The Paradise of Bachelors and the Tartarus of Maids
"The Paradise of Bachelors and The Tartarus of Maids" | |
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Short story by Herman Melville | |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Genre(s) | Short story |
Publication | |
Publisher | Harper's Magazine |
Media type | |
Publication date | April 1855 |
"The Paradise of Bachelors and the Tartarus of Maids" is a short story written by American writer Herman Melville. It first appeared in the April 1855 edition of Harper's Magazine.[1] A combination of two sketches, one set in the center of London's legal industry and the other in a New England paper factory, this story can be read as an early comment on globalization.
Plot summary
In the first sketch, the London bachelors, all lawyers, scholars, or writers, enjoy a sumptuous meal in a cozy apartment near the Temple Bar. In the second sketch, the New England "maids" are young women working in a paper factory.
Composition
![An engraving of a room with book shelves.](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d4/ONL_%281887%29_1.030_-_The_Room_over_Temple_Bar%2C_1876.jpg/220px-ONL_%281887%29_1.030_-_The_Room_over_Temple_Bar%2C_1876.jpg)
![Black and white photograph of a one-storey building with one door and five windows surrounded by leafless trees.](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/73/DaltonMA_CraneCompanyMuseum_HABS.jpg/220px-DaltonMA_CraneCompanyMuseum_HABS.jpg)
Melville was inspired to write "The Paradise of Bachelors" by a trip to the Inns of Court in December 1849. "The Tartarus of Maids" was inspired by his visit to Carson's Old Red Paper Mill in Dalton, Massachusetts in January, 1851.[3]
References
- ^ "Harper's Magazine as Matchmaker: Charles Dickens and Herman Melville". Harper's Magazine. 2008-01-13. Retrieved 2013-12-12.
- ^ "Historic American Buildings Survey, Index to Photographs" (PDF). Library of Congress. May 1988. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
- ^ Johnson, Claudia Durst (2006). Labor and Workplace Issues in Literature. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-313-33286-9.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/38px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png)
- An omnibus collection of Melville's short fiction at Standard Ebooks
- "The Paradise of Bachelors"
- "The Tartarus of Maids"
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The Piazza Tales (1856) |
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Uncollected |
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Published posthumously |
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- Herman Melville Memorial Room archives
- Herman Melville bibliography
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