Homologies between character structure and the structure of economic activity in three nineteenth century novels.

摘要

This dissertation is a comparative analysis of the structural similarities between characters and the economic activities they participate in, in three nineteenth-century novels: Eugenie Grandet by Honore de Balzac, The Gambler by Fyodor Dostoevsky, and The Rise of Silas Lapham by William Dean Howells. The novels highlight different economic activities: accumulation and expenditure feature prominently in Balzac, gambling and speculation in Dostoevsky, and production and consumption in Howells. In Eugenie Grandet the mechanical progression of accumulation that methodically invades all spheres of social interaction and reduces them to an exclusively economic signification is mirrored in the miser-usurer Grandet's dehumanized and objectified personality. Similarly, the generous expenditure of his daughter, Eugenie, that represents human interaction in its rich complexity, is reflected in her enhanced subjectivity. In The Gambler the rational calculation of speculation is contrasted with the irrational, spontaneous and non-materialistic pursuit of freedom and authenticity in gambling. This structure is reflected in the gambler Alexei's sense of self as a non-finalized, and therefore free subjectivity which is in constant becoming. However, the freedom generated by the activity of gambling, just as the sense of self experienced as a multiplicity of options, proves to be illusory when gambling becomes addictive. And finally, The Rise of Silas Lapham unveils the self-contradictions of production and consumption respectively by presenting these activities in their excesses. Lapham's character mirrors both the excess and self-contradiction of production and consumption, the two most prominent activities in his life. In the conclusion I highlight the fact that in all three novels the corruptive force of a dominant economic activity (accumulation, speculation and consumption respectively) is undermined by forces that oppose their exclusive materialism with economic activities (expenditure, gambling and production) in which the social, religious, cultural and economic elements of human interaction harmoniously coexist.