They Are All Gone into The World of Light by Henry Vaughan | Summary, Analysis

 They Are All Gone into The World of Light by Henry Vaughan | Summary, Analysis

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They Are All Gone into The World of Light is a metaphysical poem by Henry Vaughan who expressed his personal loss and ensuing feelings in this poem. He wrote this poem after the death of one of his close friends and he expresses his sadness and loneliness.

The poem begins with the pronoun ‘They’ followed by ‘all.’ It suggests that the poet may be talking about anyone. He may be talking about great saints and prophets, lost kings and soldiers, known and unknown faces, friends and foes. Thus, the reader is drawn into an act of mourning.

Poem Structure

The poem contains 40 lines arranged in 10 stanzas. Each stanza contains four lines or quatrains. The rhyming scheme is simple and clear abab. Most of the lines of the poem are arranged in an iambic pentameter scheme however, some of the lines are in iambic trimeter.

The main expression of the poem is loneliness and sadness as the poet has lost his close ones to death and he is mourning his loss. The poem is a meditation on death. The poet juxtaposes the blissful world of light that follows death against the world of darkness and confusion and loneliness that is the fate of living beings. Thus, the poem has the theme of the afterlife.

First Stanza

They are all gone into the world of light!

And I alone sit ling’ring here;

Their very memory is fair and bright,

And my sad thoughts doth clear.

The poet begins with a remembrance of those that he lost to death. He describes them as having gone to the world of light, that is heaven or the ring of eternity. The poet is feeling lonely, sad, and aimless, ‘ling’ring’ here in the living world. The poet is not sad because his close friends are dead now, but he is sad because he is still unable to join them in the world of light. The memories he has are soothing and they clear his mind and thoughts.

Second Stanza

It glows and glitters in my cloudy breast,

Like stars upon some gloomy grove,

Or those faint beams in which this hill is drest,

After the sun’s remove.

The poet continues to describe the good memories of his old friends and close relatives that he has lost. He suggests that their memories are so soothing and strong that they invigorate him. Those visions follow him throughout the day and appear like stars removing the darkness of a dense forest. Those memories are like those rays of light that manages to reach the hilltop even after the sunset.

Third Stanza

I see them walking in an air of glory,

Whose light doth trample on my days:

My days, which are at best but dull and hoary,

Mere glimmering and decays.

The poet suggests that the good old memories of his friends and relatives that he has lost to death are so strong that they appear real to him. He sees them walking in an air of glory as if they are alive while he, even though he is alive, appears dead to himself. He expresses his current situation as dull days that are gradually losing their light and are decaying.

Fourth Stanza

O holy Hope! and high Humility,

High as the heavens above!

These are your walks, and you have show’d them me

To kindle my cold love.

The poet changes the narrative in the fourth stanza as he addresses the divine power that has made it possible for him to observe these outward visions, experience these memories or dreams that are more real than real. He addresses God as holy Hope and high Humility. The poet mentions that this Godly act has saved his heart by warming it up.

The poet suggests that God is responsible for the ‘walks’ that he observes in his visions. The poet isn’t thanking God for this miracle, but he acknowledges it. For him, these visions are like a mirage that he wants to achieve, but cannot.

Fifth Stanza

Dear, beauteous Death! the jewel of the just,

Shining nowhere, but in the dark;

What mysteries do lie beyond thy dust

Could man outlook that mark!

In the fifth stanza, the poet addresses Death as the beautiful glorious jewel of right and just. The poet is enchanted by the mysteries beyond death, that is, the Afterlife. The poet asks if a living man can anyhow, come to know the secrets of Afterlife, life beyond death? Death is beauteous for the poet that shines in the dark because it is the boundary beyond which lies the treasure of mysteries that he wants to explore.

Sixth Stanza

He that hath found some fledg’d bird’s nest, may know

At first sight, if the bird be flown;

But what fair well or grove he sings in now,

That is to him unknown.

In the previous stanza, the poet described the death as a beautiful glorious jewel of justice. In the sixth stanza, the poet uses a metaphor to explain the beauty of death and man’s inability to see it.

The poet compares the search for the quest of death to looking into a bird’s nest to find the bird. But when the man looks into the nest, he finds that the bird has already flown away.

Just a glance at the nest will inform the man that the bird is no more in the nest, but he cannot get the answer for the quest, where the bird is singing now? The poet is enamored by the bliss of Afterlife that he can observe in his vision but cannot achieve.

Seventh Stanza

And yet as angels in some brighter dreams

Call to the soul, when man doth sleep:

So some strange thoughts transcend our wonted themes

And into glory peep.

The poet explains that one cannot feel the bliss of Afterlife without encountering death, a man can't understand the nature of death. Yet, there are moments when one gets a feeling of Divine. It happens when Angels help man by bringing some divine dreams and vision during his sleep. The angels bring some strange thoughts into the mind of a man as he sleeps. These unknown thoughts or visions transcend the normal life of a person to the glory of the afterlife.

