important American
poets of the 19th century, along with Walt Whitman.
4.2 ‘BECAUSE I COULD NOT STOP FOR DEATH’
The 1863 poem "Because I could not stop for Death," which is assumed to
have been written between 1855 and 1863, is a plain lyric about Emily
Dickinson's confrontation in the face of death. Dickinson experienced the
deaths of numerous loved ones during her younger years. This poem was
probably inspired by something similar .
The poem, which is considered to be Dickinson's best -known work, shows
a speaker's journey beyond life. She personifies "Death" and "Immortality"
in her poetry to make them into characters.
When she adds, "He kindly stopped for me," in the first stanza, she makes
it clear that she considers death by presenting it as a personal friend or a
gentleman. The poem's calm tone further hints that the author is at ease with
death. The author's death is portrayed by the carriage trip. Dickinson
expresses her willi ngness to accept death in the next stanza when she writes
that she "put away...labor and... leisure too, for his civility." This
demonstrates the author's acceptance of her own mortality even further. She munotes.in

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34 Nineteenth Century American Literature
34 eagerly boarded the carriage with Death and Immorta lity after abandoning
everything she had planned to do with her life. Death is portrayed as taking
care of her while driving slowly so that she can reflect. When he said that
he "knew no haste", he patiently and slowly takes her through the many
phases of her existence. The author is kindly allowed some time to reflect
on her childhood as they drive "passed the School where the Children
strove." The author then has the opportunity to go back on her early years
as they pass the "Gazing Grain." The sun is set ting as they pass it. Here, the
setting sun represents the author's departure. The transition from this life to
eternal is depicted as being as peaceful and beautiful as the sunset. The
author has a warm relationship with Death and Immortality in the first
through third stanzas. She doesn't feel self -conscious about being
underdressed as she describes Death as a gentleman suitor who is nice and
civil. However, as sun sets and the chill dampness takes in, the author begins
to shiver and realizes she has not fully prepared for the weather. The poem's
unexpected tone changes in the fourth stanza and thereafter allows readers
to recognize the poem for what it truly is —cruel and terrible.
Perhaps because she believed she would merely be transitioning from this
life to one that was greater. She feels tricked because her small, damp,
permanent abode isn't a mansion in the sky but rather a swelling of the
ground, and disappointment sets in as she realises this in the fifth stanza.
The author comes to the realisation that death is not everything she had
anticipated.
Dickinson seems to have considered the idea of an afterlife in paradise, but
ultimately remarked that she wanted to believe in an afterlife in paradise but
couldn't. In the end, she believed the grave was w here she would rest.
The poem "Because I Could Not Stop For Death" has six stanzas and is
composed of quatrains, which are groups of four lines. There is no rhyme
pattern used in the poem. The mood of the poem is the emotional feeling
that the poet wants t o produce in the reader. This poem's tone and mood are
connected in this particular context.
Dickinson employs a number of literary techniques throughout the poem.
These include personification and alliteration, among others. The first of
these, alliterat ion, happens when words that start with the same sound are
placed near together. For instance, the second stanza has the words "labor"
and "leisure".
One of the most evident literary devices used in this poem is personification.
The first stanza very expli citly personifies death. It plays the role of the
speaker's suitor, inviting her to board the carriage and travel with him.
4.3 I HEARD A FLY BU ZZ-WHEN I DIED
Dickinson's "I heard a Fly buzz -when I died", is composed of four quatrains,
which are groups of four lines. The poem provides an unforgettable
portrayal of the final moments of life. The speaker draws attention to both
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35 Critical Study of Emily Dickinson’s “Because I could
not Stop for Death”, “I Heard
a Fly Buzz – When I Died”,
“Hope is the Thing with
Feathers”, “A Bird Came
Down the Walk” and “A
Light Exists in Spring” Dickinson is renowned for her concise poems that are absolutely packed
with dark thoughts and graphic imagery. The speaker of "I heard a Fly buzz
- when I died" contrasts what readers would anticipate reading about death
with what she actually writes about it by using disturbing dark images. The
story "I heard a Fly buzz -when I died" is portrayed f rom the viewpoint of a
narrator who is on the verge of passing away.
Instead of lamenting this circumstance, the speaker turns her attention to a
buzzing fly that buzzes around her as she draws to an end.
Dickinson wants her readers to be shocked by the st unning beginning of "I
heard a Fly buzz - when I died." With a dash before announcing, the speaker
tells the audience that she heard the fly buzz at the precise time of her death.
Suddenly, the readers learn that the rest of this poem will be told by the
speaker from the opposite side.
The speaker stresses the feeling of emptiness in the final line of this stanza.
It was extremely silent, similar to how quiet it is when there is a resting
period in between storms.
The speaker of "I heard a Fly Buzz - when I died" changes her thoughts
from the fly to the room's silence in the second stanza and starts to describe
the people she sees seated close. Not because no one cried for her passing,
but rather because everyone had cried all of their tears, the speaker cal ls
their eyes "wrung" as the eyes went dry. When the speaker claims that she
could hear the breath of those nearby who were waiting for the moment of
death, she is addressing the stillness of the room. In the last two lines of the
second stanza, she is ref erring to God or the Angel of Death by "The King"
in this verse is unclear, but whichever she is referring to, she anticipates that
he will enter the room as soon as she passes away.
The speaker of "I heard a Fly buzz - when I died" indicates in the third verse
that everything was ideal and she was prepared to pass away before the
intrusive fly intervened. She states that she assigned a specific person for
each of her "keepsakes." Her will was in accord. The atmosphere in the
room was calm and still. But wh en she was about to pass away peacefully,
the fly began to buzz.
Everything changes abruptly in the final verse, and the readers can sense the
speaker's uneasiness as she portrays the fly in his perplexity. He buzzes
around, uncertain of where to settle. T he speaker is disturbed by this eerie
buzzing as she nears death. The speaker infers that there is such a light in
this passage, but a fly buzzes between her and it. There was a disturbance
in her serene moment of death, which was intended to be when she f ollowed
the bright light from this life to the next. She loses her ability to see the
windows abruptly, followed by her total loss of vision. The speaker leaves
the readers with this mental picture of the final moments: darkness and an
unsettling fly. It a ppears that the speaker thinks that a bright, warm light
needed to be there at the moment of death. In the calm of her room, she
must have been surrounded by those close to her. Unfortunately, the fly
disrupted it all, and the speaker leaves her readers wi th the knowledge that,
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36 Nineteenth Century American Literature
36 uncertain. Everyone in the room appeared to be in a serene yet sorrowful
spirit. The buzzing of the unsure fly that came and disturbed her calm shows
that t he dying woman alone felt a sense of uneasiness.
Alliteration is one of the various literary devices that Dickinson uses
frequently in her poem. One kind of repetition that emphasises the usage of
consonant sounds at the beginning of words is known as alli teration. For
instance, lines three and four of the opening stanza's "Stillness" and "Storm"
respectively.
Another often used is enjambment, it is primarily focused on line
transitions. When a sentence or phrase is abruptly ended by the poet before
it naturally concludes. For instance, in the opening stanza, between numbers
2 and 3.
4.4 HOPE IS THE THIN G WITH FEATHERS
Emily Dickinson wrote a poem titled "Hope is the Thing with Feathers" that
is centered on the concept of hope. The poetry is described by the symbolic
bird. The poem is regarded as having been published in about 1891. It was
included in her sister's second book of poetry, Poems by Emily Dickinson,
after she passed away.
"Hope is the Thing with Feathers," is an allegorical poem. Dickinson, a
master of metaphor, utilizes the bird to depict religious texts and psalms
throughout her poem. Dickinson emphasizes her point that, without ever
expecting anything in return, hope survives even the wildest storms, the
coldest winds, and, for that matter, the unexplored oceans. Hope keeps us
alive by continuing to exist inside of us.
According to Emily Dickinson, hope is the only uncertain thing that offers
a strong barrier to being true even in the most trying situations and
environments that people encou nter before finding stability.
In "Hope is the Thing with Feathers," the poem's narrator portrays Hope as
a bird that lives inside people. It doesn't stop singing continually. In the first
quatrain, the narrator surmises that hope might be likened to a bir d singing
merrily to itself. Even though it doesn't have a particular language, it is
undeniably present in our spirits. According to Emily Dickinson, hope is an
endless source and a vital element of humanity that enables us to venture
into unexplored terr itory.
The poetess highlights the extent of hope's influence over us in the second
stanza. The storm becomes merrier and sweeter as it grows stronger and
more violent. In the poetess' opinion, no storm could shake hope's stubborn
spirit. The poetess claime d that a tremendous cosmic storm would be
required, in order to bring down the bird of hope that had kept most of the
men's ships afloat.
In order to convey why the bird sings loudly during a hurricane and why a
strong storm is expected to go silent, she o ffers a parable. Emily Dickinson
emphasises that hope endures through the most difficult circumstances and munotes.in

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37 Critical Study of Emily Dickinson’s “Because I could
not Stop for Death”, “I Heard
a Fly Buzz – When I Died”,
“Hope is the Thing with
Feathers”, “A Bird Came
Down the Walk” and “A
Light Exists in Spring” never asks for anything in exchange for its selfless efforts, in the poem's last
quatrain. Hope effectively guides the ship from one storm to the nex t since
it is inherently powerful and doesn't require polishing. Even in the coldest
places and the wildest waters, the speaker claims that this bird never leaves
her side and sings cheerfully without ever demanding food.
A bird is utilized in the poem as an example of a natural object that is
frequently employed as a metaphor when talking about abstract ideas like
love, death, and hope. Sometimes it's possible to read the poems simply as
they are; yet, careful inspection uncovers layers upon layers that li e just
beneath the surface. Although there are numerous ways to interpret some
verses, their main point is always obvious.
The author uses a variety of literary techniques in this poem. Among them
are:
Repetition: Throughout "Hope is the Thing with Feather s," the poet
repeatedly uses the phrases "that" and "and."
Also here, anaphora is being used with the same words or phrases used at
the beginning of multiple lines for poetic effect. For example, the words
"And" and "That" begin in different lines.
As we s ee previously in this section, we perceive that metaphor is a literary
device used to compare hope and a bird in order to convey the content of a
poem with a theme focused on hope.
4.5 A BIRD, CAME DOW N THE WALK
"A Bird, Came Down the Walk," a wonderful po em by Emily Dickinson
about nature. The primary focus is on a bird going about its regular
activities.
Five quatrains, or groupings of four lines, serve as the poem's structural unit.
Her unique use of capital letters and dashes at the ends of each line s erves
to extend the pause before the reader moves on to the following line.
A bird makes simple yet beautiful gestures in Dickinson's poem "A Bird,
Came Down the Walk" as it looks for food before taking flight.
The suspicious bird is presumably heading "do wn the Walk." This is most
likely a sidewalk or a walkway that runs close to the speaker's home or
wherever she is. At the beginning of the poem, the speaker describes a bird
she sees. She is close by and can see the bird, but bird does not immediately
notice it. It does seem that birds are wary of humans. They won't behave the
same way if they are aware that they are being observed. The speaker,
however, is only reporting what she sees and emphasising the importance
of the bird's basic behaviors. From wher e she is standing, she sees the bird
pick up an "Angle Worm" and bite it in half. The speaker then notices a bird
consuming "Dew" off the grass. Its existence has thus far been portrayed as
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38 Nineteenth Century American Literature
38 The follo wing two sentences introduce a brand -new, little life, the "Beetle."
Even while the two species may appear very simple to the naked eye, the
bird makes a conscious effort to "hop" to the other side and "let" the beetle
move past.
In stanza three, the spea ker carefully analyses the bird's reactions to its
surroundings. It is clear that she is paying great attention to this animal and
carefully noting its actions in her mind. She notices the tension it exudes.
Bird always examines the area "with quick eyes" regardless of what it's
doing. Dickinson uses the word "velvet" to imply the bird's richness. It is
clear that she believes the bird to be attractive.
The fourth verse describes the speaker's one and only interaction with the
bird. She offers the bird a f ood crumb - "him a crumb". The bird reacts
negatively to this incident in its personal space and takes off in the direction
of its natural impulses. It makes purposeful, swift movements that resemble
swimming. The fifth stanza will show how perceptive the bird is to its
surroundings.
The final verse is written more figuratively than the prior ones. The motion
of the bird's wings in the air fascinates the speaker. In her explanation, she
likens this procedure to "oars splitting the ocean." The bird's evident beauty
is compared to a butterfly that flies off the "Banks of Noon" under the
scorching midday sun. It takes a bound and "flies splashless." It moves
through the air similarly to how an oar moves through the water.
4.6 A LIGHT EXISTS I N SPRING
The spring time light that enlightens its surroundings is the subject of the
poem "A light exists in spring." Even though this poetry is about the natural
world, it has a profoundly religious undertone that science cannot explain.
There are five quatrains in this poe m. In this poem, the speaker tries to
capture a particular light that "exists [only] in Spring" or is extremely close
to spring. According to the speaker, "A Light exists in Spring," and this
specific light can only be felt during this season as this light does come
"when March is hardly here." However, this acclamation raises the
possibility that the light may potentially occur shortly before spring truly
arrives. Spring doesn't officially start until the third week of March, as the
speaker had originally claimed.
The speaker now states in the second stanza that "A Color stands abroad /
On Solitary Fields." It appears that science has not yet recognised this
remarkable "color" in nature. The speaker claims that despite there being no
name or scientific definition for this color, humans are nonetheless capable
of perceiving it. Therefore, the speaker makes a suggestion that this
particular light's color may not appear in nature at all and may only be seen
to the human soul, not the mind or even the heart , much as certain lights,
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39 Critical Study of Emily Dickinson’s “Because I could
not Stop for Death”, “I Heard
a Fly Buzz – When I Died”,
“Hope is the Thing with
Feathers”, “A Bird Came
Down the Walk” and “A
Light Exists in Spring” In the third quatrain, as light sits "on the Lawn," this unearthly, possibly
even supernatural, light and color can be perceived. However, the light may
also be seen in trees that are l ocated far away and can also be gathered from
locations that are fairly far away from the speaker. This unusual, mystical
light, the speaker now claims, "almost speaks to you." The language would
undoubtedly be one that only the soul could understand.
However, in the fourth stanza, we see that time, nevertheless, cannot wait
for very long, thus "it goes." Certainly, the speaker stays in the same place
as the light changes.
Thus, the peculiar light appears to resemble the midday sun after it has
passed ove rhead. There is no music when it departs, but the speaker seems
to have been hoping for it or other cues to let her understand the unique
sensation she felt with this light.
In the last verse, with the return to reality the speaker claims that she is
exper iencing a profound loss. It appears as though something absolutely
wrong has happened. She perceives the same loss that appeared just as out
of place as "Trade" and "Upon a Sacrament's" encroachment.
Mere encounter with the light has got the speaker spiri tual awareness that
describes the light as some mystery that has influenced her feelings. The
speaker seems to be highly moved by her almost supernatural experience of
this unique light. She is unable to describe the light's physical
characteristics, but s he can provide an idea of how it has affected her
mentally and spiritually.
Self-Check Exercise 1
1. Discuss the literary devices in all the poems.
2. Find out the examples of the literary devices mentioned above in the
poems.
3. Comment on the major themes of Emil y Dickinson’s Poems.
4. Surf the web and read more about Emily Dickinson and her other
works.
4.7 SUMMING UP
Dear learner, let us sum up what we have learned in this chapter. In brief,
we learned about Dickinson’s life. We also studied and did a critical
analysis of each prescribed poem in the syllabus. We analyzed the poems
with a similar set of themes such as “hope” and “death” with the key themes
we also conclude how spiritual the author was pertaining to life.
Some questions in the self -check exercise are provided further for the
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40 Nineteenth Century American Literature
40 4.8 SUGGESTED READIN G
Richard Sewall, The Life of Emily Dickinson .
Thomas Wentworth Higginson, "Emily Dickinson's Letters," The Atlantic ,
October 1891.
Holland Cotter, "Critic's Notebook: Sights Trained Yet Again on Amherst's
Elusive Belle," New York Times , 14 October 1999.
4.9 SELF -CHECK EXERC ISES
• Self-Check Exercise 1 Refer to the end of Section 4.6
References
Bingham, Millicent Todd. Emily Dickinson: A Revelation . New York:
Harper & Brothers P ublishers, 1954.
Bloom, Harold. Ed. Emily Dickinson: Modern Critical Views. New York:
Chelsea House, 1985.
Dickinson, Emily . Final Harvest: Emily Dickinson's Poems. Boston: Little,
Brown & Co., 1961.
Duchac, Joseph. The Poems of Emily Dickinson: An Annotat ed Guide to
Commentary Published in English, 1978 -1989. New York, NY: G.K. Hall,
1993.
Ferlazzo, Paul J., ed. Critical Essays on Emily Dickinson. Boston, MA:
G.K. Hall, 1984.
Hayes, Casey Russell. University of Louisiana at Lafayette ProQuest
Dissertati ons Publishing,2005.
Patterson, Rebecca. Emily Dickinson's Imagery. Ed. Margaret Freeman.
Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1979.993.
Wells, Henry Willis. Introduction to Emily Dickinson. Chicago: Hendricks
House, 1947.
https://www.litcharts.com/poetry/emily -dickinson/because -i-could -not-
stop-for-death
https://www.sparknotes.co m/poetry/dickinson/section8/
https://poemanalysis.com/emily -dickinson/hope -is-the-thing -with-
feathers/
https://www.litcharts.com/poetry/emily -dickinson/a -bird-came -down -the-
walk
https://www.englishliterature.info/2021/05/a -light-exists -in-spring -
analysis.html
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41 5
CRITICAL STUDY OF LOUISA MAY
ALCOTT’S LITTLE WOMEN - I
Unit Structure
5.0 Objectives
5.1 About Louisa May Alcott
5.2 Historical Context of the novel
5.3 Summary of the novel
5.4 Characters
5.5 Questions
5.6 References
5.0 OBJECTIVES :
1. To introduce students about a renowned early women writer of
America, Louisa May Alcott
2. To study her most famous novel Little Women .
3. To understand the plot, characters and historical context of the
novel.
5.1 ABOUT LOUISA MAY ALC OTT :
Louisa May Alcott was an American novelist . She was born on 29th
November, 1832 and died on 6th March, 1888. She was born in
Germantown, now part of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Alcott is best known
for the novel Little Women , which she wrote in 1868.
Alcott was the daughter of noted Transcendentalist Amos Bronson Alcott
and Abigail May III. Her father is often referred to as the father of modern
education in the United States. The family moved to Boston in 1844, where
her father established an experimental school and joined the
Transcendentalist Club with Emerson, Thoreau, and other authors.
Alcott's f amily suffered from financial difficulties . Louisa started to work
from early age to support the family . While working , she also sought
interest in writing. She began to receive critical success for her writing in
the 1860s. Early in her career, she someti mes used pen names such as A.
M. Barnard, under which she wrote lurid short stories and sensation novels
for adults that focused on passion and revenge.
Published in 1868, Little Women is set in the Alcott family home, Orchard
House, in Concord, Massachusetts , and is loosely based on Alcott's
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42 Nineteenth Century American Literature
42 Nieriker , Elizabeth Sewall Al cott, and Anna Alcott Pratt . The novel was
well received at the time and is still popular today among both children and
adults. It has been adapted multiple times to stage, film, and television.
An abolitionist and a feminist , Alcott was active in reform movements such
as temperance and women's suffrage throughout her life. Alcott never
married. She died from a stroke two days after her father in Boston on
March 6, 1888.
5.2 HISTORICAL CONTE XT OF THE NOVEL:
Little Women opens in the l atter days of the American Civil War. In the
novel, Robert March’s involvement in the war would have been a common
element for many readers at the time . During the Civil War, there were very
few families that didn’t have male family members who were involved in
the conflict in some or other way. It i s also worth noting that Little
Women takes place in the middle of the Gilded Age, a time in American
history that saw booms in scientific innovation, industrialization, and social
justice. The American feminist movement gained strength during this time,
and hence seeds of feminist thought can also be found in Little Women ’s
pages.
5.3 SUMMARY OF THE N OVEL:
Alcot t prefaces Little Women with an excerpt from John Bunyan’s
seventeenth -century work The Pilgrim’s Progress, an allegorical novel
about leading a Christian life. The story opens in Concord, Massachusetts,
just a few days before Christmas in the year 1860. The four March girls
– Meg (age 16), Jo (age 15), Beth (age 13), and Amy (age 12) – live alone
with their mother, Mrs. March . Their father, Mr. March , has volunteered to
serve in the Union army in the civil war as a chaplain, leaving his wife and
daughters to fend for themselves in his absence. Though impoverished, the
March family is rich in spirit; they are strengthened by their familial love
and lived by strong Christian morals. On Christmas morning, the g irls wake
to discover that they ha ve each received a copy of Pilgrim’s Progress , an
allegorical novel about Christian morals. Together, they resolve to read a
little from their books each day, and to put the morals they learn into
practice. While attending a dance thrown by a local rich family, Meg and
Jo meet Laurie , the grandson of the March family’s rich neighbor, Mr.
Laurence. Later, Laurie becomes like a member in the March household,
and old Mr. Laurence befriends the girls and becomes a grandfather like
figure to them. Laurie’s tu tor, Mr. Brooke , also becomes a fixture in the
March household, and he takes a special liking to Meg.
Over the course of the following year, the girls encounter a number of trials
that p ut their readings of Pilgrim’s Progress to the test. Vain Meg, for
instance, burns off a lock of her hair, conceited Amy is beaten in front of
her classmates at school when she’s discovered hoarding pickled limes in
her desk, and Jo (blinded by anger) care lessly allows Amy to fall into an icy
river. Toward the end of the year, they learn their father has fallen ill, and munotes.in

