Racism in "The Rise of Silas Lapham": Ironic Commentary or Casual Complicity? Essays for The Rise of Silas Lapham. If you go out of town early, it seems a very long summer when you come back in October; but if you stay, it passes swiftly, and, seen foreshortened in its flight, seems scarcely a month's length. The story follows the materialistic rise of Silas Lapham from rags to riches, and his ensuing moral susceptibility. On top of that, Lapham's major asset, the new home on Beacon Street, burns down before its completion due to his own carelessness. The mills would have been worth a lot of money, but a road that runs past is about to be bought by the railroad, which will devalue the properties. At the office, Silas tells Tom to quit the business. Meanwhile, business reversals cause him to entertain an offer to sell a worthless property to an English syndicate. She begs him to leave, and not tell anyone what he has said. 'D��z���e(l�&?R�N ��b�R�}]R����M�.�f]�.ɆY���>%�� He encounters Silas in his office with Zerrila Dewey, his typist, acting suspiciously. Mrs. Corey is horrified to hear that Tom is now working with Silas. As he wrote, "It is an admirable portraiture, realistic in the best sense of the word. They will send him to Mexico and South America to work on the paint market, but before he goes, he marries Penelope. https://www.gradesaver.com/the-rise-of-silas-lapham/study-guide/themes. Irene's decision to leave and her sleeping potion are both realistic solutions to her problem. t�a��=ms ��1%�hy�~UX�HY}�I\�%;�M�t�(����Y��7-? Eventually, he constantly talks until no one else does. Increasing market competition from another party in West Virginia with lower operating costs means that he will ultimately be defeated. Persis forgives Silas and recognizes that his kind heart has never changed. The novel recounts the moral dilemma of Colonel Silas Lapham, a newly wealthy, self-made businessman who has climbed over his former partner on the ladder to success. h�bbd``b`:$߀�� �H0_ l?�Ĥ Together these stories reveal some of Howells' comments on society and art. Tom then declares his love for Penelope, which shocks her. endstream endobj 100 0 obj <>>>/EncryptMetadata false/Filter/Standard/Length 128/O(�����Q.`;��R�vȾqͰ����L��)/P -1324/R 4/StmF/StdCF/StrF/StdCF/U(�e�k��b�kt�jG )/V 4>> endobj 101 0 obj /Metadata 17 0 R/Pages 97 0 R/StructTreeRoot 30 0 R/Type/Catalog/ViewerPreferences 108 0 R>> endobj 102 0 obj <>/MediaBox[0 0 612 792]/Parent 97 0 R/Resources<>/Font<>/ProcSet[/PDF/Text/ImageB/ImageC/ImageI]>>/Rotate 0/StructParents 0/Tabs/S/Type/Page>> endobj 103 0 obj <>stream This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Rise-of-Silas-Lapham, The Rise of Silas Lapham - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). She thinks that Silas is focusing too much on the house and on marrying Tom into the family. Later, with Tom's help, Penelope and Persis find that he has gone to Lapham, where the works in Vermont are. The Rise of Silas Lapham essays are academic essays for citation. The novel begins with Silas as the recipient of an interview with Bartley Hubbard, a popular yet morally dubious journalist. Are you sure you want to remove #bookConfirmation# Corrections? Though Penelope has feelings for Tom, she is held back by the romantic conventions of the era, not wanting to act on her love for fear of betraying her sister. Stunned, the girl gives Penelope all her love mementoes: the newspaper clipping telling of the Texas ranch, the pine shaving, and a pin like one worn by one of Tom's sisters. Behaving Reasonably: A Defense of Romance in Howells’s Realistic Fiction In the William Dean Howells novel, a business story dominates a secondary love triangle. Howells had moved to Massachusetts in the 1860s and became influential as the editor of the Atlantic Monthly, a role he held until 1881. Penelope, meanwhile, believing it is a dinner to introduce Irene to the Coreys and company, refuses to go. Silas displays the hard-working, middle-class attitude that remains despite his newfound wealth: he brags heavily to Tom, and in private, Silas claims he can "make a man" out of Tom if only he worked and didn’t live off his father’s money. Walker, the bookkeeper, confirms to Tom that Silas has always been protective over her and is very secretive. At Rogers' urgent insistence, Silas meets with the English businessmen, who dismiss his concerns about the mill's value and seem to be exceptionally shady. Silas does not want to do business with them, and he leaves quickly. When reading and studying The Rise of Silas Lapham, recognition of the existence of a plot and subplot is necessary. CliffsNotes study guides are written by real teachers and professors, so no matter what you're studying, CliffsNotes can ease your homework headaches and help you score high on exams. She talks about how her husband, Hen, is a drunken sailor, and she mentions her difficulty in divorcing him and her money issues that are exacerbated by both her husband's and mother's drunkenness. Tom is repulsed by how pathetic Silas is but is ultimately sympathetic towards him and his naïveté. i��4l)@L]�X��}�̹�c�k"?