Eighth Stanza

If a star were confin’d into a tomb,

Her captive flames must needs burn there;

But when the hand that lock’d her up, gives room,

She’ll shine through all the sphere.

The poet again uses a metaphor to explain how God helps men and allows them to flourish or die. He talks of a ‘star’ confined in a tomb. If the star is given the freedom to burn and thrive, it will shine throughout the sphere and will not remain confined within the tomb.

Ninth Stanza

O Father of eternal life, and all

Created glories under thee!

Resume thy spirit from this world of thrall

Into true liberty.

In the ninth quatrain, the poet starts developing the conclusion. He again addresses God as ‘Father of eternal life.’ He begs God to allow him and those like him to let them experience true liberty within this world. The liberty that his friend and relatives enjoy in the afterlife, he begs to have it while he is alive. He compares himself to the star confined in the tomb. The poet feels trapped by his life and he asks for more room to breathe, shine, and thrall. He begs God to bring him closer to the Divine to experience true liberty.

Tenth Stanza

Either disperse these mists, which blot and fill

My perspective still as they pass,

Or else remove me hence unto that hill,

Where I shall need no glass.

In the tenth stanza, the poet concludes his lamentation. He begs God to either clear the haze and confusion in his life and allow him to experience the bliss of true freedom. If it is not possible for a man to experience the divine without confronting death, the poet then asks God to let him in the Afterlife where everything will be clear and bright.

So this is it about They Are All Gone to The World of Light. We will continue to discuss a few more poems by Henry Vaughan. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!

The World by Henry Vaughan | Metaphysical Poets

 

The World by Henry Vaughan | Metaphysical Poets

Hello and welcome to the Discourse.

Henry Vaughan was a Welsh, English metaphysical poet, author, translator, and medical practitioner. He took birth on 17^th April 1621 and died on 23^rd April 1695. Just like Richard Crawshaw, Henry Vaughan was also inspired by George Herbert. His religious verse collection titled Silex Schintillans appears to be highly influenced by Herbert’s The Temple. Silex Scintillans was first published in 1650 and it was republished with a second volume and a new preface in 1655. Silex Scintillans borrows the same themes, experiences, and beliefs as mentioned in George Herbert’s The Temple.

Before his inclination towards religious writings, Henry Vaughan took inspiration for his poetic writings through nature. In 1645, he published ‘Poems with The Tenth Satire of Juvenal Englished.’ One of his popular secular works was Olor Iscanus that he wrote in 1647. However, it was published in 1651. In Olor Iscanus, Vaughan discussed the Civil War and its effect on every man’s life.

It appears that Vaughan fell seriously ill during 1650-1651 and during this period, he read The Temple. His near-to-death experience because of illness, and the influence of The Temple prompted him to change from a secular writer to a religious author. Later on, he described his early life as ‘misspent youth.’ He described his conversion from a secular to a religious writer as ‘moriendo revixi’, which means, ‘by dying, I gain new life.’

Followed by Silex Scintillans, his second major religious work was Mount of Olives or Solitude Devotions. It was a prose work, a book of devotions in which he provided prayers for different stages of the day. This work appears to be much inspired by the Book of Common Prayer and was regarded as a ‘companion volume’ for the Book of Common Prayer.

Along with his religious tone, his writings and poetry show a strong inclination towards nature and mysticism. One of the very popular poems by Henry Vaughan is The World in which he described his personal loss.

The World Poem Structure

The World was published in 1650. It is a four stanza metaphysical poem with eleven lines in each stanza. The rhyme scheme of each stanza is consistent and it follows the pattern of aaabbccddeeffgg. Each line is written in iambic pentameter. The poet uses the imagery of a ring with no beginning and no end to represent eternity.

Summary of The World

The main idea of the poem The World by Henry Vaughan is striving to attain spirituality with the help of God while rejecting the trivial, unreal, sensual worldly objects and pleasures as they lack true happiness. The intelligent metaphysical use of similes, alliteration, conceit, and wit heightens the main theme and concerns of the poem.

Stanza 1

I saw Eternity the other night,

Like a great ring of pure and endless light,

All calm, as it was bright;

And round beneath it, Time in hours, days, years,

Driv’n by the spheres

Like a vast shadow mov’d; in which the world

And all her train were hurl’d.

The doting lover in his quaintest strain

Did there complain;

Near him, his lute, his fancy, and his flights,

Wit’s sour delights,

With gloves, and knots, the silly snares of pleasure,

Yet his dear treasure

All scatter’d lay, while he his eyes did pour

Upon a flow’r.