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43 Critical Study of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women - I Mrs. March travels to Washington, D.C. (accompanied by Mr. Brooke) in
order to tend to him. While Mrs. March is away, Beth contracts scarle t fever,
and she grows so sick that the March girls and their servant Hannah fear
that she won’t survive. Beth’s sickness finally abates the morning Mrs.
March returns from Washington, m uch to everyone’s relief. On Christmas,
Laurie surprises Mrs. March and her daughters with the news that Mr.
March has come home early. Mr. March surveys his daughters and is
pleased with their moral growth in his absence. Soon after, Mr. Brooke
confronts Meg and asks for her hand in marriage. She accepts, with the
stipulation that they should wait three years before marrying, and the March
family (with the exception of Jo, who wishes for her sister to remain at
home) is awash in celebration.
Part II opens with Meg’s wedding to Mr. Brooke. The ceremony is a simple
affair held at the March family’s home. She and Mr. Brooke then begin their
new life at their modest home, the Dovecote. Meg gives birth to
twins, Daisy and Demi , not long afterward. Jo, meanwhile, is pursuing her
writing in earnest; she soon sells several of her stories and poems to a local
newspaper; she uses the proceeds from her publications to send Beth and
Mrs. March on holiday. Amy, given her elegant manner s, has become
rich Aunt March ’s confidante. Amy also impresses a distant yet wealthy
relative, Aunt Carrol, who decides to take Amy with her on a trip to Europe.
Soon after, Jo decides t o move to New York for the winter in order to evade
Laurie, who is infatuated with Jo. While working as a governess in a
boarding house, Jo meets a kindhearted German professor named Friedrich
Bhaer .
When Jo returns home after her stint in New York, Laurie confronts her and
asks for her hand in marriage. Jo turns him down, and Laurie is devastated.
Mr. Laurence then takes him on a trip to Europe, where Laurie soon runs
into Amy. Meanwhile, back at home, Beth’s health is waning. Jo takes her
on one last holi day to the seashore, and Beth dies not long after. Word of
Beth’s death reaches Amy, who finds solace in her friendship with Laurie.
Laurie realizes Amy was his true love all along; the two fall in love and
elope. They return home the night before Jo’s 25t h birthday. That same
night, Professor Bhaer makes a surprise visit. He proposes to Jo toward the
end of his visit, and Jo accepts.
Five years pass. Jo and Bhaer are married, they have two boys, and they
inherit Aunt March’s house when she dies. Jo and Bha er turn it into a school
called Plumfield. The book ends with the celebration of Mrs. March’s 60th
birthday. The entire March family gathers in the apple orchard and reflects
on how blessed they are to have each other. Mrs. March reflects that there
is no greater happiness than to experience the love she has for her family.
5.4. CHARACTERS:
Josephine "Jo" March: The protagonist of the novel, and the second -
oldest March sister. Jo, who wants to be a writer, is based on Louisa May
Alcott herself, which makes the story semi -autobiographical. Jo has a
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44 Nineteenth Century American Literature
44 a tomboy, and reacts with impatience to the many limitations placed on
women and girls. She hates romance in her real life, and wants noth ing more
than to hold her family together.
Margaret "Meg" March: The oldest March sister, Meg battles her girlish
weakness for luxury and money, and ends up marrying a poor man she
loves. Meg represents the conventional and good; she is similar to her
moth er, for whom she was named. Meg sometimes tries to alter who she is
in order to please other people, a trait that comes forth when she allows
other girls to dress her up like a rich girl at her friend Annie Moffat’s house.
She becomes an agreeable housewif e, pretending to like politics because
her husband does, and forgoing luxury because her husband is poor.
Elizabeth "Beth" March: The third March sister, Beth is very shy and
quiet. Like Meg, she always tries to please other people, and like Jo, she is
concerned with keeping the family together. Beth struggles with minor
faults, such as her resentment for the housework she must do.
Beth resembles an old -fashioned heroine like those in the novels of the
nineteenth -century English author Charles Dickens. Beth is a good person,
but she is also a shade too angelic to survive in Alcott’s more realistic
fictional world. With Beth’s death, Alcott lets an old type of heroine die off.
The three surviving March sisters are strong enough to live in the changing
real wo rld.
Beth is close to Jo; outgoing Jo and quiet Beth both have antisocial
tendencies. Neither of them wants to live in the world the way it is, with
women forced to conform to social conventions of female behavior.
Similarly, it is not surprising that Meg and Amy are particularly close to
each other, since generous Meg and selfish Amy both find their places
within a gendered world.
Amy Curtis March: The youngest March sister, Amy is an artistic beauty
who is good at manipulating other people. Unlike Jo, Amy acts as a perfect
lady because it pleases her and those around her. She gets what she wants
in the end: popularity, the trip to Europe, and Laurie. Amy serves as a foil —
a character whose attitudes or emotions contrast with, and thereby
accentuate, those o f another character —for Jo, who refuses to submit to the
conventions of ladyhood. Both artists struggle to balance society’s
expectations with their own natural inclinations. The more genuine of the
two and the more generous, Jo compares favorably to Amy. Both characters,
however, are more lovable and real for their flaws.
Margaret "Marmee" March: Mother of Meg, Jo, Beth , and Amy , and
wife of Mr. March . Mrs. March runs the household in the first half of the
book, when Mr. March is away at war. She is calm and collected, deeply
moral, and teaches her girls to see the proper way to behave and the value
of their poverty.
Robert March: Father of Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy , and husband of Mrs.
March . Mr. March is a minister. In Part I, Mr. March has volunteered to
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45 Critical Study of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women - I for themselves, and plunging them into a degree of poverty. After he returns
he partners with Mrs. March to provide support and a moral example to his
daughters.
Theodore "Laurie" Laurence: The Marches’ charming, fun, and
intelligent next -door neighbor, Laurie becomes particularly close to Jo but
ends up marrying Amy. In between the publication of Part One and Part
Two, Alcott received many letters asking her to marry Jo to Laurie. Perhaps
to simultaneously please her readers and teach them a lesson, Alcott had Jo
get married, but not to Laurie.
Laurie struggles with his grandfather’ s expectations of him, in a similar
manner to the way Jo struggles with becoming a lady. Laurie is not manly
enough for his grandfather because he does not want to enter the business
world. Likewise, Jo is not feminine enough for her sisters because she
swears, soils her gloves, and speaks her mind at all times.
Mr. Brooke : Laurie’s tutor. Mr. Brooke is poor but virtuous.
Frederick Bhaer : A respected professor in Germany who becomes an
impoverished language instructor in America. Mr. Bhaer lives in New York ,
where he meets Jo. He is kind and fatherly.
Mr. Laurence : Laurie’s grandfather and the Marches’ next -door neighbor.
Mr. Laurence seems gruff, but he is loving and kind.
Hannah : The Marches’ loyal servant.
Aunt March : A rich widow and one of the March girls’ aunts. Although
crotchety and difficult, Aunt March loves her nieces and wants the best for
them.
Daisy : Meg and Mr. Brooke’s daughter. Daisy is the twin of Demi. Her real
name is Margaret.
Demi : Meg and Mr. Brooke’s son and Daisy’s twin. Demi’s rea l name is
John Laurence.
Mrs. Kirke : The woman who runs the New York boarding house where Jo
lives.
Kate Vaughn : One of Laurie’s British friends. At first, Kate turns up her
nose at the bluntness and poverty of the Marches. She later decides that she
likes them, however, showing that she is able to overcome her initial
prejudice.
Sallie Gardiner : Meg’s rich friend. Sallie represents the good life to Meg,
and Meg often covets Sallie’s possessions.
Aunt Carrol : One of the March girls’ aunts. Aunt Carrol is la dylike, and
she takes Amy with her to Europe.
Florence : Aunt Carrol’s daughter. Florence accompanies her aunt and Amy
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46 Nineteenth Century American Literature
46 Fred Vaughn : One of the Vaughn siblings. Fred is Laurie’s friend, but he
soon develops a romantic interest in Amy.
Esther : Aunt March’s servant. Esther is a French Catholic.
Annie Moffat : Another wealthy friend of Meg’s. Annie is fashionable and
social, and she wears stylish clothing that Meg envies.
Ned Moffat : The older brother of Meg’s friend Annie Moffat.
Frank Vaughn : One of the Vaughn siblings. Frank is sickly.
Grace Vaughn : The youngest sister of the Vaughn family. Grace and Amy
become friends on a picnic.
Dr. Bangs : A doctor who tends to Beth when she is ailing.
The Hummels : A family that lives near the Marches. The Hummels are
poor and in bad health.
5.5 QUESTIONS:
1. Discuss the term “little women.” What does the term say about the
status of American women in the 1860s?
2. Discuss the role of the Civil War in Little Women. Who goes to the
war, and who wants to? Why does A lcott deliberately put such a big
war so far in the background of her story?
3. How does Jo represent the plight of the female artist in the 1860s?
Does Amy represent the plight any differently? If so, how?
4. Discuss the similarities and differences betwe en Jo and Amy. How do
these differences lead to Laurie’s love for Jo but eventual marriage to
Amy?
5. Discuss the character of Beth, the most conforming sister. Is her death
at all symbolic?
5.6 REFERENCES:
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Little -Women -novel -by-Alcott
https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/littlewomen/es say-topics/
https://www.biblio.com/louisa -may-alcott/author/263
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisa_May_Alcott
https://www. litcharts.com/lit/little -women
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47 6
CRITICAL STUDY OF LOUISA MAY
ALCOTT’S LITTLE WOMEN - II
Unit Structure
6.0. Objectives
6.1. Genre of Little Women
6.2. Setting of the novel
6.3. Important themes of the novel
6.4. Questions
6.5. References
6.0 OBJECTIVES:
1. To study the genre of the most famous novel of Louisa May Alcott’s
novel Little Women.
2. To study the setting of the novel.
3. To understand various themes of the novel Little Women .
6.1 GENRE OF LITTLE WOMEN:
Coming -of-Age, Romance, Children's Literature:
More than anything else, Little Women is a coming -of-age story –
specifically for Jo March, but more generally for all of the March sisters
and even their friend Laurie. How can we tell? Well, it's simple: we begin
with children and teenagers who have dreams for the future, and then we
watch them mature into adults who have to adapt their plans to their
circumstances. In that sense, Little Women reminds us of other great
nineteenth -century novels in which chil dren grow into adults, like Jane
Eyre and Great Expectations . In Little Women , however, things seem to be
just a little bit softer, easier, and cozier; we're never as worried about what
will happen to Jo as we are about what could happen to Jane or Pip, wh o
are more alone and more exposed to the trials of the world around them. Jo's
coming -of-age is difficult, but it's made easier by the supportive nature of
her close -knit family. We're actually a bit jealous of that; the March family
is almost a little too perfect!
You can also think of Little Women as a romance; after all, it's the love
triangle between Jo, Laurie, and Professor Bhaer that seems to capture
everyone's attention. Just Google the words "Jo Laurie fan fiction" and
you'll see what we mean. People write stories in which Jo falls for Lauri e, munotes.in

