The Rise of Silas Lapham Flashcards
What is Howells known as?
The Dean of American Letters
What school of literature was Howells particularly known for promoting?
American Realism
What are some traits of realism?
- Focus on the everyday, rather than the extraordinary (anticipates modernism)
- Opposed the prevailing belief in aestheticism; was interested in the real details of life – and everyday people.
- Emphasis on the average/typical man
- Literature should be “work” both for the reader and writer; not just a distracting pastime
What is one irony of Howells’ interest in realism?
He desired commercial success greatly. Partly just for himself, and partly to validate realism as a movement. Instead, he found himself writing for an increasingly elite audience – decidedly not the average/common man.
What work of Tennyson’s is referenced in this work? Why?
“Tears, Idle Tears” is the name of a much-derided sentimental novel in the text – just the sort of book Howells didn’t think people should read.
The Tennyson poem, one of the songs in “The Princess”, looks back mournfully on lost love and memory, seeming to take pleasure in melancholy. Presumably, this kind of sentimentalism was something Howells wanted to work against.
What is the pithy Howells quote you should throw out about realism?
“Let fiction cease to lie about life; let it portray men and women as they really are.”
In what kind of business did Lapham make his money?
Paint (he discovered a paint mine on his land)
What is the name of Lapham’s wife?
Persis
What are Tom’s parents’ names?
Bromfield and Anna
Who is writing a newspaper story about Lapham at the opening of the novel?
Bartley Hubbard
How is the Civil War present in this novel?
Lapham’s life debt to an army buddy leads him to secretly give money to the man’s wife and daughter – something that almost gets him in big trouble with Persis.
It’s also suggested that this is why his paint business takes off. So much rebuilding, including painting, was necessary after the war that the time was ripe for such a business.
In what ways in this a novel of the Gilded Age?
- Ability to gain/lose enormous wealth –> money/speculation
- Focus on materiality (clothes, houses, books, etc –> increase in production)
- Social movement/transgressions
- Focus on business
What could be seen as Lapham’s moral failing?
His inability to take action and make a decision about what to do re: selling the land he knows to be worthless. I suppose he’s rather Hamlet-esqe in that way…
Who was Lapham’s business partner?
Rogers
What happens to Irene?
She spends some time with family in Texas, eventually returning to learn of her family’s troubles. She becomes more serious after learning Tom doesn’t love her, and a great help around the house.