The narrator of the poem begins with a description of a previous night when he felt the vision of ‘Eternity.’ He describes eternity as a bright endless ring of pure light. He observes a great calmness and divine brightness is incomparable as nothing in the mortal earthly world is as pure and bright. He realizes that no matter what humans do, they cannot create anything comparable to Eternity's bright ring of light.

The ring of bright pure light that represents Eternity contains in itself all the time in all its forms, short and long moments. While it is believed that the heavenly spheres or astronomical bodies control the short and long moments, all those heavenly bodies and all the time is encompassed by that bright ring of pure light. The poet is not overwhelmed by the enormity of the ring of light representing Eternity, rather he is surprised how easily everything is compressed in this ring of Eternity. The Eternity encompasses past, present, and future. It contains everything that is known to the poet and everything else that will be. Just like everything else, the earth itself is being hurled along within Eternity.

In the next lines of the first stanza, the poet describes a man, a dotting lover, who is very attractive. He is complaining about his possessions and his lover. The quaint lover is holding his lute (a musical instrument like a guitar) and is singing, explaining his dreams, wishes, and his struggles. The man is praising his possessions and he is worried about how ephemeral his possessions are and how they will be destroyed. He is so sad that he is weeping. The poet suggests that all of it that concerns the man, for which the quaint lover is concerned, is trivialized, it is has no real value in the realms of eternity.

Stanza 2

The darksome statesman hung with weights and woe,

Like a thick midnight-fog mov’d there so slow,

He did not stay, nor go;

Condemning thoughts (like sad eclipses) scowl

Upon his soul,

And clouds of crying witnesses without

Pursued him with one shout.

Yet digg’d the mole, and lest his ways be found,

Work’d under ground,

Where he did clutch his prey; but one did see

That policy;

Churches and altars fed him; perjuries

Were gnats and flies;

It rain’d about him blood and tears, but he

Drank them as free.

The narrator beings the second stanza with the description of a corrupt statesman who has caused enormous troubles and pains for common people. The poet describes this corrupt official as a ‘darksome statesman.’ His thoughts are impure and terrible and he carries with him all the woes of others. Being in a powerful authoritative position, he has caused trouble for others. The poet infers all these follies of this corrupt man by describing the way he moves. He is nowhere where he should be and he moves so slow as if he has no particular destination to go as if he has no desire to help those who need his help, who are dependent on him.

Vaughan’s narrator also says that he can observe the intention of the ‘darksome statesman’ on his face. He is harboring further dark intentions and planning to create more troubles and tragedies for other people, his dependents. He defines this corrupt official as a mole who digs a hole and works underground, away from the eyes of others. He is fed by gnats and flies and he freely drinking the blood and tears of his dependents. The poem's narrator describes how corrupt people in powerful positions exploit common men and rob others while improving their own position.

Stanza 3

The fearful miser on a heap of rust

Sate pining all his life there, did scarce trust

His own hands with the dust,

Yet would not place one piece above, but lives

In fear of thieves;

Thousands there were as frantic as himself,

And hugg’d each one his pelf;

The downright epicure plac’d heav’n in sense,

And scorn’d pretence,

While others, slipp’d into a wide excess,

Said little less;

The weaker sort slight, trivial wares enslave,

Who think them brave;

And poor despised Truth sate counting by

Their victory.

In the third stanza, the narrator describes a miser, a man who wasted his life on a heap of rust. This man is very fearful of theives who may steal the belonging that he has saved through his struggles of misery. This man trusts no one. He even distrusts his own hands and fears that he may misplace or destruct some of his precious possessions. He is frantically concerned about his belongings. The narrator suggests that there are thousands of people just like this miser who waste their life while distrusting everyone and remaining in fear of losing their possessions.

In the next lines of the stanza, the narrator describes people like epicure (someone who takes great pleasure in good food and drink). They are gluttonous, they place great importance on physical appearances. The narrator further describes people who have slopped into wide excess, they have devoted themselves to materialistic things and they are leading a hedonistic lifestyle. The narrator then describes the weaker sort who are enslaved by the powerful people.

4th Stanza

Yet some, who all this while did weep and sing,

And sing, and weep, soar’d up into the ring;

But most would use no wing.

O fools (said I) thus to prefer dark night

Before true light,

To live in grots and caves, and hate the day

Because it shews the way,

The way, which from this dead and dark abode

Leads up to God,

A way where you might tread the sun, and be

More bright than he.

But as I did their madness so discuss

One whisper’d thus,

“This ring the Bridegroom did for none provide,

But for his bride.”

In the last stanza, the narrator summarizes all sorts of people he has described and how they strive to attain happiness in their life. The narrator suggests that true happiness lies in the realm of the ring of bright and pure light representing Eternity. Every person, the dotting lover, the darksome statesman, the miser, the epicure, the gluttonous, the hedonist, and the weakling tries to attain the pleasure and calm of that ring of Eternity. They sing and weep and strive to soar up into the ring. But they continue to fail to attain happiness as they use no wings to reach eternity. The wing required to reach the calmness of Eternity is the help of God. People continue to waste their life on their trivial concerns of life while ignoring the divine presence of God and thus, they fail to attain the true happiness and pleasure of the ring of Eternity.

