Other editions of book The Rise of Silas Lapham

“Let fiction cease to lie about life; let it portray men and women as they are, actuated by the motives and the passions in the measure we all know.”—William Dean HowellsThe Rise of Silas Lapham, first published in book form in 1885, was the first important novel to center on the American businessman and the first to treat its theme with a realism that was to foreshadow the work of modern writers. In his story of Silas Lapham—one of the millionaires who flourished with the expanding industrialization of the post-Civil War years—William Dean Howells probed the moral and social conflicts that confronted a self-made man who attempted to crash Boston’s old-guard, aristocratic society. Silas Lapham is a man of conscience who fully realizes his folly. But he is also an ambitious man who knowingly lets his aspirations lead him to hazard both his fortune and his family’s happiness for status in a society that can never accept him. “His perceptions were sure, his integrity was absolute,” wrote Henry Seidel Canby of William Dean Howells, whom he credited as being “responsible for giving the American novel form.”

The Rise of Silas Lapham is a realist 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.

"The Rise of Silas Lapham" is William Dean Howells 1885 novel which tells the story of its title character, who inherits his father's paint business and subsequently makes a great deal of money. Silas moves his family from rural Vermont to Boston in order to try and improve his social position. The consequences of which are both humorous and tragic. A sharp contrast is drawn between 'new' and 'old' money by William Dean Howells in this classic work, for which he is best known.

THE RISE OF SILAS LAPHAM AND OTHER NOVELS features 14 novels by American realist author William Dean Howells, including his famous rags-to-riches story, THE RISE OF SILAS LAPHAM, and his utopian masterpiece A TRAVELER FROM ALTRURIA.• A Chance Acquaintance• The Lady of the Aroostook• Dr. Breen’s Practice• A Modern Instance• Indian Summer• The Rise of Silas Lapham• April Hopes• Annie Kilburn• A Traveler from Altruria• The Landlord at Lion’s Head• Through the Eye of the Needle• Their Wedding Journey• A Hazard of New Fortunes• Their Silver Wedding JourneyWilliam Dean Howells (1837-1920) was an American popular realist novelist, editor, playwright, and critic. Best known for his novels THE RISE OF SILAS LAPHAM and A TRAVELER FROM ALTRURIA, Howells was also the long-term editor of ATLANTIC MONTHLY and friend to Mark Twain. Howells was a Christian Socialist whose realist novels were often interwoven with notions of social justice.

The Rise of Silas Lapham is about the materialistic rise of Silas Lapham from rags to riches. Silas earns a fortune in the paint business, but he lacks social standards, and morals, which he tries to attain through his daughter's marriage to the aristocratic Corey family, and is successful. Silas's morality does not fail him. He loses his money but is able to make the right moral decision when his partner proposes the unethical selling of the mills

William Dean Howells' richly humorous characterization of a self-made millionaire in Boston society provides a paradigm of American culture in the Gilded Age. After establishing a fortune in the paint business, Silas Lapham moves his family from their Vermont farm to the city of Boston, where they awkwardly attempt to break into Brahmin society. Silas, greedy for wealth as well as prestige, brings his company to the brink of bankruptcy, and the family is forced to return to Vermont, financially ruined but morally renewed. As Kermit Vanderbilt points out in his introduction, the novel focuses on important themes in the American literary tradition: the efficacy of self-help and determination, the ambiguous benefits of social and economic progress, and the continual contradiction between urban and pastoral values.

“The Rise of Silas Lapham” is William Dean Howells’ 1885 novel which tells the story of its title character, who inherits his father’s paint business and subsequently makes a great deal of money. Silas moves his family from their home in rural Vermont to Boston in order to try and improve his social position. The consequences of his ambitions for his family are both humorous and tragic. He attempts to see his younger and lovelier daughter married off to an aristocratic Boston family as a way to gain entry into the higher social strata, but his manipulations do not go as planned. Silas also gets involved in dubious business schemes that result in the loss of most of his fortune and the family is forced to move back to their country home, though Silas is able to preserve his morality even as he loses his wealth. Howells is often considered the father of American realism and he denounced the romanticism so often found in novels of his era. “The Rise of Silas Lapham” shows that Howells earned his reputation fairly in this unflinching portrayal of wealth, social hierarchy, and the vast gulf that can exist between city and country values. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper.

“The Rise of Silas Lapham” is William Dean Howells’ 1885 novel which tells the story of its title character, who inherits his father’s paint business and subsequently makes a great deal of money. Silas moves his family from their home in rural Vermont to Boston in order to try and improve his social position. The consequences of his ambitions for his family are both humorous and tragic. He attempts to see his younger and lovelier daughter married off to an aristocratic Boston family as a way to gain entry into the higher social strata, but his manipulations do not go as planned. Silas also gets involved in dubious business schemes that result in the loss of most of his fortune and the family is forced to move back to their country home, though Silas is able to preserve his morality even as he loses his wealth. Howells is often considered the father of American realism and he denounced the romanticism so often found in novels of his era. “The Rise of Silas Lapham” shows that Howells earned his reputation fairly in this unflinching portrayal of wealth, social hierarchy, and the vast gulf that can exist between city and country values. This edition includes a biographical afterword.