Sentimentalism and Secularism in Pierre

This essay argues that in its revisions of the sentimental genre, Herman Melville’s Pierre frames religious domesticity as dangerous for antebellum families. Whereas heroines of sentimental fiction model moral perfection, Pierre Glendinning teaches readers through a negative example of piety. Though Pierre appears to make a great sacrifice on behalf of another when he feigns marriage to his would-be sister Isabel Banford, his Christian belief is actually self-centered. Pierre holds his singular interpretations of biblical morality above the moral lessons of mothers, ministers, and literature, places where sentimental characters would typically seek guidance. Ultimately, Pierre’s inflexible faith and rigid moral compass destroy the novel’s domesticity. Christian belief, rather than serving as the foundation for a stable home life, tears the Glendinnings apart, and the whole family dies by the novel’s ending. However, I argue that Melville’s attention to reading practices throughout the novel helps us to reevaluate its seemingly-apocalyptic ending. Through a fresh look at the significance of Plinlimmon’s pamphlet, I locate the possibility for a new future, one which would center on secular domesticity.