The narrator says that no matter what a man does to attain calmness and happiness in their life, they will never reach eternal happiness unless they devote themselves to God. The narrator further says that those who do not have faith in God often turn away from the right path as the path shown by God is just opposite to the path of their choice.

In the last lines, the narrator uses the first-person narrative to explain his inability in understanding why the people he has described took these wrong paths to attain happiness, why they opted for these wrong choices. The poet suggests that all these corrupt people have an inherent madness that restricts them from seeing the bright path that leads to Eternity. In the end, the poet suggests that Eternity itself chooses the person who deserves eternal happiness while all others remain aloof and waste their life in worldly pleasures.

So this is it about Henry Vaughan’s The World. We will discuss a few more poems by him. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!

Richard Crashaw Life and Works | An Epitaph Upon Husband and Wife

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Richard Crashaw was born in London in 1613. He belonged to a Puritan family. He was strongly linked with Metaphysical poetry. Crashaw was hugely influenced by George Herbert and he was a close friend of Abraham Cowley.

Crashaw attended Charterhouse School in 1631 and in 1633, he joined Cambridge University for the course of B. A. During this time, he read George Herbert’s poetry collection titled The Temple: Sacred Poems and Private Ejaculations which was published in the same year. This book inspired Crashaw to devote himself to writing religious verses. His course of B. A required him to write epigrams and verses in Greek and Latin based on Epistle and Gospel reading. Later on, he collected all these epigrams written by him and published them by the title Epigrammatum Sacrotum Liber (translated in English as A Book of Sacred Epigrams) in 1634. 

It is a collection of Epigraphs and verses that Richard Crashaw wrote during his first year of college at Cambridge. His poems were highly praised for their metaphysical aspect. One of the famous lines of his Epigrams is ‘The Modest Water saw its God and Blushed.’ In this line, Crashaw is explaining the miracle of how the water turned into wine, it is Crashaw’s observation on the Biblical miracle of turning water into wine.

 He graduated from Pembroke Hall in 1634. During the same time, he came in influence of William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury and this resulted in increasing interest of Crashaw in Catholicism. In 1636, Crawshaw was appointed as a fellow of Peterhouse college of Cambridge University and in 1638, he became a curate of Church of St. Mary the Less, Cambridge. While he belonged to a Puritan family with a strong Protestant culture, he was gradually inclined towards Catholicism under Laudianism and Counter-Reformation. He was appointed as a Minister of the Anglican Church but he continued his inclination towards Catholic rituals and stories of saints, specifically female Roman Catholic saints. His sermons were very popular because he often used poetry that was appreciated. However, Puritans were aware of his inclination towards Catholicism and Popish idolatry. He often stressed more on the virtues of the Virgin Mary in his sermon and was accused of Mariolatry. Mariolatry means excessive devotion to Virgin Mary. With the increasing influence of Puritans, he was forced to resign from his fellowship at Peterhouse. He and five more colleagues refused to accept and sign the Solemn League and Covenant.

Crashaw continued writing religious verses under the influence of Herbert’s The Temple. Crawshaw was highly influenced by St Teresa of Avila's life and deeds, a Spanish noblewoman who later became a Catholic nun and mystique. He wrote three poems in praise of St. Teresa and translated her writings into English. The three poems were titled "A Hymn to Sainte Teresa," "An Apologie for the fore-going Hymne," and "The Flaming Heart." He published all his poems and some translations of St Teresa’s works by the title ‘Collection of Poems Dedicated to St. Teresa.’

He continued writing verses influenced by George Herbert and collected many of these poems written by him and published them by the title Steps to The Temple. He also collected poems written by one of his anonymous friends and published them by the title Delights of Muses in the same volume in 1646.

During the civil war, Richard Crashaw fled to Paris where he was leading a poor life when he met Abraham Cowley who helped him and arranged for a job as an associate of Cardinal in Rome, Italy. Despite his affection and inclination towards Catholicism, he couldn’t agree with the licentious behavior of Italian clergy and objected to it. In 1649, the Cardinal transferred him to Basilica Della Santa Casa at Loreto Marche. In August 1649, Crawshaw suffered the strange flu and died.

The major theme of his writings was religion. He was more inclined in praising female saints including the Virgin Mary, St. Teresa of Avila, and Mary Magdalene as the embodiment of virtue, purity, and salvation. His work can be widely divided into four categories namely a) Poems on Christ’s life and his miracles, b) Poems on Catholic Church and its ceremonies, c) Poems on saints and martyrs of the Church, and d) Poems on several sacred themes including translations of Psalms, letters to the Countess of Denbigh, and his poems influenced by George Herbert’s The Temple.