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48 Nineteenth Century American Literature
48 and they make "Jo + Laurie" YouTube montages with their favorite love
songs playing over them. The romance in the novel is a lot of fun, and you
can get caught up in it. But Little Women is more than just romantic drama.
It unites the romance plot with Jo's attempt to find herself and find a way to
express her talents in the world around her.
Little Women is often considered children's literature, although it's a pretty
high reading level. Louisa May Alcott wrote it with the intention of creating
a girls ' book, and she succeeded spectacularly – the book has had a long
afterlife as a children's classic. It has also inspired later writers, and we think
we see a debt to Little Women in books like Anne of Green
Gables and Little House on the Prairie . That's n ot to say that L. M.
Montgomery and Laura Ingalls Wilder didn't have unique visions of their
own; they certainly did. But Louisa May Alcott paved the way for audiences
to receive the kind of stories that Montgomery, Wilder, and others had to
tell.
6.2 SETT ING OF THE NOVEL:
New England during and after the American Civil War
The town where the March and Laurence families live is never given a name
in the novel, but it's clearly somewhere in New England and loosely based
on Concord, Massachusetts, where Louisa May Alcott's family lived all her
life. Although the March sisters will at times travel the globe – Jo goes to
New York, while her sister Amy embarks on a European tour – they always
come back to the family home in the northeastern United States. We realize
just how proud the March girls really are of their American heritage when
Laurie hosts a picnic for some visiting British friends – their pride in the
democratic ideals of independence and advancement through hard work is
obvious. Being in New Eng land in the mid -nineteenth century also means
they're close to the philosophical community of the Transcendentalists –
you know, people like Emerson and Thoreau. Mr. March, like the real -life
Bronson Alcott on whom he is based, is one of these enlightened forward -
thinking men.
There are a lot of clues to the time frame in which the book takes place. The
first chapter begins at Christmastime in the middle of the Civil War ; it's not
clear exactly what year, but sometime in the early 1860s. The first volume
of the novel – the original Little Women , which ends with Chapter 23 –
spans one year, from Christmas to the next Christmas, and ends with the
war still going. Over the course of this first part, Jo goes from being fifteen
to being sixteen.
The second volume of the novel, beginning with Chapter 24 and originally
titled Good Wives , starts three years later. Jo seems to be nineteen, and this
part of the novel spans the events of about six years – Jo is almost 25 when
she becomes engaged to Mr. Bhaer, and they m arry a year later, when she's
presumably almost 26. The novel ends with a birthday party for Marmee
five years after Jo's wedding – so Jo is just about 30, going on 31. Take -
away fact: from the beginning of the first chapter to the end of the last munotes.in

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49 Critical Study of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women - II chapter, the novel covers around fifteen years, but the last five years are
summarized really fast at the very end, and another three years get skipped
in the middle.
Why does this timing matter? Well, it's long – a broad swath of years which
gives us a picture of the March girls from childhood through to maturity.
This wide -angle view is typical of the nineteenth -century novel, which often
gives a complete picture of an individual, a family, or an entire society. By
contrast, the Modernist novel in the early twent ieth century has a narrower
focus – think of James Joyce's Ulysses , which takes place in a single day! If
the fifteen years covered by Little Women aren't enough for you, then you
can read the sequels Little Men and Jo's Boys , which take Jo into her fiftie s!
6.3 IMPORTANT THEMES OF THE NOVEL:
Women’s Struggle Between Familial Duty and Personal Growth
While on the surface a simple story about the four March girls’ journeys
from childhood to adulthood, Little Women centers on the conflict between
two emphases in a young woman’s life —that which she places on herself,
and that which she places on her family. In the novel, an emphasis on
domestic duties and family detracts from various women’s abilities to attend
to their own personal growth. For Jo and, in some cases, Amy, the problem
of being both a professional artist and a dutiful woman creates conflict and
pushes the boundaries set by nineteenth -century American society.
At the time when Alcott composed the novel, women’s status in society was
slowly increasi ng. As with any change in social norms, however, progress
toward gender equality was made slowly. Through the four different sisters,
Alcott explores four possible ways to deal with being a woman bound by
the constraints of nineteenth -century social expect ations: marry young and
create a new family, as Meg does; be subservient and dutiful to one’s
parents and immediate family, as Beth is; focus on one’s art, pleasure, and
person, as Amy does at first; or struggle to live both a dutiful family life and
a mea ningful professional life, as Jo does. While Meg and Beth conform to
society’s expectations of the role that women should play, Amy and Jo
initially attempt to break free from these constraints and nurture their
individuality. Eventually, however, both Amy and Jo marry and settle into
a more customary life. While Alcott does not suggest that one model of
womanhood is more desirable than the other, she does recognize that one is
more realistic than the other.
Family and Marriage
The dominant theme of Little Women , as for girls in the nineteenth century,
is family. The characters are defined by their familial relations and
behaviors toward each other, and all are deeply invested in cultivating and
supporting one another.
Throughout the novel, Alcott emphasizes the importance of family as not
only a practical or economic unit but also a deeply meaningful one.
When Aunt March offers to adopt a child, Father and Mother reject,
insisting that they stay together. Without money or an urge to be very active munotes.in

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50 Nineteenth Century American Literature
50 in society , much of the March family’s experiences and emotions take place
within the family unit, inventing plays and clubs. The main dramas play out
within the family as well, such as Jo and Amy ’s fight over the burnt
manuscript. The girls miss their Father or Mot her not because it makes their
work harder, but because they are the moral head and heart of the family.
The theme of family encompasses the girls marrying and starting families
of their own. Marmee teachers her daughters that having a loving husband
and family is the greatest joy a woman can have, as emphasized by the
concluding line of the book. Marmee's discussions with the girls about their
duties to each othe r and their parents evolve into discussions about their
duties to their husbands and children. Alcott and her characters devote great
attention to finding good husbands. Each of the grooms spends significant
time meeting and being accepted by the family be fore the
marriage. Laurie in particular evolves from being a neighbor and friend to
being a son and brother. While Jo initially a threat to her family unit, the
March family actually expands to include these new families. Thus,
marriage does not replace bu t rather enhances the familial bond.
The Danger of Gender Stereotyping
Little Women questions the validity of gender stereotypes, both male and
female. Jo, at times, does not want to be a conventional female. In her
desires and her actions, she frustrates typical gender expectations. She
wants to earn a living, for example —a duty conventionally reserved for
men. Also, she wears a dress with a burn mark to a party, evidence that she
does not possess tremendous social grace, a quality that nineteenth -century
American society cultivated in women. Similarly, there are times when
Laurie does not want to be a conventional man. He wants to pursue music,
at that time a culturally feminine pursuit, instead of business, a culturally
masculine pursuit. Even his nicknam e, Laurie, which he uses in favor of his
much more masculine given name, Theodore, suggests his feminine side.
Alcott bestows the highest esteem upon Jo and Laurie, who, in their refusal
to embody gender stereotypes, willingly expose themselves to particul ar
obstacles.
Christianity, Morality, and Goodness
In the opening pages of Little Women , Mrs. March urges her daughters to
take their cue from Christian, the main character in the allegorical tale The
Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan. “Our burdens are here,” she says, “our
road is before us, and the longing for goodness and happiness is the guide
that leads us through many troubles and mistakes to the peace which is a
true Celestial City.” And in many ways, the story arc of Little Women can
be seen as a shadow of The Pilgrim’s Progress – through their mishaps and
misdeeds, and through their constant struggle to do what is good and right,
the March sisters’ progression from childhood to adolescence and young
adulthood can be seen as a story of moral growt h. How does one become a
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51 Critical Study of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women - II Work and Social Class
Louisa May Alcott, the author of Little Women , was preoccupied with what
constituted women’s work, and how the Industrial Revolution spurred
changes in a woman’s power to earn a living – so much so that, following
the success of Little Women , she would go on to publish a semi -
autobiographical novel called Work: A Story of Experience .
Work is central to the lives of the members of the March family, and it’s
part of the social experiment at the heart of Little Women . Are women
happiest when they work where they’ve always traditionally worked, in the
home? Are women who are forced (or who select) to find work outside of
the home less happy than women whose husb ands serve as the
breadwinners? These questions and more are addressed through the various
work experiences of the March sisters ( Meg is a governess, Jo tends to
crotchety Aunt March, etc.). The book pushes forward the idea that a
woman’s usefulness extend s beyond the realm of hearth and home – and
this is most evident when Jo goes on to create a name for herself as an
author.
Social class is also at stake in Little Women . Prior to Mr. March ’s departure,
the March family is plunged into poverty due to shado wy circumstances.
Throughout Little Women , the notion that poverty is valuable (and that
material wealth, on the other hand, often leads to moral decay) is returned
to again and again. “Wealth is certainly a most desirable thing,” Alcott
writes, “but pover ty has its sunny side, and one of the sweet uses of
adversity is the genuine satisfaction which comes from the hearty work of
head or hand…” The notion (right or wrong) that the lower classes possess
a kind of nobility and virtue that the upper classes lac k is levied again and
again in Little Women .
Genuineness, Simplicity, and Natural Beauty
“I don’t like fuss and feathers,” Laurie remarks when he sees Meg dolled
up in borrowed finery at a dance thrown by one of her wealthy friends.
Simplicity and genuinen ess are touted as values of the highest order in Little
Women , and they’re often seen as an antidote to the difficulties of poverty.
Similar to a number of other late 19th century thinkers (the doctor and cereal
tycoon John Harvey Kellogg, for instance), A lcott is a proponent of natural
beauty. The March girls discover that corsets and dainty slippers often cause
fainting and sprained ankles, and they receive far more praise, pleasure, and
moral good from wearing their simple hand -me-down dresses and adorni ng
themselves with a few hot house flowers from Mr. Laurence ’s conservatory.
Love
In Little Women , the March girls learn about the importance of love, both
familial and romantic. The book can be seen as a record of the March girls’
progression from an innocent, idealized vision of love to a more complex,
worldly understanding of it by the end of the novel. The girls’ idealized
notions of romantic love are embodied in Jo’s picaresque plays, in which
swooning damsels find true love in spite of their hards hips. (These plays munotes.in

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52 Nineteenth Century American Literature
52 can be seen as a reflection of the way romantic love was viewed in the 19th
century – they represent an ideal that even Jo aspires to, even if she chafes
against conventional femininity.) Laurie , the rich boy next door, offers Jo
her fir st lessons in love, and helps her come to better understand what she’s
looking for in a successful marriage. By the end of Part 2, all of the March
girls (with the exception of Beth ) have found their way to true love.
Working in tandem with this notion of romantic love is the notion of familial
love – motherly love in particular. Mrs. March ’s love for her daughters is
consistently upheld as an ideal that the March girls long to achieve both in
their romantic lives and in themselves when they go on to become mothers.
The Necessity of Work
Over the course of Little Women, the March sisters try to find happiness
through daily activities, their dreams, and each other; but when they do not
engage in any productive work, they end up guilty and remorseful. When
they indulge in selfishness by dressing up in finery, hoarding limes,
neglecting chores, or getting revenge, the girls end up unhappy. The only
way they find meaningful happiness is when they are working, either for a
living or for the benefit of their famili es. The novel demonstrates the
importance of the Puritan work ethic, which dictates that it is holy to do
work. This work ethic, in line with the transcendentalist teachings with
which Alcott grew up, thrived in New England, where many Puritans lived
and w here the novel takes place. Alcott ultimately recommends work not as
a means to a material end, but rather as a means to the expression of inner
goodness and creativity through productivity.
The Importance of Being Genuine
Little Women takes great pains to teach a lesson about the importance of
being genuine. To make this point, Alcott contrasts the Marches with more
well-to-do young women like Amy Moffat and Sally Gardiner.
Transcendentalists emphasized the importance of paying more attention to
the inner spiritual self than to temporary, earthly conditions like wealth and
impressive appearances, and Alcott incorporates this philosophy into Little
Women. For instance, Meg and Amy constantly struggle with vanity, and
eventually overcome it. Amy turns down Fr ed Vaughn’s offer of marriage,
even though he is rich, because she does not love him. The March sisters all
learn to be happy with their respective lots in life and not to yearn for
meaningless riches. The Marches’ snug New England home is presented as
more desirable than mansions in Paris. This theme is particularly American,
especially distinctive of New England. Unlike their counterparts in Europe,
many middle -class Americans at the time did not mind having come from
humble origins and did not crave titl es or other superficial trappings of
wealth. These Americans wanted only what they deserved and believed that
what they deserved depended on how hard they worked.
Literature and Language
Alcott imbues her characters with a love of language and text. Alcott
exposes the reader to many forms of language, including German, French, munotes.in

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53 Critical Study of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women - II Hannah’s dialect, the individual voices of the characters in their letters, Jo’s
slang, and Alcott’s own creative poetry and prose.
The characters' constant references and allusions to books indicate that they
are well read and assume others to be so. The most explicit example of this
is Alcott’s structuring of Part I to mirror Pilgrim’s Progress . Amy’s misuse
of words is playfully mocked, and when she is abroad, she regrets not
having been more studious. A shared love of books brings Jo closer with
the Laurences and with Mr. Bhaer. German literature in particular plays a
role in both Meg’s and Jo’s courtship
6.4. QUESTIONS:
1. Discuss the characters of Meg’s twins, Daisy and Demi . How are the
twins different from Jo and Laurie?
2. Little Women describes the experience of Christian girls growing up
in 19th century New England. Yet it continues to be read by people
of all ages around the world. What aspects of the book account for its
universality?
3. Many critics celebrate Little Women’s promotion of women’s rights,
yet the characters adopt very clear gender roles, particularly as
husbands and wives. Do the March women demonstrate equality with
their husbands?
4. Which of the four s isters is the most intriguing to you, and why?
6.5 REFERENCES:
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Little -Women -novel -by-Alcott
https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/littlewomen/essay -topics/
https://www.biblio.com/louisa -may-alcott/author/263
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisa_May_Alcott
https://www.litcharts.com/lit/little -women
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54 Nineteenth Century American Literature
54 7
A CRITICAL STUDY OF HERMAN
MELVILLE’S THE CONFIDENCE MAN:
HIS MASQUERADE - I
Unit Structure
7.0 Objectives
7.1 Herman Melville : A Short Biographical Sketch
7.2 Background Study
7.3 Characters
7.4 Summary
7.5 Questions
7.6 References
7.0 OBJE CTIVES:
This unit aims at making the student familiar with :
• The author and the milieu to comprehend and appreciate the text
commendably.
• The Literary Background needed for understand the text with context.
• The characters and summary to remember study the text with comfort.
7.1. HERMAN MELVILLE : A SHORT BIOGRAPHIC AL
SKETCH:
Herman Melville was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet of
the American Renaissance period. Herman Melville was born in New York
City on August 1, 1819, to Allan Melvill (1782 –1832) and Maria
(Gansevoort) Melvill (1791 –1872). Herman was the third of eight children
in a family of Scottish and Dutch descent. Among his best -known works
are Moby -Dick (1851); Typee (1846), a romanticized account of his
experiences in Polynesia; and Billy Budd, Sailor , a posthumously published
novella. Although his reputation was not high at the time of his death, the
1919 centennial of his birth was the starti ng point of a Melville revival,
and Moby -Dick grew to be considered one of the great American novels.
7.2. BACKGROUND STUDY:
The Romantic Period :
Romantic style prevailed in American literature from about 1830 –70. This
flair in literature was marked by prioritizing the subjective over the munotes.in

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55 A Critical Study of Herman Melville’s The Confidence
Man: His Masquerade - I objective and emotion over reason. The natural world was more highly
valued than the man -made world. Romanticism was a style that was
practiced earlier in Western Europe than in America. In Europe
Romanticism flourished in the late 18th century.
Numerous writers in America wrote in the Romantic style
preceding Herman Melville . In the early 19th -century, Edgar Allan Poe
(1809 –49) was a proponent of Romanticism. He wrote highly charged
emotiona l mysteries, love stories, and horror stories. Around the same time
period a group of New England Romantic writers also wrote about the
subjective, emotional experiences of the individual. James Russell Lowell
(1819 –91) was a local colour writer who used s pecific regional dialect to
portray the experiences of individuals in the Northeast. Writers such as
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 –82) and Henry David Thoreau (1817 –62)
praised the individual as part of the unity of the living world. Emerson and
Thoreau were p art of a philosophical movement in 19th -century New
England that had some commonality with the Romantic style of the time.
This philosophy was Transcendentalism which stressed not only the unity
of all creation but also the intrinsic goodness of human bein gs and the
predominance of awareness over logic.
Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804 –64) and Herman Melville (1819 –91) adopted
the Romantic style in the mid -19th century. Hawthorne was an advocate of
Transcendental philosophy which expressed the Romantic concept of the
unity of all creation. Hawthorne wrote The Scarlet Letter (1850) about the
opposing concepts of order and chaos, culture and wilderness, and
childhood and maturity. Hawthorne was a friend and neighbour and a strong
influence on Melville. Hawthorne's in fluence led Melville to make his
novels more complex. This influence was evident in Melville's novel Moby
Dick . It took until the mid -20th century for modern critics to
recognize Moby Dick as one of the most important works in the history of
American literature.
Melville's novel The Confidence -Man reflects the literary Romantic style of
the period in its focus on the subjective and the emotional. The con man
Melville presents in his novel has no interest in objectivity or reason. He
lures people not wi th talk of reality or facts. Instead he appeals to the
emotions of his targets and elicits subjective responses from them. The
Confidence -Man is a Romantic novel in this respect and it is also a satirical
allegory commenting on the commercial atmosphere of America in the mid -
19th century. Satire is a literary device used to expose vices or deficits in
human nature. In many allegories the action of the story represents a larger
issue that is not directly stated in the novel. The game of the confidence man
in Melville's novel is an allegory for a society focused on greed and profit
at any cost.
Transcendentalism:
Transcendentalism was a popular philosophy in New England intellectual
circles from about 1830 –55. Many of Herman Melville's contemporaries
such as R alph Waldo Emerson (1803 –82), Henry David Thoreau (1817 –munotes.in

