Answer the Questions. 1.What novel is H. B. Stowe chiefly remembered for?

1.What novel is H. B. Stowe chiefly remembered for?

2. Is «Uncle Tom's Cabin» a mere melodrama?

3. How did this book influence the society?

4. What other works did she write?

5. What book was the most shocking to her contemporaries? What was it based on?

6. What was Stowc's father?

7. Where did she get education?

8. Where did she get material for her most important novel?

4, AMERICAN LITERATURE COMES OF AGE (1850—1900)

4.1. Background Toward the mid-1800's, a new generation of American writers appeared. These writers did not turn to England for inspiration. They wrote about their own country and its people. They experi­mented with literary forms and introduced new themes and ideas. They created a national literature that won admiration and respect throughout the world.

The transcendentalists were a group of New England writers who emphasized intuition (feelings) more than observation and experience. They believed that the knowledge people gel from their own instincts transcends (goes beyond) knowledge that results from logic and deduction.

Ralph Waldo Emerson became the spokesman of the transcen­dentalists. He presented their theories in such brilliant essays as «Self-Reliance» (1841) and «The Over-Soul» (1841). He also wrote a number of philosophic poems. Emerson's friend Henry

David Thoreau put the transcendentalist theories to practice. For two years, he lived a simple life at Walden Pond, Mass. He re­corded his experiences in his masterpiece «Walden» (1854). This book probes deeply into nature, the human spirit, and the mean­ing of life.

From 1840 to 1844, the transcendentalists published a journal called «The Dial». Members of the group who contributed to it included George Ripley, Margaret Fuller, and Amos Bronson Alcott. Alcott is remembered chiefly because of his famous daughter Louisa May Alcott. She based her beloved novel «Little Women» (1868- 1869) on her own family life.

The Boston Brahmins. Some of the most popular authors of the 1800's belonged to upper-class New England society. They became known as «Boston Brahmins». The name came from the Brahmans or Brahmins, the highest caste of the Hindu religion. Leading Brahmin authors included Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, James Russell Lowell, and Oliver Wendell Holmes.

Longfellow was one of the most influential poets of his day. People still love his ballads and such poems as «Evangeline» (1847). Many critics regard his «Divina Commedia», or «Divine Comedy» (1876), and other sonnets as his best works.

Lowell became known for his political satires in «The Biglow Papers» (1848) and for his long poem «The Vision of SirLaunfal» (1848). He published a number of antislavery poems before the Civil War. Later, he wrote his moving «Commemoration Ode» (1865) honoring the war dead. Lowell showed his ability as a liter­ary critic in «A Fable for Critics» (1848), a satiric poem.

Holmes, a physician, was the good-natured leader of the Bos­ton Brahmins. He expressed the views of Boston's upper class in «The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table» (1858), a series of delight­ful essays. Holmes poetry includes «The Chambered Nautilus» (1858) and «The Wonderful One-Hoss Shay» (1858), a humorous satire on Calvinism.

John Greenlcaf Whittier, a Quaker, was neither a Brahmin nor a Bostonian. But the Brahmin authors welcomed him because ol" his simple, moralistic poetry. Whittier wrote many forceful antislavery poems. His finest works, such as «Snow-Bound» (1866), deal with New England country life.

During the 1800's, three prominent New Englanders produced historical works that have literary as well as scholarly merit. George Bancroft contributed a monumental «History of the United States» (1834—1876). John Lothrop Motley wrote about the Netherlands in «The Rise of the Dutch Republic» (1856) and other works. And Francis Parkman described the European struggle for power in North Amcrica in his seven-volume series called «France and England in the New World». The series began with «Pioneer of France in the New World» (1865) and ended with «А Half-Century of Conflict» (1892).

Individualists. A number of leading writers did not identify themselves with any group or movement. Their work can be under­stood only in terms of their genius.

Edgar Allan Рос became famous as a poet, short story writer, and literary critic. He wrote sad, haunting poems that show his care­ful attention to meter and rhyme. He based such works as «The Raven» (1845) and «Annabel Lee» (1849) on the theory that the best subject for poetry is the death of a beautiful woman. In his short stories, Рое concentrated on plot and emphasized mystery and suspense. «The Murders in the Rue Morgue» (1841) and «The Purloined Letter» (1845) became models for later detective stories. As a critic, Рое influenced writers with his theories on the short story and other literary forms.