In his collection Steps to The Temple, Crashaw reflected on the problems of conversion and on the efficacy of prayer. For his own nature and the nature of his poetry, his friends and colleagues often addressed him as Saint Crashaw. Abraham Cowley wrote an elegy after his death in his praise ‘On the Death of Mr. Crashaw’ in 1656 in which he also mentioned him as a saint. Later on, writers such as S.T. Coleridge, William Wordsworth, Elizabeth Barret Browning, R. W. Emerson, Amy Lowell, and others praised his work. He was often referred to as the ‘other Herbert,’ or ‘the second Herbert of our late times.’ Many English poets such as Alexander Pope, John Milton, and others who were under the influence of puritans criticized Crashaw. Alexander Pope termed him as ‘a worst sort of Cowley.’ However, other scholars criticized Pope heavily borrowed the style of writing in his own poems.

One of his poems is An Epitaph Upon Husband and Wife

To these whom death again did wed
This grave 's the second marriage-bed.
For though the hand of Fate could force
'Twixt soul and body a divorce,
It could not sever man and wife,
Because they both lived but one life.
Peace, good reader, do not weep;
Peace, the lovers are asleep.
They, sweet turtles, folded lie
In the last knot that love could tie.
Let them sleep, let them sleep on,
Till the stormy night be gone,
And the eternal morrow dawn;
Then the curtains will be drawn,
And they wake into a light
Whose day shall never die in night.

This is it for today. We will continue our discussion on English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!

An American Tragedy by Theodore Dressier | Characters, Summary, Analysis

 An American Tragedy by Theodore Dressier | Characters, Summary, Analysis

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Theodore Dressier was a naturalist who expressed the stark truths of society in his novels in an as honest manner as possible. We have seen how he criticized the fraudulent idea of the American dream in Sister Carrie. Another noteworthy novel was An American Tragedy which was published in 1925. 

An American Tragedy is also based on the faultiness of the American dream. An American Tragedy is considered a crime thriller as the story of this novel was inspired by a true criminal act that happened in 1906 at Big Moose Lake, New York. Grace Brown, a 20-year-old young pregnant girl was murdered by drowning by her own lover as he wanted to get rid of the girl to marry someone else. Dressier closely studied the case and adopted it in his novel. The main culprit of the Big Moose Lake Case was Chester Gillette who was executed by electrocution. The main character of An American Tragedy is Clyde Griffiths, the initials of the real criminal and that of the novel are the same (C.G.).

An American Tragedy is a true tragedy in the strict sense. Clyde meets an ignominious and dreadful end as a result of his innate moral weaknesses, physical cowardice, lack of self-discipline, immature intellect, unfocused ambition, and an ingratiating soft social mannerism.

Characters of An American Tragedy

Clyde Griffiths is the eldest son of Asa and Elvira Griffiths, a devoted Evangelist couple spreading Christianity in Kansas City during the early 1920s. Esta, Julia, and Frank Griffiths are his siblings. Samuel Griffiths is the paternal uncle of Clyde who is a rich businessman in New York. Hortense Briggs is a self-obsessed socialite to whom Clyde gets infatuated. Sparser is a fellow bellhop of Clyde working in the same hotel. Ratterer is another friend of Clyde who helps him in Chicago.

Gilbert Griffiths is Clyde’s cousin, Samuel Griffiths’ son. Roberta Alden is an innocent farm girl who falls in love with Clyde. Sondra Finchley is a young rich girl, daughter of another factory owner of New York.

Summary of An American Tragedy

Clyde Griffiths is the eldest son of an Evangelical couple working in Kansas City. Asa Griffiths and Elvira Griffith have four children. Esta, Julia, and Frank Griffith are siblings of Clyde. Asa and Elvira are satisfied with their religious work but the family suffers poverty and Asa often fails to meet two times meal. Obviously, the kids fail to get any proper education. Asa often tells stories about his younger brother Samuel Griffiths who is a successful businessman established in Lycurgus (a fictional city in New York.) Clyde has a strong desire to meet his rich uncle and somehow learn how to make money. As Clyde grows, he starts working to help his family. He starts working as a soda-jerk in a local soda shop. He finds that as a soda-jerk, he cannot earn much. When he sees his customers visiting the soda shop in stylish rich suits and accessories, he dreams of becoming rich like them someday. Soon he changes his job and becomes a Bellhop and messenger at hotel Green-Davidson. As a bellhop, he earns a good salary and he also gets occasional tips from customers. Now he is making as much money in a day that he used to earn in a week as a soda-jerk. However, he doesn’t give any extra money to his family. Rather he uses the extra income to buy new clothes and to save some funds.

