5.4: Melville, Capitalism, and the Limits of Sympathy
You were introduced to Melville's work before; now you will read his two most famous short stories, "Bartleby, the Scrivener" and "The Paradise of Bachelors and the Tartarus of Maids", with an eye toward the consequences of swift economic change. Melville's "Bartleby" is one of the most famous American short stories, and has increasingly been read in terms of the development of capitalism in the antebellum era. Make sure to think about the ways in which Melville uses symbolism, imagery, repetition, dialogue, and allusion in these two stories.
This essay introduces some of the interpretations of Melville's most famous short story.
Melville's diptych "The Paradise of Bachelors and the Tartarus of Maids" offers a clear critique of the division of labor (and leisure) during the period.