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56 Nineteenth Century American Literature
56 62), and Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804 –64) subscribed to this philosophy. Its
main tenets stressed the unity of all creation, the intrinsic goodness of
human beings, and the predominance of insight over l ogic. Although
Melville was friends with Hawthorne and held him in high esteem, Melville
did not believe in the philosophy of the Transcendentalists. Melville took
the opposite view. He called the philosophy "oracular gibberish."
The reasons Melville held this attitude could have been the result of his
personal experiences. He had an insecure youth and suffered from bad
health. He faced much rejection with his writing and with employment that
he pursued to support himself and his family. Literary historians believe his
life was neither happy nor materially successful. One of Melville's sons
committed suicide and the other died after a long illness. Melville did not
have an optimistic view of human beings or of life.
Melville expressed this attitude in The Confidence -Man. Melville's view of
human nature in the novel is opposite to the view of the Transcendentalists.
Melville did not create characters who had innate goodness. He presented
con men who were self -interested, greedy, exploitive characters. They
relied on deceit for their livelihood. His characters were ruthlessly
ambitious for their own gain. They took advantage of anyone in whom they
could inspire trust whether the person was young or old, rich or poor.
Allegorically Melville's novel is an expressi on of his negative perception of
the commercialism and lust for profit that Americans were experiencing at
this time. An allegory is a literary device in which abstract ideas are
described in terms of characters, figures, and events. Melville's characters
encompass the ambitious attitude of 19th century America but with no
redeeming qualities. The con men on the steamboat Fidèle are acting solely
in their own interests.
Steamboat Travel in Mid -19th Century America:
The steamboat was pivotal to commerce and travel in 19th -century
America. It was powered by a steam -propelled paddle wheel. Some
steamboats had a paddle wheel on each side of the boat which provided
them with greater speed. In 1811 a steamboat was built specifically to travel
the lower Mississippi River. Two men began to operate a steamboat service
in 1812 between New Orleans, Louisiana, and Natchez, Mississippi. A
boom in steamboat travel soon followed. There were only about 20
steamboat arrivals in New Orleans in 1814. This increased to about 120 0
annual steamboat arrivals in New Orleans by the middle of the 19th century.
The steamboat was essential to the economy of the middle territory of
America until about 1870. It provided the main means of transport for
humans, cotton, sugar, and other cargo .
The design of the steamboat greatly improved beginning in 1816 when it
was built to better fit the shallow waters of the Mississippi. It also used a
higher pressure steam engine so it could travel upstream as well as
downstream. The larger steamboats dur ing this era were luxurious. Many
had at least two decks. They had lounges like those of expensive hotels with munotes.in

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57 A Critical Study of Herman Melville’s The Confidence
Man: His Masquerade - I oil paintings and chandeliers. They often had famous chefs, orchestras, and
servants to attend to the first -class travellers.
The advantage of st eamboats for the characters in Herman Melville's The
Confidence -Man was the plethora of wealthy travellers. The confidence
men could choose someone likely to respond to offers of herbal potions or
stock in various companies. They could also ask travellers for donations to
various charities or just for themselves. The size and multiple decks of the
steamboats offered many escape routes and hiding places for the confidence
men. The various cities where the steamboats stopped for travellers to come
and go also provided handy places for the confidence men to escape from
the steamboat if the need arose.
American Society and Culture in the First Half of the 19th Century:
American society in the mid -1800s was a source of fascination to
Europeans. American society was in constant flux and turbulence. It was
the New World unlike the static and well -ordered civilization of the Old
World in Europe. Americans may have been less educated than Europeans
but they were ambitious, optimistic, and independent. They were self -
assured and did not defer to others based solely on title or status.
The population of America during this period expanded rapidly. In the first
three decades of the 19th century about 250,000 Europeans immigrants
arrived in America. Between 1830 and 1850, ten times that number arrived
from Europe. The immigrants were primarily from Ireland and Germany
and were attracted by the opportunities in America including abundant
work, land, and freedom. Norwegians and Swedes also immigrated to
America because of th e agricultural depression in their countries in the mid -
19th century. These immigrants could find much land to farm in the Great
Plains of America.
Most African Americans who lived in the south in the first half of the 19th
century were enslaved by white m asters. African Americans who lived in
the northern part of America typically possessed freedom on paper but still
suffered harsh conditions. They worked in menial jobs and had to compete
for those jobs with the many Irish who were coming to the American c ities
of the northeast. The free northern African Americans faced discrimination
in politics, employment, education, and housing. They did have the right as
free men and women to criticize and petition against these discriminations,
but these efforts were for the most part ineffectual in changing their
situation.
The picture of a diversely populated America in constant change is reflected
in Herman Melville's novel The Confidence -Man. The colourful characters
in his story represent the qualities of independ ence and self -assurance that
were a hallmark of the new America that had achieved independence from
Britain less than a century before. Independence, optimism, and ambition
are necessary qualities for the confidence man whose goal is to convince
another pe rson to have confidence in him. The confidence man exploits the
confidence he gains for profit. Melville's characters thus corrupt the ideals munotes.in

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58 Nineteenth Century American Literature
58 of independence and ambition because they use these qualities only to
advance their own personal gain.
The Origin of the Confidence Man:
A writer by the name of Alexander James Houston introduced the term
"confidence man" to American culture in an article he wrote for the New
York Herald newspaper in July 1849. Houston was writing about a swindler
by the name of Samue l Thompson. Newspapers all around the country
reprinted these articles. Literary critics believe that Herman Melville's
book The Confidence -Man was inspired by Houston's articles. Specifically
in one article Houston relates how Thompson tried to convince s trangers
that they knew him in the past. He would then ask the stranger to have
confidence in him and lend him money. This is a strategy Melville used in
his novel when he described the interaction between the man with a weed
John Ringman and the country m erchant Mr. Roberts.
A confidence game or scam is a scheme in which the con man tries to gain
the trust of his mark or target. The con man would try to make the mark feel
that it was wrong not to trust him. The confidence man did not feel that he
was wrong ing his mark because he was not stealing from him. He was
deceiving him but the mark would eventually voluntarily give the con man
something the con man wanted. Sometimes the confidence man was more
proud of accomplishing the scam than he was of what he ac quired as a result
of it. If he bragged about this to others it was easier for law enforcement to
identify him. The confidence man also had to vary his scamming strategies
to avoid the notice of law enforcement. Sometimes the marks were so
embarrassed by f alling for the con that they did not want to report it.
Confidence men were successful in 19th -century America because it was a
time of social and technological change. People who wanted to take
advantage of booming business opportunities often found thems elves in
unfamiliar environments. Rural people moved to cities and were good
targets for swindlers who could take advantage of their naïveté. In Melville's
novel the country merchant Mr. Roberts is an example of a trusting soul
who wants to believe in the goodness of others. Even as country people
moved to cities, confidence men would go to communities that were not
familiar with confidence games. There they could find targets who prided
themselves on trusting in the good will of others .
7.3. CHARACTERS :
1. The Mute – A man in cream colors, a tossed look, a linty fair cheek,
downy chin, flaxen hair. Looks like a stranger. He writes on a slate an
allusion to 1 Corinthians 13 .
2. The Barber – Puts up a sign "No Trust". The Cosmopolitan
convinces him to remove the sign, and trust that for one week, he will
pay for all unpaid services.
3. Guinea, an African -American crippled beggar – Catches coins
with his mouth. Says he sleeps on the streets. After his honesty is munotes.in

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59 A Critical Study of Herman Melville’s The Confidence
Man: His Masquerade - I questioned, he gives a list of people who can vouch for him: The man
with the weed in his hat, the man in a grey suit, the transfer agent, the
herb-doctor, the Cosmopolitan, The Agent of the Philosophical
Intelligence Office and Thomas Fry, all of these are main characters
potentially attempting to deceive each other.
4. A purple faced drover – Gets the initial information about Guinea.
5. The man with the wooden leg – Casts doubt on whether Guinea is a
cripple.
6. A country Merchant, Mr. Henry Roberts – A man of generous acts.
He is the first to be pushed into believing he used to know Mr. John
Ringman, but a memory lapse made him forget. He gives him money,
then follows the advice to buy stock at the Black Rapids Coal
Company. He later discusses pity with its president, drinks too much,
then confesses 'charity and hope' are mere dreams.
7. A Young Episcopal Clergyman – Discusses the genuineness of
Guinea, "frozen in cold charity" then "thawed into fluidity" and kind
words.
8. A Methodist minister – Very martial looking, accuses the man with
the wooden leg of being a 'reprobate and a Canada Thistle'.
9. A gruff boatman – Asks Guinea to go find anybody to vouch for
(Guinea).
10. John Ringman, the Man with the Weed – He tries to convince the
country merchant, Mr. Roberts, they are acquainted, but Robert's
memory faltered. He asks for mon ey, then recommends buying stock
at the Black Rapids Coal Company. He is said to be looking for money
to be able to go join his daughter after a disastrous divorce left him
penniless. He tries to convince the sophomore to throw Tacitus away
because it is t oo depressive. He is reading Mark Akenside's "The
Pleasures of the Imagination".
11. The sophomore – A young student reading Tacitus to read the
gossip. Later, he wants to buy stock from the Black Rapids Coal
Company. It turns out he likes "prosperous fellows" and despises
"gloomy men".
12. A Well -to-do Gentleman – dressed in ruby coloured velvet, has a
ruby coloured cheek. After he is accosted by the man in the gray suit,
expresses annoyance at all the beggars allowed on the ferry.
13. The Man in a Gray Suit – This ma n accosts people for donations to
a Widow and Orphan Asylum (Seminoles).
14. The Hard -Hearted Old Gentleman – A bulky man accuses the man
in a gray suit of hypocrisy. munotes.in

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60 15. The Good Man – An elegantly -dressed man with white kid gloves
and white hands. Melville expla ins he is "a good man" but not a
righteous man. His hands are kept clean by having a black servant do
the dirty work for him. He has a disagreement with the man in a gray
suit about poverty.
16. A Charitable Lady – asked to give $20 to the man in the gray suit .
17. John Truman, The President and Transfer Agent for the Black
Rapids Coal Company – lives on Jones street in Saint Louis.
18. A somewhat elderly person in Quaker dress – spreads his poetry
about confidence in one another.
19. A little dried -up man – Refuses to do anything outside his habits: no
wine, no games, etc.
20. The Shrunken Old Miser – sickly, he is afraid of losing his last
savings, yet gambles in the Merchant's scheme of tripling returns, and
ends up buying boxes from the Herb -doctor, paying in Mexican
pistol s and not dollars.
21. Goneril – The wife of John Ringman, the man with the weed. She is
said to be cold -hearted, to touch other men in a sly way, to take
revenge for jealousy on her daughter. During the divorce procedures,
she dragged her husband to court the n was awarded his money.
Shortly after, she dies.
22. The sick man – The man is sick and tired of doctors offering
ineffective remedies. The herb -doctor tries to convince him, with
confidence, his herbs will work. After a philosophical debate about
whether nat ure can be trusted, he agrees to try.
23. The herb -doctor – Tries to sell "Omni -Balsamic -Reinvigorator" and
"Samaritan Pain Dissuader". He tries to set the bones of Tom Fry. He
gives part of his earnings to 'charity'. He helps the Old Miser to stand
during a c onversation with the Missourian.
24. The Dusk Giant – A kind of invalid Titan in homespun. He violently
attacks the Herb -Doctor, proclaiming 'there are pains only death can
ease'.
25. His child – The daughter of the Dusk Giant is bi -racial.
26. Auburn -haired gentleman – Thinks the Herb -Doctor needs
unmasking.
27. An unhappy -looking woman – sobs after the Herb -Doctor asks if
anybody needs charity.
28. A man with a hooked nose – Thinks the Herb -Doctor is a fool for
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61 A Critical Study of Herman Melville’s The Confidence
Man: His Masquerade - I 29. A third person with a gossiping expression – Thinks the Herb -
Doctor is a 'prowling Jesuit emissary'.
30. Thomas Fry, aka, Happy Tom, the "soldier" – A beggar dressed in
grimy old regimental coat. He passes off as a veteran of the Mexican
wars, but claims his true story is he was crippled in prison while
waiting to testify against a rich murderer. The said murderer got off
easily because he had friends, whereas Thomas Fry had no friends and
was crippled. After he discovers his brother in Indiana died, he took
to begging. Confident his story wouldn't arouse any pity, he fakes a
different story.
31. Pitch, The Missourian Bachelor – An eccentric, ursine in aspect. He
questions the efficiency of the Herb -Doctor's remedies, proclaiming
nature brings about many ills, and is not to be trusted : eye problems,
destroyed $10,000 of property, threw hail, and shattered windows, He
is skeptical of the goodness of humanity and doesn't have confidence
in man: "All rascals", most are "knaves or fools". He makes fun of the
Old Miser after he is tricked b y the Herb -Doctor, argues with the
Herb -Doctor about whether nature is good and trustable, then talks
about the dishonesty of teenagers with the Agent of the Philosophical
Intelligence Office. The latter, however, convinces the Missourian to
try hiring a b oy at their agency. After the transaction, The
Cosmopolitan accosts him, and as he tries to get rid of him, defends
his right to be a solitary misanthrope. Throughout the conversation,
he shows broad knowledge of "philosophy and books" equal to his
obsessi on with "woodcraft and rifles".
32. The Agent of the Philosophical Intelligence Office – A labor -
contractor for teenagers. He tries to convince the Missourian Bachelor
he should try the services of the Philosophical Intelligence Office.
After the latter object s he had enough of teenagers, the agent makes
an analogy between a child not having a beard but a beard will grow
later, and a child who hasn't "evinced any noble quality" will yet
"sprout" these qualities, "for, have confidence, it, like the beard, is in
him". He also likens baby teeth to "corrupt qualities" in "the man -
child", and "the sound, even, beautiful permanent" adult teeth to
"sound, even, beautiful and permanent virtues". The baby teeth, like
the corrupt qualities are "thrust from their place by the independent
undergrowth of the succeeding set" of teeth or virtues. He also likens
a teenager to a caterpillar, and an adult to "the natural advance of all
creatures" - the butterfly. a teenager is like good wine in
maturation. Saint Augustine and Ignatius of Loyola are given as
examples of virtuous men, rascals in their youth. He succeeds in
convincing the Missourian Bachelor to try a fifteen -year-old boy.
33. The Cosmopolitan, Francis "Frank" Goodman – A philanthropist,
the Cosmopolitan tries to test the ideas of love evoked in the
beginning of the book by the Mute, (the references to 1 Corinthians
13), first by arguing with the Missourian one should be warm and
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62 of Charlie Nobel's commitm ent to friendship by asking to borrow
money, then by doing the same to the disciple of Mark Winsome,
Egbert. The latter test leads to a long debate about whether helping
friends leads to an end of their friendship, and if so, how. Finally, the
Cosmopolitan convinces the barber momentarily to trust him to pay
all the financial losses the barber will accrue for removing the sign
"no trust", then does not pay for the shave. In the final chapters, he
has a discussion with the Old Man about a warning in the Bibl e about
"an enemy" who "speaketh sweetly in with his lips" but his intention
is to tempt, use, and profit from you.
34. Charles "Charlie" Arnold Noble – Charlie tells the Cosmopolitan
Frank he thinks the Missourian is worse than Colonel John Moredock.
Then he tells the story of John Moredock. Then he invites
Cosmopolitan Frank to drink together as they discuss the story.
Charlie clearly tries to get Frank to drink too much. He agrees to be
"best friends" with Frank, but turns cold after Frank reveals he would
like to borrow money from him. Frank brings him back to his normal
self by performing a ritual.
35. Colonel John Moredock – The Indian Hater. He wasted his life
taking revenge on Indians for the murder of his family. He is a kind
man and a good citizen outside of his revenge sprees.
36. Charlemont – The protagonist of the integrated fable told by the
Cosmopolitan Frank. He is a young merchant of French descent with
many friends. One day, he became morose and unfriendly to
everyone, vanishes, and isn't heard from for many years. It appears he
was bankrupt, but his strange behavior started several months ago.
One day, he comes back, friendly and dressed in expensive clothes.
Everybody wondered about events, then one friend asks about them
several years later. Charlemon t knew his ruin was coming, and didn't
want to embarrass his friends into helping him, so he shunned them,
and moved to Marseilles (France) so he made his fortune again, then
returned, confident he wouldn't embarrass his friends. (The
Cosmopolitan Frank st resses there is no moral to this story, it is
merely an amusement.)
37. Mark Winsome, The mystic Master – a cold restrained. He accosts
the Cosmopolitan Frank to warn him Charlie Noble is "an operator".
He encourages Frank to think about what it must be like t o be a
rattlesnake. Then he scares an artist -beggar away with a cold stare.
His disciple, Egbert, is the example of following his philosophy.
38. Crazy Italian beggar – A haggard seller of a rhapsodical tract. The
Cosmopolitan Frank buys his tract and promises to read it. Mark
Winsome, the Mystic Master regards him as a scoundrel.
39. Egbert – Mark Winsome's disciple. He agrees to do a theoretical
exercise with the Cosmopolitan Frank: he pretends to be Frank's "best
friend" Charlie Noble, and plays the scene of Fra nk asking for money.
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63 A Critical Study of Herman Melville’s The Confidence
Man: His Masquerade - I not lending or giving money, and tells the story of China Aster as an
illustration.
40. China Aster – The protagonist of an integrated fable. He accepts a
loan from his f riend Orchis with the aim of investing in his business
to create more profit. But he doesn't have any business skills, so the
money serves to bring about his ruin through unpaid interest on the
loan. The devastation is so great, his wife loses her inherita nce, his
son misses school, and he dies of despair. (The moral of the story --
never accept a loan from a friend.)
41. Orchis – China Aster's friend. He wins the lottery, then pushes some
of it in the form of a loan on his friend.
42. The Old Man – He sits in the middle of the Gentlemen's cabin, awake
while others try to sleep, reading the Bible. He discusses the
trustworthiness of the Apocrypha with Cosmopolitan Frank. He buys
objects from the peddler -boy. He gets a " Counterfeit Detector " as a
bonus for buying so much, and tries to use it to see if his banknotes
are fake. The Detector is complicated.
43. The man talking in his sleep – A man sleeping in a berth in the
Gentlemen's cabin while the Old Man and Cosmopolitan Frank have
a discussion. His interjections in his sleep coincide with the subject of
the discussion, attributing the quote from The Wisdom of Jesus, Son
of Sirach to a description of the confidence man.
44. The peddler -boy – A boy dressed in rags sells items for protecting
one's money from thieves on a steame r: a traveler's lock, a money belt.
His sales technique involves showing the uselessness of the object just
purchased to sell the next object. All his customers receive a bonus of
a "Counterfeit Detector"
7.4 SHORT SUMMARY:
The story of The Confidence -Man takes place during a single day on a
steamboat called the Fidèle traversing the Mississippi River from St. Louis
to New Orleans in the mid -19th century. The day of the voyage is April
Fool's Day and the confidence men on the steamboat find many fools to
target. Herman Melville portrays the crowd of travellers on the steamboat
as different types of hunters. They are hunting for real things as well as
transient feelings. The most intriguing hunters on the steamboat are "hunters
after all these hunters."
The title informs the reader that there will be at least one confidence man
on the boat. A deaf -mute stranger appears first at the waterside in the city
of St. Louis. He boards the boat and attempts to convey a feeling that he
wants the travellers to adopt. He writes on his slate "Charity endureth all
things" and "Charity believeth all things." Guinea comes on board soliciting
coins from the crowd. Many onlookers in the crowd think Guinea is an
imposter. They believe he is a white man posing as a disabled black man in
order to get money. Many different types of confidence men appear after munotes.in