At the hotel, Clyde makes friendship with other bellhops and one of them is Sparser. One day Sparser takes Clyde to a party to have fun. At the party, Clyde meets Hortense Briggs, a self-obsessed socialite who is looking for someone to spend money on her. Clyde gets enamored by her and she decides to use him for her financial needs. From the party, Sparser takes Clyde to a brothel and this opens a new world for Clyde. Clyde is too much attracted towards high-class girls whom he calls “electrifying”.

A few months ago, Clyde’s sister Esta eloped with her lover. Clyde comes to know that Esta has returned home. She is now pregnant and abandoned by the man who promised to marry her. Clyde’s mother asks for some monetary help to treat Esta. Clyde is sorry for her sister but before he could decide to help her financially, Hortense meets him and asks him to buy her a costly fashionable jacket. Clyde decides to buy the jacket. He writes a letter to his mother and informs her that he doesn’t have any money to help Esta.

Clyde is now completely in the grip of Hortense Briggs. One day Sparser, Clyde, Hortense, and other friends decide to go on a pleasure trip. Sparser takes a car from the garage of a rich man for whom his father works, without his permission. While returning from the pleasure trip, Sparser drives the car recklessly and they meet an accident. The driver and a girl in the other car suffer injuries but Sparser, Clyde, and others run away from the spot of the accident. The next day, Clyde learns that the girl died in that accident. Sparser is soon arrested for reckless driving and he tells the name of all who were with him on the trip. Fearing a jail term, Clyde decides to run away.

For three years, Clyde lives away from home under a false name. He continues to do petty jobs that offer very little money. One day, he meets his friend Ratterer who helps him and arranges for a job as a bellhop in Hotel Union Club in Chicago. Clyde is happy again as he starts earning good money. One day, he meets Samuel Griffiths who visited the hotel for a business meeting. When Samuel sees Clyde, he feels sorry that he didn’t take care of his brother and his family. He asks Clyde to come with him to Lycurgus New York. Samuel promises him a better job at his factory where they make collars.

Samuel’s son Gilbert is not too happy after meeting Clyde. Griffith is managing the factory and he offers Clyde a tough but low-paid job at a shop in the basement of the factory. Clyde rents a room at a cheap lodging house and starts working.

Clyde works laboriously and honestly. When Samuel asks Gilbert about the performance of Clyde, Gilbert offers some negative comments. However, Samuel observes Clyde himself and likes him. He invited Clyde to his home for dinner. At Samuel’s home, Clyde meets Sondra Finchley, a beautiful young girl of another rich businessman of Lycurgus. Gilbert doesn’t want Sondra to get close to Clyde but Sondra finds him amusing and attractive. Samuel asks Gilbert to arrange a better and higher-paying job for Clyde. Gilbert resists his father and says that Clyde is a clumsy worker, uneducated and purposeless. However, he accepts his father’s insistence and offers a better job to Clyde. However, Gilbert warns Clyde that he should not get sexually involved with any woman working under him. Clyde remains loyal and works honestly. Some young women workers of the factory try to approach Clyde but he maintains proper distance.

In the next month, the factory gets an extra-large order of collars. To fulfill the order, Clyde and Gilbert decide to appoint some new working girls. One of them is Roberta Alden, an innocent farm girl. Clyde finds her too attractive and couldn’t resist her. Roberta also falls in love with Clyde and they start dating. Clyde insists on sexual courtship but Roberta is too shy and traditional. One day, Sondra meets Clyde again and invites him to a night dance party. Roberta realizes that Clyde is now taking more interest in Sondra and she fears that she will lose her love. Ultimately, she decides to submit to Clyde’s demand and accepts sexual courtship with him.

However, Clyde continues to meet Sondra and soon he realizes that she is enough interested in him and he can have a chance to marry her. Thus, he decides to maintain his distance from Roberta. Roberta realizes what is happening but she could do nothing to stop it. One day, Roberta informs Clyde that she is pregnant. Roberta begs him to marry her or arrange for a doctor to abort the child. Clyde takes Roberta to a doctor who offers her some medicine to abort the child. However, the medicine doesn’t work. The doctor refuses to abort the child by other means.

Roberta insists Clyde marry her. Clyde promises to either find another doctor or marry her soon. Later on, he read the news about an accident at Pass Lake in which a man and a woman who took a boat were found drowned. Clyde decides to get rid of Roberta by feigning a simple accident at some deep lake. He invites Roberta to a trip to Big Bittern where he promises he will marry her. Roberta agrees.

At Big Bittern, Clyde and Roberta take a boat and Clyde takes her to an isolated place in an already deserted lake. However, before he could do anything, he feels very pensive and unable to act. Roberta realizes that something is wrong with him. She tries to approach him and touch him but he hits her and pushes her back. She loses balance and falls of the boat as the boat turns over. Pregnant and unable to swim, she asks Clyde to help her but he turns his ears and sees her drowning. He then comes back to the bank alone.

