The Rise Of Silas Lapham Analysis

William Dean Howells wrote The Rise of Silas Lapham in 1885, at the height of the Gilded Age. It was a time of great industrial expansion in the United States. For the first time, the majority of workers had jobs outside of agriculture. It saw the rise of massive companies, led by robber barons like Carnegie and Rockefeller. The economic gap in the U.S. began to increase: the richest one percent received the same total income as the bottom half of the population.
With this gap in wealth came the genteel tradition. The genteel tradition was the personification of “old money,” the closest thing to an American aristocracy. These wealthy Americans were the elite of society: partaking in high culture activities like orchestras and operas. They were well educated in the classics. It’s no mistake that Silas Latham largely takes place on Beacon Hill, the center of this genteel tradition. People in this neighborhood were known as …show more content…
This is shown at the dinner party, when Silas gets drunk and embarrasses himself in front of everybody. While both families are wealthy, the Corey’s have lived their whole lives in the customs of the elite. They know what to talk about, how to behave well mannered and formally etc. Meanwhile, the Laphams had to buy an etiquette book to know if Silas should wear gloves or not.
Shortly after the dinner party, it is revealed that Tom Corey really loves Irene’s sister, Penelope. This causes a bunch of chaos within the family. Following that, Silas begins to lose his fortune by trying to bail his old business partner out of debts, losing money on stocks, and being pushed out of the market by a new paint business. The novel ends with Silas redeeming himself by choosing the moral right thing to do, losing the rest of his fortune rather than playing part in a money making scam. The Lapham family returns to the farm on