The stories William Wilson by Edgar Allan Poe and Bartleby, the Scrivener by Herman Melville are useful examples to discuss the difficulties of self-representation. While the narrator in Poe’s tale begs us to “let me call myself, for the present, William Wilson” the complex self-representation here is also prevalent in the heart of Melville’s story. West's Encyclopedia of American Law tells us that “courts usually discourage self-representation …even attorneys are well advised to hire another attorney.” The same problems with self-representation occur in literature. The unnamed narrator in Melville’s tale shows the complexities of self-representation through age, his relationship to Astor, anonymity, deceit and his complex values. Poe’s narrator also reveals much about himself; that his name is false, that he shares similarities to Poe and that he has a peculiar memory. Both stories are great examples of the complexities of literary self-representation – and how narrators, like lawyers, should not represent themselves.
In Melville’s tale, the narrator immediately declares that he is “a rather elderly man” (p.1483). This introduction causes the readership to conclude he is a person of authority and respect - based on the common stereotype that age leads to wisdom – but due to the complex nature of self-representation, it may also lead the readers to be sceptical on his narrative reliability; forgetfulness is another factor associated with seniority. The literal representation of the self here as elderly is clearly important. It is the first line of the story he recounts. The narrator wishes to impress the readers and act as a contrast to the “young” Bartleby whom he is yet to introduce. He wishes to appear as the complete opposit...
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...n Anthology of American Literature. 8th ed. Vol. B. Norton, 2012. P.1483-1509. Print.
ONLINE BIBLIOGRAPHY:
"Self-Representation." West's Encyclopedia of American Law, edition 2. 2008. The Gale Group. 29 Oct. 2013 http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Self-Representation
ARTICLES:
Pinsker, Sanford. "Bartleby the Scrivener": Language as Wall." College Literature 2.1 (1975): p.17-27. 29 Oct. 2013 http://www.jstor.org/stable/25111055 Accessed: 05/11/2013
Unrue, Darlene Harbour. “Edgar Allan Poe: The Romantic as Classicist.” International Journal of the Classical, vol. 1.4. Springer. 1994. P.112-119. http://www.jstor.org/stable/30221867 Accessed: 05/11/2013
Sullivan, Ruth “ William Wilson’s Double.” Studies in Romanticism, vol. 15.2. Psychoanalysis and Romanticism. Boston Univeristy. 1976. P.253-263. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25600010 Accessed: 05/11/2013
In Melville’s, “Bartleby the Scrivener,” a lawyer’s idea of relationships is tested. As a bachelor, his disconnection with people is an obstacle he has to overcome. The relationships between his coworkers and himself are simple and detached until Bartleby is introduced. The lawyer is befuddled at the unique behavior that this character displays and cannot help but take particular interest in him. When Bartleby is asked to work, he simply says, “I would prefer not to,” and when he quits working, he begins to stare at the wall (1112). This wall may symbolize the wall that the lawyer has built up in an attempt to ward off relationships, or it may simple symbolize Wall Street. When the lawyer finds out that Bartleby is l...
Herman Melville uses a first person point of view to show the narrator’s first hand fascination with his employee Bartleby, as well as Bartleby’s strange behavior and insubordination.
Through Bartleby’s flat and static character type, it is amazing how many different types of conflict he causes. From the first order to examine the law copies, to the last request to dine in the prison, Bartleby’s conflictive reply of “I would prefer not to” stays the same (Melville 150). In this way, he is a very simple character, yet he is still very hard to truly understand. Even ...
New York: A.C. Armstrong & Son., 1884. xv-xxvi. EPUB file. Sova, Dawn B. "Poe, Edgar Allan.