However, Roberta’s body is quickly found and Clyde is arrested for her murder. Clyde insists that she jumped off the boat by herself but nobody accepts his arguments. Samuel Griffiths is shocked when he comes to know about this. He tries to save Clyde by appointing two highly paid lawyers to argue for him. His lawyers do their best but couldn’t save Clyde who is sentenced to death by electrocution. Clyde used to describe beautiful girls as electrifying and in the end, he suffers electrocution.

In the jail, before his electrocution, Clyde contemplates his past actions and he reminisces how he ran away from the spot of accident in which that girl died in the car accident. He also remembers his younger sister Esta who was impregnated and abandoned by the man who promised to marry her. He realizes that his fate was always in front of his eyes, offering him to correct his ways. However, he failed to learn from life and hence suffered the consequences.

An American Tragedy was based on a true-crime story. In 2003, Jennifer Donnelly’s novel A Northern Light was published which was also based on the same story of Grace Brown Murder that happened in 1906. Grace Brown had written many love letters to Chester Gillette which were studied, observed, and used by Theodore Dressier and Jennifer Donnelly both for their respective novels.

This is it for today. We will continue to discuss American literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards.

Sister Carrie by Theodore Dressier | Characters, Summary, Analysis

 Sister Carrie by Theodore Dressier | Characters, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse.

Theodore Dressier was an American novelist and journalist who adhered to the Naturalist school of literature. Just like literary Realism, Naturalism is a rejection of Romanticism while supporting Determinism and scientific objectivism to offer social commentary.

Theodore Dressier was born in 1871 and died in 1945. He is known for his two great novels titled Sister Carrie (1900) and An American Tragedy (1925).

Theodore Dressier chose to write against the norms. In Sister Carrie, he portrayed a young country girl who decides to escape Wisconsin's rural life to Chicago. She fails to find a good job that may pay a living wage. She is preyed upon by several men and she decides to use them as a ladder to rise up in society. Ultimately, she becomes a successful and famous actress, yet fails to find peace and satisfaction in her life.

Sister Carrie is a significant novel as it broke the trend of Romantic moralism that dictated punishment for adultery. There is a stark difference in the stories of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter in which the female protagonist is punished for having an affair outside her marriage and Sister Carrie, that portrays adultery as an acceptable norm and doesn’t suggest any punishment. Sister Carrie has been called as ‘greatest of All American Urban Novels.’ The novel tells three tragedies Carrie’s tragedy of success, Hurstwood’s tragedy of failure, and Drouet’s tragedy of ignorance.

Sister Carrie is a sarcastic commentary against the great American dream as the featured characters of the novel succeed at their objectives despite a lack of a firm moral code.

Main Characters of Sister Carrie

Caroline Meeber is the protagonist. Her family calls her Carrie. She becomes the second wife of George Wheeler, also known as Geroge W. Hurstwood. Later on, she becomes a famous successful actress by the name of Carrie Madenda. Minnie Hanson is Carrie’s elder sister whose husband is Svan Hanson. Charles H. Drouet is a buoyant traveling salesman who persuades Carrie to be his mistress to lead a prosperous life. Jessica Hurstwood is George’s social-climbing wife who continues to try to be close to men of high-class society. Mr. and Mrs. Vance are neighbors of Carrie and George Hurstwood. Robert Ames is a brother of Mrs. Vance whom Carrie regards as an ideal man. Lola Osborne is a friendly chorus girl with whom Carrie works. Later on, Lola persuades Carrie to leave Hurstwood and live with her in her apartment. Lola realizes the great potential of Carrie and becomes her ‘satellite,’ or parasite.

Summary of Sister Carrie

The story of Sister Carrie depicts three main characters and how they fell, were harmed, and corrupted by the fraudulent claims of the spurious American dream.

Carrie Meeber is living in Columbia City, Wisconsin with her family. Her elder sister Minnie is married to Svan Hanson and they live in Chicago. Frustrated by the poverty of her family, Carrie decides to move to Chicago to get a job with the help of her sister. During the train travel to Chicago, she meets a traveling salesman Charles Drouet. Charles is attracted to Carrie and they exchange contact information. When Carrie reaches her sister’s house, she realizes that her sister is also living a middle-class life and her home lack affluence. Carrie gets a job at a shoemaker factory but she is not satisfied with the salary. Charles meets Carrie and suggests she leave her sister’s dull poor house and move with him in his high-class apartment. To persuade Carrie, he slips two notes of 10 Dollars. Carrie discovers a new way to earn money to fulfill her materialistic desires, yet she is not convinced. The next day, she again meets Charles and tries to give his money back to him. Charles denies taking the money back, instead, he takes Carrie to shop at Chicago Departmental Store. He buys a nice rich jacket and a pair of shoes for Carrie. Carrie now makes up her mind and moves to Charle’s apartment to live with him.

