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FOR LOVE OR MONEY: COURTSHIP AND CLASS CONFLICT IN HOWELLS' THE RISE OF SILAS LAPHAM Hsin-Ying Li National Taiwan University By arranging a marriage between Tom and Penelope in The Rise of Silas Lapham, William Dean Howells clearly meant to compensate the title character for the moral sacrifice that defeats his business and social ambitions, with hopes, possibly, of resolving otherwise irreconcilable class conflicts with romantic love. Laying out plans for the love story, he put down a note: "The young trees growing out of the fallen logs in the forest—new life out ofthe old. Apply to Lapham's fall."1 However, earlier critics, such as Oscar Firkins and Harry Hartwick, regard the love plot as irrelevant to the main story. In defense, Donald Pizer and Everett Carter connect Silas' business practices and the love triangle by virtue of their similar moral lessons, while G. Thomas Tanselle demonstrates how Silas' rise and fall parallel and interweave structurally with the younger generation's romance; but only Elizabeth Stevens Prioleau tries to tie the whole book together thematically through a reading of what she calls "the sexual subplot" ofthe novel.2 In fact, Howells' note suggests reading the marriage plot as a comment on the major theme— the Vermont businessman's abortive attempts at urban assimilation. Irene's infatuation with Tom Corey mirrors her father's flirtation with Boston's polite society, whereas Penelope's conditional integration puts his social disappointment into a broader cultural perspective. The comparisons highlight the romantic elements in material and vainglorious pursuits, on the one hand, while bringing out the economic and social undertones ofcourtship and marriage, on the other. The tensions ofthe two plots, furthermore, both come from cultural conflicts, which take the form ofopposing values, pride, prejudices, and tastes, originating not only in the economic class structure but in the differences between urban and rural lifestyles. In the fashion of comedy of manners, Howells makes fun of the Laphams' provinciality and undermines the Coreys' formalism. However, with a touch ofirony typical of the novelist, Silas' moral rise and Corey's practical snobbery also challenge the sanctity ofpropriety, while furtherproblematizing die definitions and bounds of social class. It is the novelist's confidence in a universal moral ideal, regardless ofregion or class, that finally enables 102Hsin-Ying Li the marriage to take place, although the alliance endorses not so much a moral legacy as a cultural continuation. For all his sympathies, Howells concludes that lifestyle is essential to civilization, so tiiat social class, as defender ofits lifestyle, needs to evaluate foreign elements. As a result of this justified discrimination, the ethically praiseworthy father must rely on the culturally versatile Penelope to fulfil his social aspirations. Virtue becomes its own and only reward for Silas Lapham, therefore, even ifromantic love succeeds to give die Bostonians a moral lesson in class relations. Like love at first sight, Silas takes an instant liking for Tom and his father, despite his earlier misgivings about their social position. Ironically , his initial prejudice against old money makes him more susceptible to its charms than his unbiased wife. The very idea of a leisure class irritates the self-made man, who disapproves, as a matter of principle , what he regards as parasitic idleness, and loathes, with private dignity, the possibility that it might not respect his livelihood. Tom's pursuit ofindependence and his interest in Lapham's mineral paint tíierefore endears the young man to Silas. The discovery mat Bromfield Corey "[doesjn't seem to be dressed very much, and act[s] just like anybody,"3 in addition to his polite inquiries about Lapham's business, also softens Silas' attitude toward the old gentleman. Silas falls in love, however, not so much with the persons of the Coreys as with their social status. He takes Tom into the business because of who he is as much as, if not more than, what he is. Although Silas constantly praises Tom for having the making ofa successful businessman inhim, he can only prove his pointby referring to Tom's "good, fair and square, honest eye[s]" (p. 58). The elder Coreys see through Silas when they suspect that the nouveau riche employs...

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