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64 the introduction to the story who are all dressed in different costumes and
who all follow different strategies in their approach to conning the people
in the crowd.
The confid ence men assume many guises and target different types of
victims. The man with a weed in his hat looks for sympathetic listeners. The
man in a cap with ruddy cheeks targets potential investors. The man in a
gray coat searches for charitable donors. The herb doctor in a snuff -colored
overcoat offers cures to the weak and infirm. The round -backed man seeks
people in need of trustworthy servants. The cosmopolitan in grotesque and
elaborate clothes claims to be in need of a friend. While all these characters
have unique looks and act differently, they are all expert con men and could
well be the same man in disguise.
7.5.QUESTIONS:
1. Throw light on the life and work of Herman Melville .
2. Discuss the background of writer ’s time period which influenced this
work.
3. Write short notes on:
a) Origin of The Confidence Man
b) Early 19th century American society
c) Transcendentalism
d) Romantic Period
7.6 REFERENCES:
1. The Confidence -Man Plot Summary | Course Hero
2. Herman Melville - Wiki The Confidence Man - Chapter 3
(americanliterature.com) pedia
Biography of Herman Melville, American Novelist (thoughtco.com)
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65 8
A CRITICAL STUDY OF HERMAN
MELVILLE’S THE CONFIDENCE MAN:
HIS MASQUERADE - II
Unit Structure
8.0 Objectives
8.1 Literary Style and Themes
8.2 Strategies of the Characters
8.3 Critical analysis
8.4 Questions
8.5 References
8.0. OBJECTIVES:
This unit aims at making the student familiar with:
• The Literary style and themes of Herman Melville in The Confidence
Man.
• The Critical Analysis of The Confidence Man.
• The type of questions asked on the novel.
8.1. LITERARY STYLE AND THEMES:
The Confidence Man is satirical novel with allegories. His major sources
are Bible Shakespeare and Milton from where he draws references and
allegories. The Confidence Man is based on Melville’s own experience, and
focused on ordinary life experiences of m en. The novel is episodic by
narrating chains of scams plotted to extract money from people. According
to Nathalia Wright Melville practises the theme of communicative
expression and the pursuit of the absolute among illusions throughout his
writing career . This eternal quest for the absolute is an enterprise dominant
to his literary standard.
Confidence
Confidence is a predominant theme of The Confidence -Man. The clever
characters of Herman Melville 's novel are skilful at exuding personal
confidence and so liciting the confidence of others. They do this for their
own gain and profit. They are skilful in choosing likely victims for their
schemes. They are indiscriminate and prey on the young, the old, the
vulnerable, or the sick. They have much experience gau ging the correct
scheme to use on a particular victim. The confidence men are so caught up
in their game that they are ruthless in choosing their victims. It is more munotes.in

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66 profitable for them to focus on someone who appears rich, but they have no
qualms about ta king the life savings of a suffering old man. Everyone who
shows confidence in the false claims of the confidence men ends up a
victim.
The confidence men are willing to pose as any type of character to gain their
ends of creating confidence in their victi ms. Guinea invites the crowd to
throw coins into his mouth and is one of the likely confidence men in the
novel. Guinea asks the crowd to have confidence in him when some in the
crowd believe he is an imposter. Guinea names some men who can vouch
for his a uthenticity and tells the crowd to find the men.
Confidence is one of the key elements the confidence man uses with his
victims. The victim must believe the con man and be willing to do what the
con man wants. The confidence man is very clever at figuring out how to
create confidence in each particular victim either by appealing to the
victim's generosity or the victim's belief that he might gain something for
himself.
The wealthy man is an easy target for a confidence man because he has
money to spare. The wealthy man may not be generous but with the right
strategy the con man will talk him out of some of his money. The wealthy
man might give the confidence man money out of sympathy or because he
thinks he might be buying something valuable. A man with gold buttons in
Melville's novel is wealthy and donates to the charity for which the
confidence man is collecting when the con men respectfully salutes him.
The scheme of the confidence man is not only to exude an air of personal
confidence, but also to inspir e the confidence of the victim. An essential
part of this interplay is that the victim must feel confident in himself. He
must feel that he is making the right decision to engage in whatever the
confidence man is doing. There must be confidence on both sid es of the
interaction.
Deceit
Deceit is a game the confidence man plays and a major theme of The
Confidence -Man. The confidence that the confidence man displays and
inspires in others is a mask for the underlying deceit that motivates him. He
is deceiving his victims into thinking that to do what the confidence man
wants will either somehow profit the victims or allow them to feel good
about themselves. The confidence man chooses the strategy that he thinks
will work best for each victim.
The confidence man 's strategy with the wealthy man is to flatter him
deceitfully. A man with gold buttons on his sleeve has enough money that
he can afford to donate to the man in a gray coat's fraudulent charity. The
man in a gray coat provides a reason for a wealthy gentl eman to feel good
about himself by contributing to his charity. The confidence man continues
to deceitfully flatter the wealthy man for his idea of a World's Charity. He
gives the gentleman another reason to feel proud. The con man asks the
wealthy gentlem an to describe his idea for the World's Charity. The man munotes.in

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67 A Critical Study of Herman Melville’s The Confidence
Man: His Masquerade - II replies "The World's Charity is to be a society whose members shall
comprise deputies from every charity and mission." The con man takes this
idea and quickly invents the next part of his strategy fo r the wealthy
gentleman. The con man says he has had the same idea. He deceitfully
presents himself to the wealthy gentleman as a philanthropist and a
financier. He wants to put himself at the same philanthropic level as the
wealthy gentleman but not at th e same financial level. The con man is a
superlative actor as he masks the deceitful motive of all his actions.
Sometimes this strategy works with his victims and sometimes it does not.
The con man enjoys his deceitful game as much as the profits he gains from
it as long as his deception is undetected.
Trust
Trust is a theme in The Confidence -Man because it is an essential element
in the con games that are perpetrated throughout the novel . The victim the
con man chooses must not only have confidence in him but also a level of
trust that allows the victim to give the con man what he wants. The con man
chooses whether to inspire confidence or trust in his victim. The con man is
skilled in determining the subtle difference between the two approaches. If
the con man observes that his victim does not have much confidence in
himself, the con man might surmise that it could be difficult for the victim
to muster confidence in him. It might be easier for the con man to elicit trust
from this man rather than confidence .
Though the two concepts have similarities, there is a difference between
trust and confidence. The skill of the confidence man is that he understands
the subtle difference. The definition of confidence includes the idea that
confidence is based on knowle dge of past experience. Someone who has
performed a task successfully in the past can inspire confidence. The
confidence man can inspire this confidence when he deceitfully relates a
story of his past successes with an investment or with a business idea.
On the other hand, trust is the belief that one has in another person. It can
occur without evidence or knowledge of the past experience of the person
being trusted. If the confidence man does not construct a story about his
past successes to inspire confid ence, he will rely on a person instinctively
trusting him. In The Confidence -Man the cosmopolitan Frank Goodman
spends much time talking, drinking, and smoking with a Western stranger
that boards the boat. The stranger from West goes by the name of Charles
Arnold Noble or Charlie. Frank does not talk about his past successes in
business or investment with Charlie. He is simply going to rely on Charlie
trusting him when Frank asks Charlie to loan him fifty dollars. Frank has
not told Charlie anything about h is financial status to inspire confidence.
Frank believes that after much entertaining and philosophical talk, Charlie
will trust him. Frank is wrong. When Frank asks Charlie to loan him fifty
dollars, Charlie is offended and angry. He has no reason to tru st Frank.
Charlie says to Frank, "Beggar, impostor! —never so deceived in a man in
my life." Frank's strategy of eliciting trust from Charlie fails. munotes.in

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68 8.2 STRATEGIES OF THE CH ARACTERS :
The confidence men have different scams but they all possess keen insights
into human nature. They can quickly evaluate whether the person they want
to con will respond best to a speech on charity, confidence, or trust. The
very first man on board who only appears at the beginning of the story
reminds the crowd of passengers on the boat to remember charity. He writes
several messages on his slate about charity and holds them up to the crowd,
"Charity suffereth long, and is kind," "Charity thinketh no evil," and
"Charity never faileth." The strategy of this man may be to prime the pump
and set the tone for the passengers to be generous.
The confidence men sometimes choose to talk about confidence. The man
with a weed in his hat John Ringman takes the approach of directly asking
for confidence. A young college student is one of his first marks. The weed
on John Ringman's hat is black fabric attached to his hatband as a sign of
mourning not an actual weed. The fabric is an outward sign of grief and
Ringman's need for sympathy. John Ringman asks the young college
student, "could you no w, my dear young sir, under such circumstances, by
way of experiment, simply have confidence in me?" If he can gain the young
college student's confidence, Ringman knows he can ask the college student
for anything he wants and set him up for the future sca ms. Ringman primes
the young college student to buy stock in the Black Rapids Coal Company.
The confidence men also use a strategy of eliciting trust. The cosmopolitan
who goes by the name of Francis Goodman or Frank enters the barber shop
on the steamboat and chastises the barber for having a sign that reads,
"No Trust ." The sign means that the barber will not give shaves and haircuts
on credit. Frank says to the barber, " No trust means distrust." Frank tells the
barber that it is scandalous not to trust people. Frank has a plan for the
barber. As a way of introducing the plan Frank says, "barber, now have a
little patience with me; do; trust me, I wish not to offend." Fran k's plan is
that the barber should remove his "No Trust" sign and Frank will reimburse
the barber for any money he might lose as a result of removing his sign.
Frank writes up the agreement for the barber. Sadly for Frank he has not
inspired trust in the b arber. The barber wants to take the agreement to the
captain of the ship to read. Frank saunters off without paying for the shave
and thus accomplishes his true goal of getting something for nothing.
The confidence men are skilled in the strategy of using flattery. The man in
a gray coat is a master of this technique. A man with gold buttons is a
passenger whom the man in the grey coat believes is wealthy and
susceptible to flattery. A servant accompanies the gentleman adding to the
man in the grey coat's b elief. The man in a gray coat concludes that
admiration is the best way to approach his potential victim. The narrator
describes the effect of the man in the gray coat's complimentary greeting on
the gentleman by pointing out that "It was pleasant to mark the good man's
reception of the salute of the righteous man, that is, the man in gray; his
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69 A Critical Study of Herman Melville’s The Confidence
Man: His Masquerade - II The confidence men employ sympathy as one of their strategies. This is
especially true of Guinea whom most people in the crowd believe is a wh ite
imposter. Guinea wants to entertain the crowd with his tambourine. He is
amiable with a good -natured and honest face despite his "deformity,
indigence, and houselessness." He collects coins from some individuals in
the crowd because he elicits their s ympathy.
Deceit is another strategy the confidence men use. A disabled veteran
Thomas Fry wanders among the steamboat passengers begging for alms. He
tells different stories to the numerous people he encounters. He meets the
herb doctor who is one of the confidence men on the steamboat. The herb
doctor defends Thomas Fry's tall tales when he claims, "The vice of this
unfortunate is pardonable. Consider, he lies not out of wantonness." This is
also how the herb doctor defends his own deceit. The disabled co n man
Thomas Fry tells lies not because he enjoys deceiving people but for his
livelihood. It is a necessary strategy for his existence.
The Con Continues
The confidence men in Melville's story are relentless and ruthless. Their
occupation is to gain the c onfidence of other men. The con men want to test
men's confidence for their personal gain. As they practice their craft on the
crowd aboard the steamboat, they become better and better. They intuit what
strategies to use on different sorts of people. They have no authentic
sympathy for others because they are too invested in their own deceptions.
At the end of the novel the cosmopolitan Frank Goodman discovers his final
mark. The old man reading the Bible in a well -lit cabin catches Frank's
interest. He is kind and friendly to the old man. Frank asks his advice and
he reads the old man's Bible. When the old man purchases a money belt
from the young peddler, Frank generously offers to take him to his room.
The narrator relates, "Something further may follow o f this Masquerade."
Frank might well find a way to steal the money from the old man's newly
purchased money belt.
8.3 CRITICAL ANALYSIS:
Symbols in The Confidence Man:
Stocks
Stocks symbolize the burgeoning economy of America in the 1850s. In the
early 1800s transportation and technology substantially advanced in
America. The steamboat was an example of this advancement. Traffic of
products and people grew rapidly along the Mississippi River. There were
only about 20 steamboat arrivals in New Orleans in 1814. By the middle of
the 19th century there were about 1200 annual arrivals in New Orleans.
The period from the 1820s to the 1850s was considered an era of market
revolution in America. At this time, private individuals and the government
invested substa ntial money in the transportation sector. Commerce and
population were expanding so rapidly that investment in transportation
looked like a sure thing that would reap profit for the investor. Fuel was munotes.in

