The Education of Henry Adams Flashcards
To what president is Henry Adams related? What is that relationship?
He is related to two: John Adams, his great-grandfather, and John Quincy Adams; his grandfather.
Some memories of his grandfather are actually included in “The Education of Henry Adams.”
What is Henry Adams’ opinion of his tendencies and education?
Even though he was born in 1838, he feels himself to have been educated in the style of the 18th century, rather than the 19th (or looking forward to the 20th).
“Education” is an exploration of a life lived during a time of rapid technological and social progress, one that considers both the distant past and the oncoming future (as evidenced by his experiences at the World Fair).
What is an interesting stylistic choice Adams uses in “Education”?
To write the whole thing in third person
What is the reason given for skipping the years 1872-1892? What is the real reason?
Adams claims he learns nothing useful during these years - that he stopped his education in 1871 and began to apply it to practical purposes.
While we can’t know for certain the real reason why, he seems likely that he is excising the marriage and suicide of his wife (1872-1885), in keeping with his tendency not to show emotion in his writing.
He refers to the remainder of his life as “posthumous.”
What two ideas are contrasted in Adams’s companion works “The Mont-Saint-Michel and Chartres” and “The Education of Henry Adams”?
The medieval Christian unity of the thirteenth century and the burgeoning modern multiplicity of the age of science.
Who are Henry’s two close friends in adulthood?
John Hay and Clarence King
What does Adams call his theory of history? Discuss its significance.
“A Dynamic Theory of History”/ “A Law of Acceleration”
Adams’s imagination has been heavily influenced by scientific advancements during his lifetime (railway, telegraph, daguereotype, ocean steamer). He - correctly - intuits that this new age requires a new way of thinking about history.
But while Adams predicts multiplicity for the 20th and 21st centuries, in a lot of ways technology has brought more homogeneity than unity.
To what does Adams compare himself to in his Preface?
A manikin upon which education will be draped like clothing. (Potential resonances with fashion/clothing in the Gilded Age).
Where do Henry’s grandparents live?
Quincy
What does Henry do after graduating from college?
He goes to Germany to study law, but needs remedial German lessons at a local secondary school. The “ancientness” of the country appeals to him (and his old-fashioned inclinations).
What change in class structure does Adams introduce when he is a professor at Harvard?
The seminar structure, where students participate in discussion
What prominent writer does Adams meet when serving as a diplomat in London?
Algernon Swinburne
What two scientific works are important to Adams’ intellectual development? What do they have in common?
Darwin, On the Origin of Species
Lyell, Principles of Geology
Both argue that there is a process in the development of the earth and its inhabitants.
For what audience was “Education” originally intended?
Just close friends; it was only after his death that it was published for a wide audience.
What is an exception to Adams’ tendency not to show emotion in “Education”?
In writing about his sister’s Louisa’s death after she is thrown from a cab.