�7H/�p�*?��� [5], https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Rise_of_Silas_Lapham&oldid=973554967, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 17 August 2020, at 21:44. He even brags a bit and acts condescendingly towards Bromfield. Having fallen socially, he has risen morally. The Rise of Silas Lapham is a realist novel by William Dean Howells published in 1885. Later, Persis finds that another scrap of paper does not say "Wm. Desperately, Silas puts the house on Beacon Street up for sale. The next day, Bromfield visits Lapham, and Silas is quick to try and act apathetic at the privilege of his company. They discuss marriage—Tom regards love as higher than money, while his father Bromfield stresses the importance of wealthy parents. from your Reading List will also remove any Silas thus needs to accept the railroad's forthcoming lowball offer for the land, or otherwise find a way to sell them off beforehand to someone else. bookmarked pages associated with this title. Irene decides to go back to Vermont and eventually goes West to stay with her cousins while she processes her emotions. The Laphams arrive at the Coreys' aristocratic home. Later, Lapham goes to see the West Virginia paint company to see if they are willing to give him more time to raise the money. In response, Bromfield acknowledges that these days, most wealthy American parents have little say in their children’s actions. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of The Rise of Silas Lapham by William Dean Howells. An example of literary realism, the story is about a farmer (Silas Lapham) who launches a very successful paint business, and moves his family up the social ladder of … For almost a century and a half, America was merely a group of colonies scattered…. Chapter XVIII. Tom Corey, a young man from an "old money" Boston family, shows an interest in the Lapham girls, and Mr. and Mrs. Lapham assume he is attracted to Irene, their beautiful younger daughter. Persis Lapham considers the two women irresponsible characters who are taking advantage of her husband and potentially damaging his reputation, but he insists he is paying a debt of honor. from your Reading List will also remove any Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree.... American literature, the body of written works produced in the English language in the United States. Silas is unable to raise money from his friends, so he can only do this if he sells to the Englishmen at the higher price. [4] Further, the title character is excessively class-conscious and worries about being humiliated for not fitting in with the culture of wealthy Boston, as exemplified in a scene where he struggles to determine if it is appropriate to wear gloves to a particular event, but refuses to ask for help. Here and throughout the novel, Persis serves as a puritanical reminder to Silas of his wrongdoings regarding Rogers. Also, Mrs. Lapham often complains to her husband that he dealt shabbily with his former business partner Milton K. Rogers, who has come down in the world since their association ended. All rights reserved. One critic has called this the greatest chapter in all literature. the novel The Rise of Silas Lapham, by William Dean Howells, two sisters of different nature both view societal point of view as foreign. M.," but Silas will not tell her anything. "I can't imagine what he finds to talk about with her," said Lily. Silas is extremely pleased that he has Tom working at his firm, as he believes it boosts his social position. The 1880s proved to be an extremely prolific period for him; in that decade, Howells published nine novels, a novella, several magazine articles, and a few plays. He wants his daughter to marry into the aristocratic Corey family to gain the social prominence the backwoods Laphams have never attained.

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