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70 another investment that was bound to pay off because it was needed to
power the transportation and manufacturing industry of America. A con
man in Herman Melville 's novel includes the coal industry in one of his con -
games. He presents it as a fail -safe investment that will greatly profit the
investor.
In The Confidence -Man, various con men on the steamboat Fidèle offer to
sell stock in the Black Rapids Coal Company to the passengers on
board. The man with a weed in his hat named John Ringman is one of the
con men who spends much time talking about how lucrativ e an investment
in the Black Rapids Coal Company would be. Ringman is not presenting
himself as the president of the Black Rapids Coal Company but he tells the
country merchant Mr. Roberts that the president is on board the steamboat.
Ringman tells Mr. Rob erts about the good success of the coal company. He
tells Mr. Roberts that the president of the coal company is now willing to
sell some valuable shares in the company. Ringman advises Mr. Roberts
that he would greatly benefit from an investment in the com pany. The reader
is unaware but it is possible that Ringman himself changes his persona and
becomes the president of the Black Rapids Coal Company who appears later
in the novel.
Steamboat
The steamboat in The Confidence -Man symbolizes the great diversity of the
American population in the mid -19th century as well as the rapid expansion
of trade, commerce, and travel in America during that time. There is so
much diversity on board the Fidèle and such a large crowd of travelers that
the con men easily blend i n with the crowd. The con men may be a few men
or one and the same man. The eccentric dress of one of the con men is
described as "a vesture barred with various hues, that of the cochineal
predominating, in style participating of a Highland plaid, Emir's r obe, and
French blouse." If indeed the various con men are the same man, a different
costume for each character would be a necessary requirement. Another con
man is described as "a man in mourning clean and respectable, but none of
the glossiest, a long we ed on his hat."
Melville portrays the herb doctor as "a stranger in a snuff -colored surtout,
the collar thrown back; his hand waving in persuasive gesture." The herb
doctor is stylish in his surtout which is a close -fitting long overcoat. There
is much div ersity on the steamboat including Eastern philosophers, Santa
Fe traders in striped blankets, and "Broadway bucks in cravats of cloth of
gold." This diversity helps the many costumes of the con men easily blend
in with the crowds of other costumed men and women. The steamboat is a
microcosm of the diverse and ambitious American society of the mid -19th
century.
The steamboat Fidèle symbolizes speed and the rapid expansion of trade,
commerce, and travel in America in the mid -19th century. The steamboat
was sp ecifically invented in 1811 to traverse the lower Mississippi River. It munotes.in

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Man: His Masquerade - II could travel eight miles per hour downstream and three miles per hour
upstream. In 1816 one steamboat made the trip from New Orleans to
Louisville, Kentucky, in 25 days. By 1853 the 25 -day run between New
Orleans and Louisville was shortened to four and a half days. The steamboat
reflected the speed with which industry was developing in America in the
mid-19th century. In turn the ambitious development of industry in America
at this tim e is reflected in the characters of the con men on the steamboat.
These men do not want to be left out of the profit and ambition that they
witness around them. They will take advantage of it and profit it from it
through their scams and cons. All that the y require of their marks is that
they have faith in the con men. The steamboat is aptly named Fidèle which
means faith in French.
The Money Belt
The money belt in The Confidence -Man is a symbol of distrust. The term
"money belt" arose in American usage bet ween 1840 –50. The money belt
was probably not invented before this time. The money belt was simply a
belt with hidden pockets for money or any other valuables. The pockets
were not visible when the belt was worn. The social and technological
changes in Ame rica in the mid -19th century brought about not only the
phenomenon of the con game but also the usefulness of the money belt.
Rural people were moving to cities and would find the money belt an
effective way to hide their valuables.
In The Confidence -Man the young peddler approaches the old man reading
the Bible and tries to sell him a money belt. The young peddler is quite an
enterprising businessman because money belts were a relatively new
invention. Not only does the young peddler market them but also, he
chooses the steamboat as a likely place with promising customers to buy
them. The old man reading the Bible agrees to buy a money belt from the
young peddler. However, the cosmopolitan is present when the young
peddler sells it to the old man. The young peddler has conducted a legitimate
piece of business with the old man but the cosmopolitan is a confidence man
and will doubtless use this transaction to his advantage.
According to Zack Friedman,” The confidence -man occupies the point of
slippage between trust and distrust. If you distrust me, he says, you must
distrust all men, and what a wretched way to live that would be. If you trust
all men, he says, and I am a man, you must trust me. As he argues, he relies
on an image of humanity in the abstract th at is to be trusted, and from that
he derives his own trustworthiness. This is the same move we have to make
to have trust under capitalism. In a pre -modern community, trust is always
specific, given to particular individuals based on a complex network of
social ties. Under capitalism, trust is generalized, given to people and things
on the basis of their being instances of abstract conditions. A dollar bill, a
brand of product, an anonymous stranger is all trustworthy because of their
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72 8.4 QUESTIONS:
1. Discuss the importance of this novel.
2. Evaluate the novel as a satire.
3. Explain the themes of this novel.
4. Anayse the symbols used in The Confidence Man
8.5 REFERENCES:
1. The Confidence -Man Plot Summary | Course Hero .com
2. Herman Melville - Wiki The Confidence Man - Chapter 3
(americanliterature.com) pedia
3. Biography of Herman Melville, American Novelist (thoughtco.com)
4. Bloom, Harold, editor. Herman Melville . Blooms Literary Criticism,
2008.
5. Friedman Zack, Pros e and Cons: On Maelville’s “The Confidence -
Man, Issue 17/Hide and Seek/Jun2012.
6. CRITICS DISCUSS THE CONFIDENCE -MAN: HIS
MASQUERADE (1857) (amerlit.com)
7. The Grotesque in Melville's The Confidence -Man by DALE JONES
Colby Library Quarterly, Volume 19, no.4, December 1983, p.194 -
205
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73 9
CRITICAL STUDY OF STEPHEN CRANE’S
“A LITTLE PILGRIM” AND “THE ANGEL
CHILD”
Unit Structure
9.0 Objectives
9.1 The Angel Child : Introduction
9.2 Summary of the story
9.3 Critical Analysis
9.4 Conclusion
9.5 A Little Piligrim: Introduction
9.6 Summary of the story
9.7 Conclusion
9.8 Reference
9.0 OBJECTIVES:
• To study the short stories of Stephen Crane
• To critically analyze the prescribed short stories
The Angel Child
9.1 INTRODUCTION :
The ninth surviving child of Methodist parents Crane began writing at the
age of four and had several articles published by the age of 16.Having little
interest in university studies though he was active in a fraternity, he left
Syracuse University in 1891 to work s a reporter and writer.
WORK WRITTEN….The open boat, the red badge of courage
Maggie, Agirl of the streets
An experience in misery
Spouse…..CoraCrane
Born…..Nov 1, 1871 , Newark
College... Claverack College
Died…. June 5 , 1900
Cause of death….Tuberculosis
Stephen Crane’s whilom Ville stories consists of thirteen, self -contained
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74 called Whilom Ville . Whilom, “which means “ once upon a time,” may have
become familiar to crane in his childhood through a family connection to
the ‘whilom drum crops’. Each of the thirteen stories was serialized in
Harper’s New Monthly Magazine from August 1899/1900.
9.2 S UMMARY OF THE STORY:
The story is about an angel child (cora) a spoiled and tyrannical young girl
who is the daughter of a timid painter and his imperious wife. In the story
the angel child comes to whilomville from New York for a visit because the
Trescott’s of relations. It is her birthday and so she asks her father for money
he hand over 5 dollars to here. This 5 dollars enables much havoc, including
the humors scene where Cora decides that they should all spend her birthday
money on haircuts at W illiam neeltje’s barber shop. The parents especially
order of Margaret twins with the curls, and horrified, and these over blown
reactions are chronicled in the story .
9.3 CRITICAL ANALYSIS :
The WhilomVille stories were part of a new subgenre of short stories ,
generally featured in quality magazines like Harpers or the Atlantic monthly
which were linked by a common set of characters and setting .These stories
weren’t entirely different from serialized novels ,critical accounts have
stressed the ways in which this new genre affected the novel and vice versa
Michael Lund points out, interestingly that the use of ‘to be continued
‘began in this period, in order to signal to audiences that the work was a
serialized novel and not serial s hort story.
In 1897, Harper’s suggested that Americans had perfected the short story
more than anyone else concentrating on American trades of (national hurry
and impaction’s ) to suggest ed that the gnre was somehow naturally suited
to Americanness. A scene s of novelty, imagination, and freshness was also
associated with the American short story.
Crane’s WhilomVille stories surtenly embodies much of what Lund
describes. The stories are upbeat, light and quick reads and they also
encaged readily in a traditio n of Distinctly American Idioms, Situation,
images, and history. The Examples are too numerous to list, but here are a
couple of memorable once : when jimmy bangles his speech of Tennyson’s
“charge of the light Brigade”, The cruelty of his peers was no better than a
Roman populace in Nurous time. When coras father ineffectually punishes
her, she raised to heaven a loud, clear soprano howl that expressed the last
word in even mediaeval Anguish. This ventriloquism doubly suggest taking
up are even embraced of the imaginative world of childish reception while
also making fun of it.
The Narrator to describes the confrontation between Johnnie and the boys
from WhilomVille in terms of historical myth , it was like sav ages absorbing
the first white man, or white men observing the first savges.Th e story on
making an orator the children simply don’t get the history nor the emotion
behind the speeches which they gave it suggest perhaps, that such great
works have known cultural bearing on American children, and so they ought
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75 Critical Study of Stephen Crane’s “ A Little Pilgrim”
and “ The Angel Child” Though the stories are upbeat and light, they are not with the edge of
critique , particularly of raced relations, indulgent parenting, pointless
education systems and more broadly, that dark side of human nature as
apparent from the social play that children encaged in.
9.4 CONC LUSION :
The couple accepted Maggie and never left her to the poorhouse. The
story ended with M rs. Thompso n asking a couple of more days spend with
Maggie and this couple of days never ended. The story basically is about a
poor, miserable and wretched child who turns out to be an angel for
Thompson family .A poor woman who is hated throughout her life by
almos t all the people of the village is now surrounded by the same people
.When she dies in a drunken state on the threshold of her own house. The
tragedy in the life of the children in An Angel in Disguise is beyond
imagination.
A Little Piligrim
9.5 INTRO DUCTION :
Stephen Crane (November 1, 1871 -June 5, 1900) was an American poet,
novelist, and short story writer. Prolific throughout his short life, he wrote
notable works in the Realist tradition as well as early examples of Ameri can
Naturalism and Impressionism. He is recognized by modern critics as one
of the most innovative writers of his generation.
A Little Pilgrim is the story of little boy who is in the childish minds in
certain parts of WhilomVille that the Sunday school of the Presbyterian
church would not have for the children the usual tree on Christmas eve. The
funds free for that ancient festival would be used for the relief of suffering
among the victims of the Charleston earthquake.
9.6 SUMMARY OF THE STORY :
The generous head of the superintendent of the Sunday school, and during
one session he had made a strong plea that the children should forgo the
vain pleasures of a tree. Glorious application of the golden rule, refuse a
local use o f the fund. At the end of a tearfully eloquent speech the question
was put fairly to a vote and the children in a burst of virtuous abandon
carried the question for Charleston. But this was a long time before
Christmas .boys held important speech together. Sullenly the victims
answered, No .
We are going to have the all fired biggest tree that ever you saw in the world.
The little Presbyterians were greatly downcast .It happened that Jimmie
Trescott’s had regularly attended the Presbyterian Sunday school. The
Trescott’s were on Sundays consistently undenominational, but they had
sent their lad on Sundays to one of the places where they thought he would
receive benefits. Jimmie appeared before his father and made a strong
spiritual appeal to be forthwith attached to the Sunday school of the big
progressive Sunday school is better for you than the Presbyterian Sunday
school .Jimmie, looking at his father with an anxious eye. Trescott’s mused munotes.in

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76 the question considerably once more. In the end he said, well you may
change if you wish,this one time, but you must not be changing to and fro.
You decide now and then you must abide by your decision .All right ,’said
the father .,but remember what I’ve told you. The boys, instead of being
envious,looked with admiration upon Clarence, while he adopted an air of
being habituated to perform such feats everyday of his life. He had the virtue
of being habituated to perform such feats everyday of his life .He was not
much of a boy. He was not mu ch of a boy .He had the virtue of being able
to walk on very high stilts, but when the season of stilts had passed he
possessed no rank save this Sunday school rank, this clever little Clarence
business of knowing the bible and the lesson better than the o ther boys. The
other boys, sometimes looking at him meditatively,did not actually decide
to thrash him as soon as he cleared the portals of the church, but they
certainly decided to molest him in such ways as would re -establish their self
respect. Back of the superintendent’s chair hung a lithograph of the
martyrdom of St.Stephen.
A bell pealed; the superintendent had trapped a bell slowly. The rustling and
murmuring dwindled to silence. The benevolent man faced the school. I
have to announce, he began, wav ing his body from side to side in the
conventional bows of his kind , ‘that ---bang went the bell.’Give me.your
attention , please ,children .I have to announce that the board has decided
that this year there will be no Christmas tree,but the -----Instantl y the room
buzzed with the subdued clamor of the children .Jimmie was speechless. He
stood morosely during the singing of the closing hymn.He passed out into
the street with the others, pushing no more than was required. Speedily the
whole idea left him.If he remembered Sunday school at all,it was to
remembered Sunday school at all,it was to remember that he did not like it.
9.7 CONCLUSION :
The narrator says that he has told his dream and invites the reader to
interpret it.Though he warns of thevdangers of interpreting his dreams.he
has also cautions against playing around with the obvious surface content
of the tale , being entertained by it rather than instructed.
9.8 REFERENCE :
https://www.icserankers.com
https://brainly .in>question
https://www.learninsta.com>an -ang....
http://public.wsu.edu .
http://oneyearinbooks.blogspot.com
https://stephencranesocirty.wordpress.co
Stephen crane books
Stephen crane ---Wikipedia
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77 10 CRITICAL STUDY OF EDGAR ALAN POE’S “THE GOLD BUG” AND “THE MASK OF THE RED DEATH” Unit Structure 10.0 Objective 10.1 Introduction to the author- Edgar Allan Poe 10.2 Summary of “The Gold Bug” 10.3 Critical Analysis of “The Gold Bug” 10.4 Summary of “The mask of the Red Death” 10.5 Critical Analysis of “The mask of the Red Death” 10.6 Conclusion 10.7 Questions 10.0 OBJECTIVE: To introduce students to the originator of both detective and horror fiction, Edgar Allan Poe. The students would be able to understand the importance of Poe in American literature and also be familiar with some of his works. 10.1 INTRODUCTION TO THE AUTHOR-EDGAR ALLAN POE Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston on January 19, 1809.Poe’s parents who were professional actors, died before he was three years old. He was raised as the foster child of John and Frances Allan in Richmond, Virginia. Poe studied in the best boarding schools and later studied at University of Virginia. He was forced to leave the university when Allan refused to pay for his gambling debts. Poe moved to Boston in 1827 and enlisted in United States Army. His initial volumes of poems were not a critical success and neither did they receive much public attention. He had published Tamerlane and Other Poems in 1827 and AlAAraaf, Tamerlane, and Minor Poems in 1829. Poe was admitted to the US Military Academy but had to leave due to lack of financial support. Poe had started selling short stories to magazines at this time and he became the editor of the Southern Literary Messenger in Richmond in 1835. He had moved there with his aunt Maria Clemm and her daughter, Virginia whom he married in 1836.During the following years he edited a number of literary journals and during these years he established himself as a short story writer, poet and editor. His famous short stories and poems “The Fall of the House of Usher”, “The Tell-Tale Heart”, “The munotes.in

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78 Murders in the Rue Morgue” and “The Raven” were published during this time. Poe’s struggle with depression and alcoholism worsened after the death of his wife. He set out for an editing job in Philadelphia but stopped at Baltimore. On October 3, 1849 he was found in a state of semi-consciousness and died four days later. The cause of death remained unknown and was assumed to be due to disease, alcoholism, substance abuse and suicide. Poe is remembered as one of the first American writers to become a major figure in world literature. His work as an editor, poet and critic had huge impact on American and international literature. He is considered to be the originator of both detective and horror fiction. His best works belonged to Gothic horror. Death and its aspects were a prominent theme in his writings. Poe also wrote satires and humour tales apart from horror stories. He is considered to be the architect of modern short story and was someone who focused on the effect of style and structure in literary work. He also had a keen interest in cryptography which is reflected in his short story “The Gold Bug”. Poe was a forerunner of the “art for art’s sake” movement in nineteenth century European literature. French symbolists were greatly influenced by the writings of Poe. He is also regarded as the central figure of Romanticism (Dark Romanticism) in United States. 10.2 THE GOLD BUG- SUMMARY The Gold Bug is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe published in 1843. The story can be categorised under the genre mystery. The story is narrated by an unnamed narrator who is the friend of the protagonist of the story, Mr. William Legrand. The story is about Mr. Legrand’s attempt to regain his fortune. The story opens with an unnamed narrator introducing the readers to the past of Mr. William Legrand and telling the readers how he came to be acquainted with him. Mr. Legrand once belonged to a wealthy family, Huguenot family from New Orleans. A series of unfortunate events led him to lose his money and to avoid the shame of his present circumstances, he shifts to Sullivan Island, near Charleston, South Caroline. The Island is a singular one and is largely wilderness. It is here that he builds a hut for himself and the narrator and Legrand become friends. Legrand was accompanied by his emancipated slave, Jupiter, who refuses to abandon his master. Legrand was educated, with unusual power of mind, a misanthrope who loved gunning, fishing or going along the beach in quest of shells or entomological specimens. One October 18th the narrator goes to the hut of Legrand and not finding anyone there, he lets himself in and waits for his hosts. Once inside, he finds the fire burning which he finds welcoming and sits near it. Legrand and Jupiter arrive home soon after nightfall. Upon finding the narrator waiting for him, he enthusiastically tells him of the new species of scarabaeus that he had discovered. Legrand wanted to show the bug to the narrator but he couldn’t do so as on the way home he bumped into Lieutenant G—and had lent him the bug. He describes the bug to be of a brilliant gold colour, about munotes.in

