The Question and Answer section for The Rise of Silas Lapham is a great I fancy that there would be very little rising if men were expected to rise for the sake of others, in America.”, “She liked the words; they satisfied her famine for phrases.”, “It's the whole country that makes or breaks a thing like this. I don't say that it isn't all right. They don't read much in New York; they write and talk about what they've written. This quote is significant because, in a matter of a few words, it lays bare the very complex moral and psychological calculus that the novel has been attempting to resolve throughout. That is the way!”, “Some people can stay longer in an hour than others can in a week.”, “All civilization comes through literature now, especially in our country. Like many of his earlier quotes, this quote sheds light on the depths of Bromfield's absorption with the "proper" customs of high society.

Most importantly, however, this quote is significant because it also touches on the themes of fate and will that are so prevalent throughout the text. While Bromfield feels as if Romantic fiction like Tears, Idle Tears is successful for its lessons that are far-flung from common concerns, as he seems to also say in this quote, others (like Reverend Sewell) advocate that such idealism in literature is useless and elitist, not intimately concerned with portraying real life and teaching people how to navigate life. What good is a house, after all, if one cannot bear to live there because of the weight of their history with the house? The houses have always represented a certain style of living and a certain "sensibility" that comes with "old money" and a lifestyle based on inherited money and grand living. Behaving Reasonably: A Defense of Romance in Howells’s Realistic Fiction

It doesn't matter what you do -- but live.

The house of mourning is decorously darkened to the world, but within itself it is also the house of laughing. GradeSaver "The Rise of Silas Lapham Quotes and Analysis". In the William Dean Howells novel, a business story dominates a secondary love triangle. ', “We can trace the operation of evil in the physical world…but I am more and more puzzled about it in the moral world. The house of mourning is decorously darkened to the world, but within itself it is also the house of laughing. A Greek got his civilization by talking and looking, and in some measure a Parisian may still do it. Access Full Document. These are the final words of the novel, spoken by Silas in response to Reverend Sewell's inquiry as to whether he has any outstanding regrets (365). The Rise of Silas Lapham study guide contains a biography of William Dean Howells, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. This place makes it all come over me. It is the romance, the poetry of our age. Welcome back.

It is the romance, the poetry of our age. Copyright © 1999 - 2020 GradeSaver LLC. This two-sided view of money as both liberating and constraining explains Bromfield's later attitudes towards Lapham and his daughters, as well as towards his own dissolute and aristocratic past.

It is significant because, besides shedding light on aristocratic cultural and lifestyle norms, it also provides a great deal of insight into Gilded Age family dynamics, as well as how these differ among classes. It's a mistake not to. "I”, “Walt Whitman was not the first to observe that we are all naked under our clothes, but he was one of the greatest, if not the first, to preach a gospel of nudity.”, The Leatherwood God [with Biographical Introduction]. It's too late. I dare say it makes the new rich pay too much. The Rise of Silas Lapham Quotes with Page Number. I don't say that it isn't all right. In this quote, Persis tells Silas of her desire to get the girls into high society after her interaction with the Coreys at Baie St. Joan (29). The world generally knows what it's about, and knows how to drive a bargain. Live!”, “The book which you read from a sense of duty, or because for any reason you must, does not commonly make friends with you.”, “Some people stay longer in an hour than others do in a month.”, “Each one of us must suffer long to himself before he can learn that he is but one in a great community of wretchedness which has been pitilessly repeating itself from the foundation of the world.”, “Those novels with old-fashioned heroes and heroines in them -- are ruinous!”, “What the American public wants in the theater is a tragedy with a happy ending.”, “Our theory of disaster, of sorrow, of affliction, borrowed from the poets and novelist, is that it is incessant; but every passage in our own lives and in the lives of others, so far as we have witnessed them, teaches us that this is false. Second, the fact that Persis aims to advance her daughters in Boston society sheds light on the ambition and social pressures that accompany the acquisition of wealth, in line with the "poison of ambition" that we are told Silas instills in Persis (33).

Be the first to learn about new releases! But we, who live remote from history and monuments, we must read or we must barbarise.”, “He had always said to himself that there could be no persistence of personality, of character, of identity, of consciousness, except through memory; yet here, to the last implication of temperament, they all persisted. But you know I've always contended that the affections could be made to combine pleasure and profit. When reading and studying The Rise of Silas Lapham, recognition of the existence of a plot and subplot is necessary.Knowledge of how they relate to each other is also important. 3 pages at 400 words per page) Additionally, in this quote, one keenly feels Howells' comedic sensibility at work—after all, why should Bromfield have reason to complain about his own personal lack of achievement in the face of his son's business and personal successes? First, this quote is significant for the way in which it paints the Laphams as ignorant of social customs and unsure of how to use their newfound wealth and privilege. One brother will be civilized and the other a barbarian...All civilization comes through literature now, especially in our country. Please Sign Up At times he has enlarged them; at times he has paraphrased the accounts of the witnesses; in one instance he has frankly reproduced the words of the imposter as reported by one who heard Dylks's last address in”, “She was herself in that moment of life when, to the middle-aged observer, at least, a woman's looks have a charm which is wanting to her earlier bloom. The Rise of Silas Lapham essays are academic essays for citation. This contrasts with Silas' approach to what he sees as personal failures, taking a more realistic view of life and accounting also for blind chance as well as personal will and determination in sorting out how things came to pass. Welcome back.

Quotes By William Dean Howells. “Live all you can. "As long as this crisis decently kept its distance, I could look at it with an impartial eye; but now that it seems at hand, I find that, while my reason is still acquiescent, my nerves are disposed to—excuse the phrase—kick. They thought such a dreadful thing could happen to others, but not to them. GradeSaver. "I guess you wouldn't want my life without the money.". Money buys position at once. Our theory of disaster, of sorrow, of affliction, borrowed from the poets and novelists, is that it is incessant; but every passage in our own lives and in the lives of others, so far as we have witnessed them, teaches us that this is false.

I wouldn't have a man marry for money,--that would be rather bad,--but I don't see why, when it comes to falling in love, a man shouldn't fall in love with a rich girl as easily as a poor one. This quote is spoken by Bromfield Corey to Tom when he and Tom are speaking of Tom's role in recommending books to the Lapham family (118). Don't you worry.”, “Ah, we shall never have a real aristocracy while this plebeian reluctance to live upon a parent or a wife continues the animating spirit of our youth.

I can't get used to it. This thing and that is embittered to us, so that we may be willing to relinquish it; the world, life itself, is embittered to most of us, so that we are glad to have done with them at last; and this home was haunted with such memories to each of those who abandoned it that to go was less exile than escape. This is the beginning of a lengthy aside describing the Laphams' response to Silas' impending financial ruination, the whole of which warrants reading and reflection (306–307). It's all very well. But it is the curse of prosperity that it takes work away from us, and shuts that door to hope and help of spirit. This Study Guide consists of approximately 45 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more - everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of The Rise of Silas Lapham. In this house, where everything had come to be done for her, she had no tasks to interpose between her and her despair. It's really an affair of individuals. Pages: 4 Words: 861 Views: 231.