"The Paradise of Bachelors and the Tartarus of Maids" is a
short story
A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...
written by American writer
Herman Melville
Herman Melville ( born Melvill; August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance period. Among his best-known works are ''Moby-Dick'' (1851); ''Typee'' (1846), a rom ...
. It first appeared in the April 1855 edition of ''
Harper's Magazine''.
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
Melville was inspired to write "The Paradise of Bachelors" by a trip to the
Inns of Court
The Inns of Court in London are the professional associations for barristers in England and Wales. There are four Inns of Court – Gray's Inn, Lincoln's Inn, Inner Temple and Middle Temple.
All barristers must belong to one of them. They have ...
in December 1849. "The Tartarus of Maids" was inspired by his visit to
Carson's Old Red Paper Mill in
Dalton, Massachusetts
Dalton is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts. Dalton is a transition town between the urban and rural portions of Berkshire County. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 6,330 at th ...
in January, 1851.
References
External links
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"The Paradise of Bachelors""The Tartarus of Maids"
1855 short stories
Short stories by Herman Melville
Works originally published in Harper's Magazine
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