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79 Critical Study of Edgar
Alan Poe’s “The Gold Bug”
And “The Mask of
The Red Death” the size of a hickory nut with two black spots near one extremity of the back and another somewhat longer at the other. Jupiter believes that the bug is made of gold. Since Legrand could not produce the bug in front of the narrator at that moment, he decides to draw it for him. He is unable to find any paper initially but finally he pulls out a dirty paper from his waistcoat and begins to draw. The narrator waits near the fire and the paper is handed over to him. Just at that moment, a large Newfoundland leaps upon the narrators shoulder and licks him.The narrator turns his attention towards the sketch and appears puzzled as the sketch did not appear as anything described by Legrand. To him, it appeared as a skull or a death’s head. The narrator gives the paper back to Legrand and takes a jibe at his drawing skills by saying that he hasn’t drawn the antennae that he had described. Legrand insists that he had drawn it and becomes irritated. In his anger he takes the paper and was about to crumple it and throw into the fire. But a glance at the sketch makes him to study the piece of paper furiously in candlelight. The narrator does not understand what was going on. After sometime Legrand puts the paper away but remains distracted so the narrator decides to leave. One month later Jupiter visits the narrator and tells him that it seems like his master has lost his mind. Upon enquiry, Jupiter tells the narrator that Legrand keeps a cypher with strange figures that he obsesses over and once he disappeared for a day. Jupiter believes that his master is in this situation due to the bite of the bug. He even mentions that Legrand speaks about gold in his sleep. Jupiter then hands over a letter to the narrator by Legrand. In the letter it is written that he is not keeping well and Jupiter annoys him. Legrand asks the narrator to visit him that night as he has something important to tell him. The narrator agrees to go to meet Legrand. Upon reaching the boat which might take them to the Island, Narrator sees a scythe and three spades in there. When he enquires about it, Jupiter confesses that even he is unaware regarding why his master had instructed him to buy those. Upon arrival at the island, the narrator finds Legrand waiting eagerly for both of them. Legrand looks pale and his eyes had an unnatural lustre. Legrand has retrieved the gold bug from Lieutenant and claims that the bug is of real gold and it would help him make a fortune. The narrator is confused by the declarations made by Legrand and suggests him to take rest although he wasn’t exhibiting any sign of fever or physical illness. Legrand refuses to take his advice and asks both of them to join him in his night expedition in connection with the gold bug. The narrator doubt the mental stability of Legrand but with much reluctance agrees to join him in the expedition on the condition that he would follow narrator’s advice upon their return. All three of them along with Legrand’s dog go on this mysterious expedition. Jupiter carries the tool while cursing the bug and Legrand walks swinging the beetle from a length of whipcord. Legrand leads them across the island. He does not disclose to them where he is taking them but keeps consulting landmarks on the go. Ultimately they arrive at a hill covered in munotes.in

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80 brambles and Jupiter makes way for them with the help of the scythe. They ascend the tree and reach the foot of an enormous tulip tree. Jupiter is asked by Legrand to climb the eighth branch of the tree and also take the bug along with him while doing so. At first Jupiter is reluctant to do so but when Legrand threatens him of beating, he complies. Once Jupiter reaches there, he tells his master that the branch is rotten and he fears that the branch would break. Legrand asks Jupiter to continue out onto the branch as far as it is safe by bribing him with a silver dollar. Jupiter discovers a human skull fastened to the tree. He orders Jupiter to suspend the gold bug tied to the string through the left eye of the skull. Jupiter at first is confused regarding the left and right eye of the skull but later he does as instructed. Legrand marks the spot where the bug would have fallen if Jupiter had let go of the string. He takes a series of measurements and in the end draws a circle. He then asks his companions to start digging. The narrator complies only to prove Legrand wrong and put an end to his eccentric actions. Legrand is disappointed since even after two hours of digging they do not find anything. They head towards home and on the way Legrand seizes Jupiter and asks him to point to his left eye. Jupiter touches his right eye which confirms the suspicion of Legrand that the failure of his mission was the result of the mistake committed by Jupiter. They head back to the same place and Legrand makes fresh measurements and asks other to dig. Seeing the new developments, the narrator is excited and he starts digging. Legrand’s dog jumps into the hole that was being dug and starts clawing the earth. Two skeletons are found and they decide to keep digging. The narrator stumbles over an iron ring and they unearth a large wooden chest filled with treasures of incalculable value. The box was full of coins, gold and jewels. They start to remove the treasure as the chest was too heavy to lift. The trio make two trips to the hut as the contents of the chest were too much to carry in one trip. They sleep for many hours after the task is done. Once they wake up they calculate the treasure’s worth which amounts to almost a million and a half dollars. In the end Legrand explains to the narrator regarding the chain of events and how he came to know about the hidden treasure. On the day Legrand and Jupiter had found the gold-bug, Jupiter had picked up a piece of parchment to wrap the gold bug in it. The parchment remained in the waistcoat pocket of Legrand even after he had given the bug to the Lieutenant. He had used the same paper to draw the bug to show to the narrator. Due to the interruption by Legrand’s dog when he was having a look at the sketch, the narrator ended up holding the parchment close to the hearth. As a result of this coincidence, the heat revealed the drawing of a skull (symbol of pirates) drawn using an invisible ink. It was due to this that the narrator was not able to see the drawing of Legrand. While Legrand was about to throw away the parchment, he discovers this picture and starts examining the parchment using a candle. After narrator left and Jupiter fell asleep that night, Legrand remembered that near to where he found the parchment he had also seen remnants of the hull of a ship’s long boat. On munotes.in

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81 Critical Study of Edgar
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And “The Mask of
The Red Death” further inspection he finds a signature at one end of the parchment and deduces it to be of Captain Kidd (a famous pirate). On connecting the dots he deduces that the parchment would lead him to a treasure. Again the parchment was further held against fire and a cryptogram was now visible. A detailed explanation regarding how Legrand solved the cryptogram is given. Legrand makes a trip one day to find the exact location of the treasure as given in the cryptogram. The last part of the solution to the puzzle required dropping a weight through the left eye of the skull. But their initial attempt at the discovery of treasure had failed as Jupiter had put the bug through the right eye of the skull. Legrand confesses that the doubts of the narrator regarding the sanity of Legrand had irritated him and he decides to punish him which is why he makes use of the bug to be dropped down the eye of the skull rather than a bullet or any other heavy material which could be used for the same purpose. In the end Legrand assumes that the skeletons that they found during the digging would have been of the members of Kidd’s crew who had helped him in burying the treasure. After they helped him in doing so, he must have murdered them in order to keep the location of the treasure a secret. 10.3 CRITICAL ANALYSIS The Gold Bug by Edgar Allan Poe is a mystery story published in 1843 in the Philadelphia Dollar Magazine. He had entered this story in a story writing competition in this magazine. The story received the first prize in the competition and it was published in three instalments. Later this story was published in Tales in 1845. This story by Poe helped in popularising cryptography. His interest in cryptography is revealed through this story. The story centres on the use of logic in solving a secret code made up of numbers, symbols and punctuation. It is one of the longest stories ever written by him. Treasure Island by R.L.Stevenson was influenced by this story. One of the important themes discussed in this story is the power of reason. It’s through his deduction and reasoning that Legrand finds the location of the treasure. His smartness leads him and his friends to the fortune which would change their lives. Another important aspect in the story is of luck. It was because of sheer luck and coincidence that Legrand gets the initial and most important part of the puzzle. It was just luck that Jupiter took the parchment containing the location of the treasure to wrap the bug. Later, the discovery of the sketch of skull and other details written in invisible ink was also an accident. The whole incidents in the story is a combination of luck and intellect. From the modern perspective the depiction of the African slave can be considered to be racist as he is depicted as someone to be superstitious. He is also represented as someone who is foolish as he cannot tell his left eye from the right. Poe has written his speech phonetically to represent what was considered to be a Black man’s pronunciation. munotes.in

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82 10.4 THE MASK OF THE RED DEATH- SUMMARY “The Mask of Red Death: A Fantasy” is a short story written by Edgar Allan Poe published in 1842. It was first published in Graham’s Magazine. The short story is considered to be gothic in nature. The country was devastated by “Red Death”. Anyone infected by it would have sharp pains, sudden dizziness and profuse bleeding from pores. It also made scarlet stains upon the face and body of the victims which prevented people helping those affected. The whole seizure and termination of the disease happened within half an hour. Even when half of the population of Prince Prospero’s dominions dies due to “Red Death” and the disease was spreading rampantly, he remained indifferent, happy, fearless and sagacious. He called his friends to accompany him and retires into his castellated abbeys. The abbey was shut off from the outside world and had ample provisions. The prince provided his friends with all appliances of pleasure. The place had buffoons, ballet-dancers, musicians, cards, beauty and wine to entertain them. Towards the end of fifth or sixth month of their seclusion, when the outside world is ravaged by the pestilence, Prospero decides to entertain his friends at a masked ball of the most unusual magnificence. It was held in rooms which were decorated for this purpose. There were seven imperial suite containing windows of stained glass. To the extreme east was the room in blue colour having blue windows. The second chamber was purple in colour with the same colour ornaments and tapestries. The third room and its casements were green in colour. The fourth room was orange in colour. The fifth and sixth room were white and violet in colour. The seventh room was covered in black velvet tapestries and carpet. The panes of the windows were scarlet in colour. None of the rooms had any candle or source of light but in the corridors there was a heavy tripod which bore a brazier of fire. The rays of this fire passed through the tinted windows and illuminated the rooms. The effect of this on the seventh room (black chamber) was so ghastly that rarely anyone dared to enter that room. This black room also contained a gigantic clock of ebony against its western wall. The clock made loud and deep sound at each hour due to which the musicians would stop their music and the performers would stop performing. The sound also made everyone in the place uncomfortable and pale. When the echoes of the clock stopped, everyone went back to the merriment. Prospero had made sure that the costumes of the people who attended the masked ball were grotesque. The whole set up of the ball was dream like. The only interruption in this dream was the unpleasant loud chiming of the clock. All the chambers were full of people who revelled except the last one. At last the clock sounded the twelfth hour upon the clock and as usual all celebrations paused till the clock stopped sounding. At that moment, the guests started noticing a new masked figure. Soon the guests started expressing terror, horror and disgust at the presence of this figure. The figure was tall and gaunt, and shrouded from head to foot in the habiliments of the grave. The mask which concealed the visage was made munotes.in

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83 Critical Study of Edgar
Alan Poe’s “The Gold Bug”
And “The Mask of
The Red Death” so nearly to resemble the countenance of a stiffened corpse. Its dress was dabbled in blood and his broad brow was besprinkled with scarlet horror. Prospero notices the masked figure walking around and at first he is horrified but later becomes angry on seeing it. He orders to strip the masked figure of its reddened vestures. Prospero gave these orders from the blue chamber but although the music stopped, no one tried to seize him. The figure passed from blue chamber to all successive chambers and enraged by all this, Prospero follows him with a dagger. The masked figure reaches the black room when Prospero reached near hi. The figure turns and Prospero let out a loud cry, drops the dagger and dies. The guests enter the Black room and try to attack the cloaked man but find that there was no one beneath that costume. In the end everyone dies and the story ends with the note that “Darkness and Decay and Red Death” had at last triumphed. 10.5 CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF “THE MASK OF THE RED DEATH” This story belongs to the genre of Gothic fiction and fantasy. The story is full of dark and creepy images making the story terrifying. It also contains certain supernatural elements. The story appears to have been inspired from Italian writer Boccaccio’s Decameron where a group of nobleman and noblewoman retreat to an abbey to escape Black Death. The story was written at a time when his wife was diagnosed with tuberculosis which was considered to be incurable. In this story also Poe has discussed the theme of death. Prospero and his friends retire in the castle thinking that they would remain untouched by the “Red Death” and they would be able to enjoy their life behind the closed doors. The end of the story displays the power that death has over all living beings. It clearly shows the inevitability of death and how no riches on earth can save one from death. The story could be taken as an allegory. The only named character in the story is Prospero. His name suggests prosperity representing that the character was wealthy and had the means to insulate himself and his friends from the plague that was ravaging the city. The seven rooms are arranged from east to west symbolising sunrise(birth of a person) and sunset(death of a person)The seven rooms might represent “seven ages of men”, or the “seven deadly sins”. The colours of different rooms might suggest the extravagance that Prospero could afford. The last Black room represents death itself as the colour black is used to represent death and the red window panes represent the bloody death (Red Death).Him isolating and his friends during this plague reflects his indifference towards the sufferings of his people and an illusion of safety that he creates. This illusion is broken temporarily whenever the clock chimes as it makes them pause their merriment. The clock is a constant reminder of the final judgement of death. The imagery of blood and time in the story would represent corporeality. Through this story Poe has also represented the hierarchical relationship between peasantry and Prospero and how unfair the feudal system is where the aristocracy enjoys and the poor suffer. munotes.in

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84 The tone of the story is grave, dark and ominous. During certain moments the tone appears to be delirious also. At times the narrator appears to be caught up in the delirium and dizzying whirl of the masquerade. 10.6 CONCLUSION The prescribed short stories of Poe depict the genres in which he wrote. “The God Bug” can be categorised as a mystery story and “The mask of the Red Death” as a gothic/horror story. Poe is considered as a literary inventor as the elements of mystery in his stories is now considered as a classic element of detective fiction. The short story “The Gold Bug” is a clear representation of the passion that Poe had for cryptography. In the second story Poe maintains both the elements of mystery and horror and touches upon an important theme which is the inevitability of death. His writing genius has clearly earned him the title of being the father of modern horror literature. 10.7 QUESTIONS 1. Describe of “The mask of the Red Death” as a story of mystery. 2. Comment on the relationship that Jupiter and narrator share with Legrand. 3. Explain the incidents that lead Legrand to the treasure. 4. What is the central theme of “The mask of the Red Death”? 5. Describe “The mask of the Red Death” as belonging to the Gothic fiction. munotes.in

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85 11 CRITICAL STUDY OF KATE CHOPIN’S “THE STORM” AND “THE LOCKET” Unit Structure 11.0 Objectives 11.1 Introduction to Kate Chopin 11.2 Summary and Analysis of The Storm 11.3 Summary and Analysis of The Locket 11.4 Suggested Questions 11.5 Bibliography 11.0 OBJECTIVES  To introduce the students to the author Kate Chopin and her contribution to literature  To make the students understand the summary of the two short stories: The Storm and The Locket 11.1 INTRODUCTION TO KATE CHOPIN Kate Chopin (1850 - 1904), born Katherine O'Flaherty in St. Louis, Missouri on February 8, 1850, is considered one of the first feminist authors of the 20th century. She is often credited for introducing the modern feminist literary movement. Chopin was following a rather conventional path as a housewife until an unfortunate tragedy-- the untimely death of her husband-- altered the course of her life. She became a talented and prolific short story writer, influenced primarily by the French short story author, Guy de Maupassant. She is best known for her novel The Awakening (1899), a hauntingly prescient tale of a woman unfulfilled by the mundane yet highly celebrated "feminine role," and her painful realization that the constraints of her gender blocked her ability to seek a more fulfilling life. Many of her works are featured in our Feminist Literature - Study Guide Commenting on the influence of Maupassant on her writing, Chopin wrote: "...I read his stories and marveled at them. Here was life, not fiction; for where were the plots, the old fashioned mechanism and stage trapping that in a vague, unthinkable way I had fancied were essential to the art of story making. Here was a man who had escaped from tradition and authority, who had entered into himself and looked out upon life through his own being and with his own eyes; and who, in a direct and simple way, told us what he saw.." [source: Jane Le Marquand, Deep South (1996)] munotes.in