Gradually, Carrie loses her provincial countryside mannerism and becomes a suave clever city girl. One day, Drouet introduces Carrie to Geroge W. Hurstwood who is the manager of a Fritzgard and Moy’s bar where Charles regularly visits. Hurstwood is a rich married man. He is the husband of Julia Hurstwood who is a social-climbing wife. He is the father of a 20-year-old son and a 17-year-old daughter. When he sees Carrie, he gets infatuated with her. Carrie doesn’t know if Hurstwood is married or not. As Charles goes on traveling for his business purpose, Hurstwood decides to meet Carrie in her apartment. Carrie realizes that Hurstwood is way too rich than Charles and when Hurstwood tries to seduce her, she submits to his desires.

One night, Drouet promises to find a suitable actress to play the role of Laura in Augustine Dally’s melodrama Under the Gaslight. He persuades Carrie to play the role. Carrie is hesitant but decides to try. During the performance, she fumbles but Charles continues to cheer her up and at the end, she offers a satisfactory delivery of the role. Hurstwood also visited the theater and on seeing Carrie performing the role, his infatuation towards Carrie turns into an obsession and he decides to snatch Carrie from Charles by any means.

Drouet comes to know about the affair between Hurstwood and Carrie. Julia Hurstwood also comes to know that her husband has been seen with another woman. Julia confronts Geroge Hurstwood and threatens him with consequences. Hurstwood meets Carrie and asks her to move with him. Carrie asks him if he will marry her, to which Hurstwood says yes. Later on, Drouet confronts Carrie and chides her for her infidelity. He informs her that Hurstwood is already married and is a father of a 20-year-old son and a 17-year-old daughter. Charles then leaves Carrie alone and moves out of the apartment. Knowing the married life of Hurstwood, Carrie rejects his proposal too and is now alone.

Hurstwood is too frustrated by his wife’s warnings and Carrie’s rejection. As he drowns himself in liquor in his own bar, he realizes that one of the lockers of Fristgard and Moy’s has been left unlocked for the night. He decides to steal money from the locker. He takes more than $10,000 from the locker. He then sends a message to Carrie in which he falsely pretends that Charles is too ill and she may go to see Charles with him. Hurstwood takes Carrie to Montreal, Canada. He succeeds in mollifying Carrie by faking a marriage with her though he is still married to Julia. Later on, an investigator finds Hurstwood and demands all the money back that he stole or he will face a jail term. Hurstwood gives back most of the money that he stole to avoid persecution. He then moves to New York City with Carrie where he buys a minor share in a saloon. He and Carrie start living in New York City in a rented apartment by the name George and Carrie Wheeler. Initially, Carrie is happy but Geroge is not earning enough from the saloon and soon the financial restraints create a gap between Carrie and George. Carrie makes friends with her neighbor Mrs. Vance whose husband is very rich. Robert Ames is a cousin of Mr. Vance. He is a bright scholar from Indiana. Carrie gets impressed by Robert Ames who makes her realize that appreciation of great art is more important and satisfactory than materialistic success.

After a year or two, the landlord of the saloon decides to sell the shop and Geroge’s partner decides to terminate the partnership. George is too adamant and proud to do any other job and decides to stay at home until he finds a new venture to make money. Ultimately, his savings also dwindle away. Then he forces Carrie to make some economic contribution. Carrie is hesitant but decides to join a chorus as she is good-looking. Geroge continues to deteriorate his situation while Carrie starts gaining success as he proceeds to play minor roles along with being a chorus girl. She meets Lola Osborne her fellow chorus girl. Lola offers her career advises and guides her to become a full-fledged actress. Lola realizes Carrie’s potential and decides to taste success at Carrie’s back while she herself cannot achieve success. Meanwhile, Geroge continues to waste his little money and becomes a drunkard. A streetcar driver’s strike is going on in New York City. Geroge decides to become a scab and break the strike by becoming a streetcar driver to earn some money. However, he could do this only for two days and the other cab drivers on strike confront him and injures him. Geroge is then forced to stop driving the cab. Carrie is unaware of his reason but when she comes to know that George has again stopped working, she decides to leave him and move to Lola Osborne’s apartment.

Geroge continues to suffer ill-fate and ultimately turns into a street beggar while Carrie continues to achieve success as an actress by the name of Carrie Madenda. Lola becomes her advisor. One day, Carrie comes to know that Geroge committed suicide in a flophouse. She contemplates her own situation and realizes that though she has attained materialistic success, she is hollow, lonely, dissatisfied, frustrated, and almost dead inside.

The novel ends here. George Wheeler suffers the tragedy of failure and meets an ignominious end as a beggar. Carrie, despite attaining success, finds her life meaningless as she suffers the tragedy of success. Charles Drouet, who thought of a happy family with Carrie suffers the tragedy of ignorance. This is it for today. We will discuss another important work of Theodore Dressier in the next video. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!