She cannot realistically bring everything to a happy conclusion, as does the passive enduring, sweet coquette of the romantic novels. As the minister Sewell points out in discussing the novel Tears, Idle Tears, "Old fashioned heroines are ruinous." Penelope's romantic and excessive sisterly love and self-sacrifice only make a realistic situation worse. She is not sparing her family from sorrow, like Irene, by re-establishing herself as a stronger person. Penelope's desire to be heroic by giving up Tom is likewise romantic, for it shows her to be excessively self-sacrificing. Irene suffers humiliation, Penelope is placed in a frustrating position, and both the Laphams and the Coreys are forced to make major readjustments. Additionally, he shows us how harmful it is to all the parties involved. Howells shows us of course how unrealistic this notion is when Tom declares his love for Penelope. The assumption that Tom loves Irene for her beauty rather than Penelope for her wit is a romantic notion held by both the Laphams and the Coreys. The secondary plot of the Irene Penelope Corey triangle love affair gives Howells another opportunity to defeat romantic ideas. Silas' moral rise fulfills Howells' desire to present an anti-romantic novel. Money and business are closer and more comprehensible than God to Silas, who needs a shower of cool moral realism. The rise of Silas from a barefoot farm boy to a millionaire is a romantic story which ends in financial disaster. He included romantic elements in his novels, however, to show how they can be harmful in real situations.
William Dean Howells, an early advocator of realism, wrote novels that supported his beliefs. Technique and Style in The Rise of Silas Lapham.Romanticism and Realism in The Rise of Silas Lapham.The Rise of Silas Lapham as Tragicomedy.
0 kommentar(er)
