The Literature Book

DEPICTING REAL LIFE

idiosyncratic detective (Sergeant

Cuff), false suspects, a locked room,

and a dramatic denouement.

LITTLE WOMEN

(1868–1869), LOUISA MAY ALCOTT

Originally published in two volumes,

Little Women by American author

Alcott (1832–88) is set in New

England during the American Civil

War of 1861–65. It traces the

various activities and aspirations of

four sisters—Meg, Jo, Beth, and

Amy—as they develop into young

women. The book was an enormous

success on both sides of the

Atlantic, establishing a genre that

approached young womanhood in a

new and modern way, rejecting

traditional feminine roles. Alcott’s

characters, although sometimes

seen as sentimental, are strong-

minded women, particularly Jo, a

tomboy who challenges conformity.

THE IDIOT

(1868–1869), FYODOR DOSTOYEVSKY

Writing The Idiot—considered to

be one of the most brilliant works of

Russia’s literary “Golden Age”—

writer and philosopher Dostoyevsky

(see p.174) intended “to depict a

completely beautiful human being.”

The result was Prince Myshkin,

the protagonist and “idiot” of the

novel, a nobleman with almost

Christ-like compassion, but who

is ultimately naive. Returning from

a Swiss sanatorium, Myshkin finds

himself torn between romantic

love for Aglaya Yapanchin and

compassionate love for Nastassya

Filippovna, a kept and oppressed

woman. His goodness is tested

but ultimately there is no place for

Myshkin’s compassion and integrity

in an increasingly corrupt society.

A SENTIMENTAL

EDUCATION

(1869), GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

Set during the period of the 1848

Revolution and the ensuing Second

French Empire of Napoleon III,

A Sentimental Education by French

novelist and playwright Flaubert

(see p.160) recounts the activities

of a young and somewhat rootless

lawyer, Frédérick Moreau, and his

infatuation with an older married

woman, Madame Arnoux. Calling

on events from his own life, Flaubert

writes in a sparse, objective, and

occasionally ironic style to create

a realistic picture of bourgeois

society that existed in France at

the time, which he criticizes for its

posturing and lack of refinement.

SEVEN BROTHERS

(1870), ALEKSIS KIVI

Ten years in the writing, Seven

Brothers by Finnish writer Kivi

(1834–72) describes the boisterous

and often disastrous adventures of

seven brothers who, rejecting social

conventions, escape into the forest

to live as hunters. Combining

Romanticism, realism, and a great

deal of humor, the novel was

harshly received by critics, which

may have contributed to Kivi’s early

death. Today it is regarded as a

masterpiece and the first significant

novel to be written in the Finnish

language, breaking the dominance

of Swedish literature in Finland.

THE GAUCHO MARTÍN

FIERRO

(1872), JOSÉ HERNANDEZ

Largely social protest, The Gaucho

Martín Fierro by Argentinian poet

Hernandez (1834–86) is an epic

poem that describes the way of

life of the gauchos, cattle ranchers

whose traditional life on the grassy

plains of the pampas is threatened

by industrialization and political

manipulation. Through the poem,

Martín Fierro, a payador (gaucho

minstrel), sings of his oppressed life

and the starkness of the pampas.

Hernandez championed the cause

of the gauchos and his poem, with

its nostalgic view of a vanished life,

was a literary and popular success.

A SEASON IN HELL

(1873), ARTHUR RIMBAUD

Written by French prodigy Rimbaud

(1854–91) at the age of just 19, A

Season in Hell is a complex work

of prose and verse that reflects the

poet’s tumultuous life. Arranged in

nine sections, the poem consists

of scenes in which the narrator

examines the hells through which he

has traveled, mirroring Rimbaud’s

moral crisis and reflective state

of mind following the breakdown of

his relationship with his lover, the

199

They had both failed in

their objects—the one who

dreamed only of love, and

the other of power.

A Sentimental Education

Gustave Flaubert

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