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Contributions to the Study of American Literature Ser.: Solitude and Society in the Works of Herman Melville and Edith Wharton by Linda C. Cahir (1999, Hardcover)
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About this product
Product Identifiers
PublisherBloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN-100313304076
ISBN-139780313304071
eBay Product ID (ePID)1094812
Product Key Features
Number of Pages176 Pages
LanguageEnglish
Publication NameSolitude and Society in the Works of Herman Melville and Edith Wharton
SubjectGeneral, American / General, Subjects & Themes / General
Publication Year1999
TypeTextbook
Subject AreaLiterary Criticism
AuthorLinda C. Cahir
SeriesContributions to the Study of American Literature Ser.
FormatHardcover
Dimensions
Item Height0.6 in
Item Weight15.2 Oz
Item Length9 in
Item Width6 in
Additional Product Features
Intended AudienceCollege Audience
LCCN98-026435
Dewey Edition21
Series Volume NumberVol. 1
Number of Volumes1 vol.
Volume Number3
Dewey Decimal813
Table Of ContentPreface Melville and Wharton: The American Diptych The Devil's Children: The Isolation of Self-Reliance The Mysterious Stranger The Sociable Isolato The Sexual Transgressor Bibliography Index
SynopsisArgues that Wharton drew extensively from Melville's works to explore the relationship between the solitary individual and society., The interplay between solitude and society was a particularly persistent theme in nineteenth-century American literature, though writers approached this theme in different ways. Poe explored the metaphysical significance of isolation and held solitude in high esteem; Hawthorne viewed the theme in moral terms and examined the obligation of each individual to the larger community; and Emerson maintained that the contradictory states of self-reliance and solidarity are fundamental to human happiness. Herman Melville emerged with an ontological response to this issue. Questioning the nature of being, he argued that humans are essentially isolated creatures. While he grants that we are free to choose how we conduct our lives, whether in solitude or in society, we cannot escape the essential condition of our alienation. Thus in Moby-Dick, he coins the term Isolato to signify the inherent separateness of all individuals. Writing some fifty years later, Edith Wharton reached the same conclusion. This book argues that Wharton's views on solitude and society were strongly parallel to those of Melville. Scholars have generally held that Wharton was primarily influenced by the great English, French, and Russian writers of the nineteenth century; and that with the exception of Walt Whitman, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Henry James, she neglected the influence of American literature almost entirely. This study demonstrates that Wharton read a significant portion of Melville's writings, that she reflected on the nature and achievement of his works, and that her consideration of his importance emerged during very significant moments in her life, when she was forced to grapple with her own place as an individual in relation to a larger community. Though Melville and Wharton initially seem disparate, this book shows that they had much in common. By studying the two authors side by side, this volume reveals that they shared a similar way of seeing the world, particularly with respect to their considerations of solitude and society. Through their solitary characters, Melville and Wharton question the relationship of self and society and thus engage a universal problem of special interest to the nineteenth century.
LC Classification NumberPS2388
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