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| Plot Summary of Pierre, or, The Ambiguities |
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"In the early 19th century, Pierre Glendinning is a young man of luxury who plans to marry quiet, beautiful Lucy Tartan and expects to inherit vast estates in rural New York State. One day he encounters a young woman, Isabel, who claims to be his illegitimate half sister. Pierre is determined to acknowledge and care for Isabel, but realizes his mother would never countenance it, so in order to live with her he pretends to have married her, thereby alienating his mother and fiancee. Pierre and Isabel move to New York City and set up house with another woman who was born illegitimate, Delly Ulver, and Pierre attempts to make a living as a writer. The shock of losing him kills his mother, who wills all his inheritance to his cousin Glen Stanly. Stanley promptly courts Lucy, but she rejects him and comes to join the household in the city, thereby precipitating a tragic denouement. After swinging between popular adventure novels (_Typee_ and _Omoo_) and unpopular psychological and philosophical studies (_Mardi_ and _Moby Dick_), Melville next published this book, which appeared on the surface to be a crowd-pleaser but also lampooned the sentimental romances and gothic novels of the day. It was roundly thumped by reviewers, and to this day critics disagree as to whether it qualifies as a failure or a masterpiece."
David Loftus, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of Pierre, or, The Ambiguities |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Tone of book?
- depressed
Time/era of story
- 19th century
Poverty, surviving
Yes
Kind of living:
- general poverty story
Family, struggle with
Yes
Struggle with:
- Mother (or standin)
- Cousin
Is this an adult or child's book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Main Character
Gender
- Male
Profession/status:
- unemployed
Age:
- 20's-30's
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- average physique
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Male
Age:
- 20's-30's
Profession/status:
- wealthy
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- a moderate amount
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- average physique
Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings?
- 3 (some)
United States
Yes
The US:
- Northeast
City?
Yes
City:
- New York
Style
Person
- mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
Amount of dialog
- significantly more descript than dialog
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Click here for more information about this book
Herman Melville Resident Scholar Profiles
TOP SCHOLAR:
 Joanna
SCHOLARS: Penny
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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