Like Рое, Nathaniel Hawthorne helped develop the short stoiy into a major lit entry form. Hawthorne stressed character and mean­ing more than plot. He explored the nature of evil in «The Minis­ters Black Veil» (1836) and other stories. His masterpiece is «The Scarlet Letter» (1850), a novel which dramatizes the tragic effects of sin.

Hawthorne's friend, Herman Melville, gathered material for his novels during his early years at sea. Melville's first novel, «Турее» (1846), made him famous as the «man who lived among the canni­bals». His «Moby-Dick» (1851) achieves greatness as an adven­ture tale and as a symbolic study of good and evil.

Walt Whitman published the first edition of his poems «Leaves of Grass» in 1855. To many critics, Whitman's flowing tree verse was like a breath of fresh air in American poetry. Whitman sang the praises of America and democracy. He glorified both physical

and spiritual life in «Song of Myself» and oiher poems. Whitman published several editions of «Leaves of Grass», each with addi­tional poetry. The 1867 edition included a symbolic poem on Lincoln's death, «When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd».

Two poets wrote important lyric works in untraditional forms. One of them, Emily Dickinson, was almost entirely unknown dur­ing her lifetime. She wrote brilliantly of love nature, death, and eternity. Most of her poems were published after her death. Their imperfect rhymes and unusual language have had an important in­fluence on poets of the 1900's. The second poet, Sidney Lanier, wrote more melodious verse. Lanier's poems reflect his talent for music and his love for the South. In «The Symphony» (1875), he arranged words and rhythms to imitate the sound patterns made by musical instruments. Lanier wrote highly emotional nature poems, such as «The Marshes of Glynn» (1878).

Humorists and local colorists. As the United States expanded westward, Americans became curious about people in all parts of the land. Writers satisfied this curiosity with colorful descriptions of local customs, manners, speech, and dress. Some authors spe­cialized in humorous «tall tales» about exaggerated heroes and in­cidents. These writers became known as literary comedians. Other writers, callcd local colorists, wrote more serious poems, stories, and novels about various regions. Their works laid the foundations for the realistic movement that has dominated American literature during the 1900's.

Mark Twain is considered one of the greatest American authors. He combined humor, local color, and his own genius to create some of the best-loved novels of all times. Twain's mastcrpicces, «The Adventures of Tom Sawyer» (1876) and «The Adventures of Huck­leberry Finn» (1884), both take place along the Mississippi River. «Huckleberry Finn» is the more serious of the two works. This novel criticizes the hypocrisy and inhumanity of what Huck calls «sivilization».

Other popular humorists of the time were Petroleum V. Nasby and Artemus Ward. Both men kept readers laughing with puns, bad spelling, poor grammar, and strange dialects.

Local colorists appeared in all parts of America. In the West, Joaquin Miller wrote ballads and poems about the Pacific frontier.

Bret Hat ic published dramatic short stories about the gold rush days in California. In the South, George W. Cable became known for «Old Creole Days» (1879), a collection of short stories about Loui­siana. Joel Chandler Harris retold legends about black Americans in his famous «Uncle Remus» stories. In the East, Sarah Orne Jewett and Mary Wilkins Freeman set their stories and novels against a New England background. In the Midwest, Edward Eggleston de­lighted readers with «The Hoosier Schoolmaster» (1871), a novel about early Indiana. Indiana is also the setting for the poems of James Whitcomb Riley and the «Penrod» novels by Booth Tarkington, which describe the adventures of Penrod Scofield, a 12-year-old boy.

«Innocents abroad». Toward the end of the 1800's, Americans seemed to rediscover European culture. Hundreds of American tour­ists flocked to Europe for «grand tours». Mark Twain poked fun at them in «The Innocents Abroad» (1869). Twain's tourists have hilari­ous adventures that leave them unimpressed with Eua>pean customs and manners. Other writers won fame by preparing guidebooks for American «innocents» going abroad. In «Views Afoot» (1846), Bayaid Taylor wrote of touring Europe on less than $500. Lafcadio Heam gave a vivid account of Japan in «Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan» (1894).

Henry James developed the «international theme» in such novels as «The Portrait of a Lady» (1880—1881) and «The Ambassadors» (1903). The heroes of these novels are Americans who live in Europe. James examined the American culture and personality by studying his characters' reactions to their new surroundings. James was bom in the United States but lived in Europe most of his life. His theories on fiction influenced both European and American novelists.