Abstract

This paper aims at developing a review of William Dean Howells' “The Rise of Silas Lapham” in a holistic context. The paper is based on a research that analyzes the various aspects and ideas of the novel and how the author uses his writing to propagate the theory of realism. The paper makes a critical assessment of the writing and discusses the central theme and plot of the story in a detailed manner.

The Rise of Silas Lapham

Introduction

“The Rise of Silas Lapham”, is one of the most popular literary works of the nineteenth century. It is the most renowned and recognized writing of William Dean Howells amongst his several novels and serves as a true reflection of Howell's own theory of literary.

Strongly influenced by the works of writers such as Flaubert, Tolstoy, and Turgenev, Howells insisted on a distinction between the novel and the romance as two separate genres. The romance, in his view, serves for entertainment only, though its influence at times can be harmful. However, the novel, he thought, is by definition serious, purposeful, and realistic; its emphasis is less on plot than on motivation, character, and ethical and social problems, though, he warned, it should not concern itself with what he called "illicit" love. It must, of course, be plausible in its presentation of events and situations (Eby, pp.39).

Howells, in his own realistic novels, was most successful in his close and accurate observation of the superficies of human behavior in the circumstances and interrelationships of everyday living. He was less effective when he attempted psychological or sociological analysis of motives and attitudes. He liked to place his characters in commonplace situations like a journey, an environment unfamiliar to them, or some social event, and examine their conduct, and he was fond of bringing together persons of different classes or backgrounds and describing their interaction.

Discussion

Background

The Rise of Silas Lapham would probably affect a reader who should make Mr. Howells's acquaintance through it, in a different manner from what it does to one who has followed Mr. Howells, as so many have, step by step, ever since he put his tentative sketches forth in fiction. One may not suppose that Howells has kept back the exercise of certain functions until he should have perfected his faculty of art by means of lighter essays, but that, in the process of his art, he has partly discovered, at any rate has discovered that a creation, which depicts morals along with manners brings about high value (Bove, pp.29).

The novel is a vehicle for Howells's ideas on the value of realism both in literature and in life. However, not to be overlooked is Howells's realism in the creation of character and physical and social setting. Howells knew his Boston well, and he acquaints the readers with many parts and aspects of it.

Plot

“The Rise of Silas Lapham” is the story of a Vermont farmer who has discovered on his land minerals highly suitable for the manufacture of paint. Becoming wealthy, he moves to Boston ...