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86 Kate Chopin’s short stories were well received in her own time and were published by some of America’s most prestigious magazines—Vogue, the Atlantic Monthly, Harper’s Young People, Youth’s Companion, and the Century. A few stories were syndicated by the American Press Association. Her stories appeared also in her two published collections, Bayou Folk (1894) and A Night in Acadie (1897), both of which received good reviews from critics across the country. Twenty-six of her stories are children’s stories—those published in or submitted to children’s magazines or those similar in subject or theme to those that were. By the late 1890s Kate Chopin was well known among American readers of magazine fiction. Her early novel At Fault (1890) had not been much noticed by the public, but The Awakening (1899) was widely condemned. Critics called it morbid, vulgar, and disagreeable. Willa Cather, who would become a well known twentieth-century American author, labeled it trite and sordid. Some modern scholars have written that the novel was banned at Chopin’s hometown library in St. Louis, but this claim has not been able to be verified, although in 1902, the Evanston, Illinois, Public Library removed The Awakening from its open shelves—and the book has been challenged twice in recent years. Chopin’s third collection of stories, to have been called A Vocation and a Voice, was for unknown reasons cancelled by the publisher and did not appear as a separate volume until 1991. Chopin’s novels were mostly forgotten after her death in 1904, but several of her short stories appeared in an anthology within five years after her death, others were reprinted over the years, and slowly people again came to read her. In the 1930s a Chopin biography appeared which spoke well of her short fiction but dismissed The Awakening as unfortunate. However, by the 1950s scholars and others recognized that the novel is an insightful and moving work of fiction. Such readers set in motion a Kate Chopin revival, one of the more remarkable literary revivals in the United States. After 1969, when Per Seyersted’s biography, one sympathetic to The Awakening, was published, along with Seyersted’s edition of her complete works, Kate Chopin became known throughout the world. She has attracted great attention from scholars and students, and her work has been translated into other languages, including Albanian, Arabic, Catalan, Chinese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, French, Galician, German, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malayalam, Persian (Farsi), Polish, Portuguese, Serbian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish, and Vietnamese. (If you know of a translation into another language, would you write to us?) She is today understood as a classic writer who speaks eloquently to contemporary concerns. The Awakening, “The Storm,” “The Story of an Hour,” “Désirée’s Baby,” “A Pair of Silk Stockings,” “A Respectable Woman,” “Athénaïse,” and other stories appear in countless editions and are embraced by people for their sensitive, graceful, poetic depictions of women’s lives. munotes.in

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and “The Locket” 11.2 SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS OF THE STORM The Storm Summary As thundercracks overhead, Bobinôt and his young son, Bibi, take a seat inside a general store. Bobinôt tells his son that they should wait until the storm ends to return home. Young Bibi asks if his mother, Calixta, will be afraid of the thunderstorm. Bobinôt says that while the rain will frighten his wife, she will be fine because she has the company of the family’s maid, Sylvie. Bibi politely corrects his father, explaining that Sylvie is not on duty today. With the news that his wife is all alone in the storm, Bobinôt purchases a can of her favorite shrimp as a gift before returning to sit with a remarkably peaceful Bibi. However, although her family assumed she would be frightened, Calixta doesn’t even notice the incoming storm as she’s too busy sweating over her sewing. Calixta only notices the clouds when the room she’s sewing in turns dark. At the sight of the thick black clouds, Calixta rushes outside together the family’s laundry hanging up to dry. As she struggles to seize laundry swept up in strong winds, Calixta notices a man approaching on horseback. To her surprise, it’s Alcée Laballiere, whom she knew as a young woman but had not encountered much since. With drops of rain plopping from the sky, Alcée asks if he can wait out the storm on Calixta’s porch. The very sound of Alcée’s voice sparks a bit of arousal from Calixta. When it’s clear that the porch won’t provide Alcée adequate protection from the storm, Calixta invites him to follow her into the house. Once inside, the pair work together to quickly fortify the house’s windows and cracks from pooling water. As they work side-by-side, Alcée notices Calixta’s good looks held up over the years. Alcée joins Calixta by the window to watch the storm. As the rain gathers outside, she grows increasingly nervous for her son and husband’s well-being. Alcée attempts to soothe Calixta with kind words about her family and a hug. With each crash of thunder or bolt of lightning, Calixta jumps with fear and settles more snuggly into Alcée’s arms. The closeness of their bodies reminds Alcée of their time together in a town called Assumption. With Calixta in his arms and Assumption on his mind, Alcée grows increasingly aroused. When he takes a moment to look into Calixta’s eyes, Alcée notices Calixta is also aroused. When Alcée asks Calixta if she remembers Assumption, breaking the conversation Calixta’s family in the storm, Calixta leans in for a kiss. The kissing then leads to sex. As the two enjoy a tender embrace, Alcée admires Calixta’s beautiful white skin, and then leaves as the storm rolls away. Meanwhile, Bobinôt and Bibi start the journey home. As they trudge through mud, both worry how Calixta will react to their filthy clothes. However, to their surprise, Calixta greets them with open arms when they return. With Calixta happy to see her family and the gift of shrimp, all three enjoy each other’s company over dinner. munotes.in

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88 Elsewhere, Alcée writes a sweet letter to his wife, Clarisse, encouraging her to stay longer on her vacation if she so desires, noting that her well-being is his top priority. The tender correspondence pleases Clarisse. Even though Clarisse loves her husband, she’s she pleased to have a break from her wifely duties, particularly as they pertain to sex. The story concludes: “the storm passed, and every one was happy.” The Storm Character List Calixta An Arcadian domestic who is Bibi's mother and Bobinôt's wife. She is home alone waiting for her husband and son to return when the storm comes, giving her the chance for a brief tryst with her old flame Alcée. Alcée Laballière Alcée is a wealthy Creole who is riding by Calixta’s house when the storm approaches. While seeking shelter from the storm, he initiates an affair with his old flame, Calixta. We learn after that Alcée's wife is away in Biloxi and he encourages her to stay there for longer, implying that he might be interested in pursuing more with Calixta. Bobinôt Calixta’s husband, also an Arcadian. He clearly loves Calixta—specially buying her a can of shrimp at Friedheimer's store because he knows it's her favorite—but he also fears her a bit. When he and Bibi return home after the storm, he frantically scrapes mud off himself and the boy, and brews up a series of excuses to give Calixta for being gone during the storm. He is relieved when she welcomes him with open arms. Bibi Calixta's and Bobinôt's son, Bibi is portrayed as being much more intelligent than a four-year-old should be. His father treats him like an adult, and he certainly converses like one throughout the story. Clarisse Alcée’s wife and also a Creole, Clarisse is in Biloxi with their children during the events of the story. She decides to stay there a little longer, enjoying an autonomy she hasn't known since before was married. The Storm Themes Forbidden Love The story hinges around a forbidden reprisal of an old love affair between Calixta and Alcée. Having met Boinôt and Bibi early on in the story, we know that, according to the moral codes by which the characters are bound, Calixta should not give in to her urge to have sex with Alcée, and even as the story winds down, we feel the risk and titillation when Calixta and Alcée have to interact with the partners they're committed to. munotes.in

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and “The Locket” Familial Obligation The flip side to the theme of forbidden love is that of familial obligation, as the storm represents a rupture in both Calixta's and Alcée commitments to their families. With Calixta's chores around the house—taking the drying laundry inside and sewing a cotton sheet—and Alcée writing to his wife at the end of the story, we know that this forbidden passion came as an interruption to the regularly scheduled program of adult family life. Female Sexuality While we certainly get a sense of Alcée desires during the sexual encounter, the only experience of the sexual encounter really explored is Calixta's. Chopin shrouds this experience in purple prose and sensual imagery, providing a trailblazing portrayal of the female sexual experience. The story's focus on Calixta's experience and pleasure—and total disinterest in any kind of moral aspect of the affair—help to explain Chopin's place as a predecessor to feminist authors in the English literary canon. The Small Town This story takes place in a small town, one where we could imagine that it's hard for anyone to enjoy an affair and get away with it. We get a sense of this when, at the end of the story, Calixta and her family laugh so much at the kitchen table that "anyone might have heard them as far away as Laballière's." Laballière's, of course, is Alcée house. So therefore, the storm acts as a strange wedge in the typical small-town existence, providing the space and timing for an encounter that would have otherwise been impossible if Bobinôt and Bibi could have taken a much quicker, unimpeded trip to the store. Clothing Clothing plays a major role in the story, both in terms of plot and character development. Of course, there's the bodice that Calixta unties from around her neck during the early moments of the seduction which we know means that she and Alcée will indulge in their wants. But there is also the frequent mention of her son Bibi's clothing: Calixta brings in some of his clothes that are drying before the storm, and the clothes Bibi is wearing getting covered with mud after the storm. Bobinôt, at the end of the story, pulls a can of shrimp out of his "ample side pocket," representing his role as the provider for the family. 11.3 SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS OF THE LOCKET One autumn night, four Confederate soldiers in worn, gray uniforms are encamped on a hill as they wait for their orders. One man heats food in a tin cup, and two other men are resting away from the fire, while Edmond sits with his shirt unbuttoned as he tries to read a letter. One of the resting men asks about the object around Edmond's neck, but Edmond does not answer. munotes.in

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90 The men speculate that the object is a picture of Edmond, while Nick, the man with a tin cup, speculates that it is a magical Catholic to protect Edmond, who is French and who has not been injured after a year and a half of war. Edmond jokingly agrees. Homesick, he lies on his back and thinks of the spring day when Octavia said goodbye to him. She had given him her locket, which has images of her parents and the date of their marriage. Edmond falls asleep and dreams that Octavie brings him a letter while he is embarrassed at his poor condition. He also dreams of a snake that tries to strangle him until it eludes him as he tries to grab it. He wakes up to a commotion and the beginning of dawn, as well as Nick's yelling. A wise but confused blackbird wonders what is occurring, thinking that the men must be children playing a game, and he decides to watch the battle, which lasts until nightfall. Finally understanding what has occurred, the bird comes to the now quiet plain. On the plain, a black man accompanies a clergyman who is administering rites to the dead and dying, while the wounded have been taken away. One of the dead soldiers is a boy with a locket around his neck, and the tearful priest takes the locket as he prays for the dead. Later, on a spring day in Louisiana, Octavie and her neighbor Judge Pillier take a morning ride in a coach. Octavie is plainly dressed and hides her locket under her clothes. She holds it in this way because she now values the locket for its association with an important event in her life. She has read many times the priest's letter that accompanied the return of the locket, and she again reads his description of Edmond's death as she mentally compares the beautiful spring with the horrible death of her beloved. After her moment of despair, resignation returns to Octavie's mind, and she decides to be like Aunt Tavie, who has grown "old and quiet and sad." She feels a sense of loss, but part of her wants to enjoy her youth. When she draws her veil closer to her face, Judge Pillier, who is also Edmond's father, requests that she remove the veil, for it contrasts too much with the day's glory. Pillier asks that she never again put it on. Octavie feels hurt, considering that he has somehow kept her from sharing in their mutual grief, but she obeys. The coach leaves the road and enters a meadow toward Judge Pillier's house. With agitation, he tells her that miracles seem ready to happen on such a magnificent day, yet she looks at him with need and fear. When they approach the house, she sees a familiar face. Suddenly Edmond is holding her! She again feels alive. Later, she asks him about the locket. He explains that he had thought he lost the locket in the tumult of the fight but that someone must have stolen it. She thinks of the priest's description of the dead soldier's expression of supplication. Edmond thinks of the other man at the campfire who had lain away from the fire and had said nothing during the conversation about the locket. munotes.in

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and “The Locket” Analysis As with many short stories, the power of "The Locket" derives from the plot twist that occurs at the end of the narrative, for the reversal destroys both our assumptions and those of the characters within the tale. Throughout "The Locket," Chopin seeks to deceive as she hints that Edmond rather than the fourth man at the encampment is the one who died in the Civil War. She succeeds so fully that upon reading the final revelation, many readers might choose to return to the beginning of the story to review who the dead man might have been, to reaffirm that a fourth man was at the campfire that night. That man first appears "lying in the obscurity," suggesting his hidden nature, and he next appears as a dream serpent before he is eventually revealed as a "mere boy" without mystery or evil intent. In writing "The Locket," Chopin refers to dual motifs of love and war that serve to connect the two vignettes that comprise the structure of the story. Part I's atmosphere of horror and destruction in the war contrasts easily with the springtime background of Part II, but they are intimately connected because of the tie between Edmond and Octavie. Edmond feels the connection in Part I from his side, and Octavie feels it in Part II from hers. Edmond, who lives in a drab encampment and who fights in the chaos of an unexpected battle, nevertheless retains a memory of Octavie's love, and although Octavie lives in a beautiful world of renewal and growth far away from the war, she is dressed in black mourning clothes, held back by the locket and its reminder of Edmond's presumed death. Chopin portrays the days of the Civil War as particularly horrible because the war leads to premature aging among those who should be young and hopeful. The locket thief, Edmond, and Octavie are all young and in the prime of life. Yet, the unnamed locket thief dies while Edmond seems dead and Octavie herself wears mourning clothes during the most beautiful time of the year and is on the verge of resolving to live out her life in mourning. War causes the young to confront border between life and death, while older men, such as the priest and Judge Pillier, paradoxically preserve life, whether by praying for people’s souls or by trying to revive life in the young, as does the judge for Octavie. The older generation, at least, can claim a broader perspective on suffering and death and the existential need to move forward despite experiences of profound loss. However, the older generation ultimately has little positive effect or even a negative effect on Octavie, and only Edmond's miraculous return restores Octavie's happiness. The setting of "The Locket" is particularly important because it foreshadows Edmond's unanticipated and figurative resurrection. Chopin refuses to maintain an elegiac tone in the story and repeatedly interrupts Octavie's melancholy thoughts with a description of the liveliness of the spring day. Having supposedly died in the previous autumn, Edmond becomes a figure of rebirth that parallels the renewal of nature after a fading autumn and a cold winter. In Chopin's other story "Ma'ame Pélagie," the years after the Civil War serve to age her protagonist, but in this tale, the end of the Civil War ultimately marks rejuvenation and hope. Nevertheless, while these people can rejoice in their reunion, the family of the dead solider munotes.in

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92 has no such luck. As for the wise bird, Chopin appears to be asking us to reexamine human war from an outsider's perspective; if it did not have such horrific results, it would seem like a game. The bird's life will be about the same regardless of which side wins. Near the end of Part II, the happiness of the spring setting seems to suddenly and finally infuse both Judge Pillier and Octavie with a sense of dream-like anticipation, as though Judge Pillier's request that Octavie remove her veil allow both characters to understand the message given to them by nature. Pillier invokes a religious sentiment when he says, "Does it not seem to you, Octavie, that heaven might for once relent and give us back our dead?," and although the previous representation of religion in the form of the priest proves to be mistaken about Edmond's fate, Edmond's arrival is in a sense entirely miraculous. Octavie thinks of him as "her dead Edmond; her living Edmond," and this phrase accurately conveys the feeling of instantaneous revival that accompanies his return to life. Her abiding desire is love, the joyful bonds of a restored relationship, quite the opposite of the married women desiring freedom whom we sometimes find in Chopin's stories. 11.4 SUGGESTED QUESTIONS 1. In Kate Chopin's story "The Storm," explain the last line: "So the storm passed, and everyone was happy." 2. What are literary techniques used in "The Storm" by Kate Chopin? Explain 3. In "The Storm" by Kate Chopin, in what sense does the storm act as a character in the story? Discuss 4. What details in Kate Chopin's story "The Storm" emphasize the fact that Bobinôt loves his wife? Explain 5. What is Alcee's role in "The Storm" by Kate Chopin? Elaborate 6. How does Chopin explore female sexuality in “The Locket” 7. Identify the characteristics that Chopin appears to value in her protagonists 8. How does Chopin characterize romantic love in “The Locket” 9. Attempt a summary of “The Locket” 11.5 BIBLIOGRAPHY  Bonner, Thomas, Jr. The Kate Chopin Companion. New York: Greenwood Press, 1988.  Boren, Lynda S., and Sara de Saussure Davis, eds. Kate Chopin Reconsidered: Beyond the Bayou. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1992.  Brown, Pearl L. “Awakened Men in Kate Chopin’s Creole Stories.” ATQ, n.s. 13, no. 1 (March, 1999). munotes.in

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and “The Locket”  Erickson, Jon. “Fairytale Features in Kate Chopin’s ‘Désirée’s Baby’: A Case Study in Genre Cross-Reference.” In Modes of Narrative, edited by Reingard M. Nischik and Barbara Korte. Würzburg: Königshausen and Neumann, 1990.  Koloski, Bernard. Kate Chopin: A Study of the Short Fiction. New York: Twayne, 1996.  May, Charles E., ed. Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition. 8 vols. Pasadena, Calif.: Salem Press, 2004.  Petry, Alice Hall, ed. Critical Essays on Kate Chopin. New York: G. K. Hall, 1996.  Seyersted, Per. Kate Chopin: A Critical Biography. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1980.  Toth, Emily. Kate Chopin. New York: William Morrow, 1990.  ____________. Unveiling Kate Chopin. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1999. munotes.in