The Rise of Silas Lapham
| The Rise of Silas Lapham | |
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 1st edition |
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| Author(s) | William Dean Howells |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Literary realism |
| Publisher | Ticknor and Company |
| Publication date | 1885 (First Edition) |
| Pages | 341 |
The Rise of Silas Lapham is a realistic novel by William Dean Howells published in 1885. The story follows the materialistic rise of Silas Lapham from rags to riches, and his ensuing moral susceptibility. Silas earns a fortune in the paint business, but he lacks social standards, which he tries to attain through his daughter's marriage into the aristocratic Corey family. Silas's morality does not fail him. He loses his money but makes the right moral decision when his partner proposes the unethical selling of the mills to English settlers.
Howells is known to be the father of American realism, and a denouncer of the sentimental novel. The love triangle of Irene Lapham, Tom Corey, and Penelope Lapham highlights Howells' views of sentimental novels as unrealistic and deceitful.
List of Characters
- Silas Lapham
- Penelope Lapham
- Mrs. Lapham
- Irene Lapham
- Tom Corey
- Bromfield Corey
- Mrs. Corey
- Milton K. Rogers
Plot summary
The novel begins with Silas Lapham being interviewed for a newspaper profile, during which he explains his financial success in the mineral paint business. The Lapham family is somewhat self-conscious in their sudden rise on the social ladder and often fumble in their attempts at following etiquette norms. They decide to build a new home in the fashionable Beacon Hill neighborhood, and Lapham spares no expense ensuring it is at the height of fashion.
Tom Corey, a young man from a well-respected high-class family, shows an interest in the Lapham girls; Mr. and Mrs. Lapham assume he is attracted to Irene, the beautiful younger daughter. Corey joins the Lapham's paint business in an attempt to find his place in the world, rather than rely on the savings of his father Bromfield Corey. When Tom Corey begins calling on the Laphams regularly, everyone assumes his interest in Irene has grown, and Irene takes a fancy to him. Corey, however, eventually reveals his love for Penelope, the elder and more plain-looking daughter with an unusual sense of humor. Though Penelope has feelings for Tom Corey, she does not want to act on them for fear of betraying her sister.
Silas Lapham's former business partner Milton K. Rogers reappears in his life, asking for money for a series of schemes. Mrs. Lapham urges her husband to support the man, whom he had pushed out of the paint company in what was deemed an inappropriate manner. Lapham's dealings with Rogers, however, result in a substantial financial loss. His major asset, the new home on Beacon Street, burns down before its completion. The Laphams are humbly forced to move to their ancestral home in the countryside, where the mineral paint was first developed.
Composition and publication history
Howells had moved to Massachusetts in the 1860s and became influential as the editor of the Atlantic Monthly, a role he held until 1881. 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.[1] He completed The Rise of Silas Lapham while living at 302 Beacon Street in Boston.[2]
References
- ^ Goodman, Susan and Carl Dawson. William Dean Howells: A Writer's Life. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2005: 253. ISBN 0-520-23896-6
- ^ Levine, Meriam. A Guide to Writers' Homes in New England. Applewood Books, 1989: 178. ISBN 0918222516
External links
- The Rise of Silas Lapham at Project Gutenberg
- Rise of Silas Lapham 1912 edition, Houghton Mifflin, from Google Books
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