America has quite a complicated history with Britain,
especially when we consider the first century after we gained independence. For
decades, they were sworn enemies; the War of 1812 probably helped reinforce
this opinion. Yet the relationship was vastly improving, or at the very least,
the people were moving beyond the disagreements. (To relate to Douglas, he took
a tour of England and the English did gather enough money to purchase his
freedom.)
A line from Melville’s “Paradise for Bachelors and Tartarus
of Maids” reveals an interesting take of the relationship between the two
nationalities. The narrator of the chapter states, “[choosing furniture] is a
thing which every sensible American should learn from every sensible Englishman”
(Melville p1513). I interpret this line rather pessimistically: American upper
class still had an element of crassness that their English counterparts lacked.
So therefore, the English models must have been better.
Isn’t that a great standard? To allow the social structure
to be dictated and compared to by the former rulers and what many would argue to
be the oppressors of America? To be fair, Britain was the basis for a lot of
society in general in America. When the United States broke away, the main
changes were the government and economic rules that the people had to follow. Society
itself remained relatively unchanged. (For a model of what a proper revolution does
to society, look at the French Revolution. (This is in reference to Crane
Brinton’s The Anatomy of Revolution,
where he lists the seven stages most revolutions fit.))
The point is that the American Renaissance wasn’t recognized
as a Renaissance at the time possibly because Americans didn’t recognize their
culture as “culture.” Most of the references that we encounter at this point of
the semester are European. There was only the beginning of American literary
history, and as such there wasn’t much to reference. Most American references
are of Emerson, who was noted as a great writer while he was still alive.
Of course, the American identity still developed. Melville
actually created one of the “American novels,” although it took until the
British got a hand on Moby Dick for
anyone to realize it.
(It’s also possible that Melville meant this line as
ironically as possible. If so, good for him for recognizing the validity of
American’s upper class!)
Nice post, Lauren, on a topic we haven't discussed much. The twin stories do suggest an ironic comparison of England and the USA, with the former as a place of comfort, good food (?!), leisure, books, law, conviviality, etc., and the US as a place of cold and dehumanizing machinery. I think in part it does suggest Melville's frustration with a lack of interest in fine culture in the US at the time.
ReplyDeleteLauren, what an interesting and well thought-out post! I especially liked the title of the post and how it underscores the lasting influence England had upon us in the early years following America's birth (as well as today!). I think your post is especially interesting when it comes to answering the question, "What makes a piece of literature American?" It is thus fair for us to say that statements about American-ness and American culture in such literature greatly contributed to the development of our national identity, or at the very least, suggested that we had some work to do to gain respect and legitimacy for ourselves as a nation and a culture. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us!
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