Herman Melville wrote some of the most widely read works in the history of literature during the late nineteenth century. He has become a writer with whom the romantic era is associated and a man whose works have become a standard by which modern literature is judged. One of his most well-known and widely studied short pieces of fiction is a story entitled, simply, Billy Budd. In this short story, Melville tells the tale of Billy Budd, a somewhat out-of-place stuttering sailor who is too innocent for his own good. This enchanting tale, while inevitably entertaining, holds beneath it many layers of interpretive depth and among these layers of interpretation, an idea that has been entertained in the literature of many other romantic writers. Melville uses a literary technique of developing two characters that are complete opposites in all aspects and contrasting them throughout the narrative, thus allowing their own personalities to adversely compliment each other. Melville also uses this tactic in another well-known short story, Bartleby the Scrivener. Much like Melville's two stories, another romantic writer, Nathaniel Hawthorne, uses this tactic in his short story, The Artist of the Beautiful when he creates two completely different characters who vie for the same woman's love. Both writers use the contrary characters to represent the different facets of the human personality. Using this idea and many others, these romantic writers, Melville and Hawthorne, created works with depth of meaning that were both interesting to read and even more intriguing to interpret.
The marriage of the masculine and the feminine into one, at times, indistinct sphere produces what Gene Laskowski calls a “masculine sentimentality” in his dissertation of the same name; curiously called, he adds, as “sentimentality is commonly associated with the tender landscape of feminine” (Laskowski 4). Laskowski calls for a broader understanding of gender in Melville’s works, which need to be “liberated” from their prescribed gender definitions (Laskowski 4). I hope to extend Laskowski’s argument in adding further evidence of “masculine sentimentality”, particularly in Moby-Dick.
Melville, Herman. "Bartleby the Scrivener." The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Nina Baym. New York: Norton & Company, 2003. 2330-2355
In Herman Melville’s work “Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall-Street”, the idea of a capitalist agenda is intentionally reinforced. This short work tells the story of a lawyer on Wall-Street and those of his employees, but he is particularly fascinated by Bartleby. Bartleby at first a hard worker who divulged tirelessly in his job as a law-copyist begins to “ prefer not” to do what is asked of him. This leads to the lawyer to grow increasingly curious about Bartleby. The idea of capitalist values in “Bartleby the Scrivener” are supported through the way the narrator, the lawyer, presents his employees to the reader, describes meeting Bartleby and Bartleby’s
The body of this argument lies in a meager psychoanalysis of Melville. I have had to take a very broad approach, look at Melville purely as a man. I have attempted to put the reader into Melville's head, where I have attempted to put myself. To better achieve this I discuss much of Melville's background, hoping to give the reader a sense of what he had experienced. I have written with confidence, but hopefully not too much, you must decide for yourselves what of mine you feel is right. It is always very hard to use psychoanalytical approaches, because, as the mind is a mystery, it is all ultimately unproved. All psychoanalytical opinion is based on event, as all psychology is based on the idea that men are shaped by experience. I speculate below, on things I cannot really know, and I do this only to achieve some rough personal connections between Melville and his Moby-Dick. It serves me, and I hope you as well.
Ingram, John Henry. Edgar Allan Poe: His Life, Letters, and Opinions. New York: AMS Press, Inc., 1965.
Thomson, Gary Richard, and Poe Edgar. The selected writings of Edgar Allan Poe. New York: Norton & Company, 2004
Melville, Herman. “Bartleby, the Scrivener.” The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 8th ed. Nina Baym and Robert S. Levine. Vol. B. New York: Norton, 2012. 1483-1509. Print.
“Edgar Allan Poe's affinity with classical values has not been properly noted by critics and other readers who have interpreted the romantic and Gothic elements in his fiction and poetry as proof of Poe's predilection for the subjective, macabre, and fantastic, as well as the transcendental. A careful examination of Poe's use of seemingly romantic materials, however, reveals that he measured the romantic stance detrimentally against the objectivity and rationality of the classical. Poe drew allusion and structure from his reading of classical literature to inform his own works with a classical worldview he sought in both life and art” (Unrue 1).
The story of Bartleby was a very interesting story open for many different interpretations. Melville does and excellent job building suspension towards different thoughts as to what caused Bartleby to become an emotionless incapable worker. Here is evidence throughout the story to reflect the kindheartedness of the narrator. After reading this work the last quote “Ah Bartleby, Ah humanity” stood out as a cry of sadness for failing to understand and further assist Bartleby. After the numerous attempts He describes himself an elder lawyer that has his own office with a total of four employees including Bartleby. The narrator takes the time to learn the qualities of each individual not just on a performance basis however, personally as well.
Quinn, Arthur Hobson. Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography. New York: D. Appleton-Century Company, 1941. Internet.