Synopsis
Through The Eye Of The Needle is a novel written by William Dean Howells, first published in 1907. The story is set in the late 19th century and follows the life of a young woman named Marcia Gaylord, who is forced to make a difficult decision when she falls in love with a man from a different social class.Marcia is the daughter of a wealthy and respected family in a small New England town. She is expected to marry a man of equal social standing, but she falls in love with a young artist named Henry Burrage, who comes from a humble background. Marcia's family disapproves of the match and tries to break them apart. Marcia is torn between her love for Henry and her duty to her family.As the story unfolds, Marcia must navigate the complexities of social class, family expectations, and her own desires. She must also confront the harsh realities of life in the late 19th century, including poverty, illness, and social injustice.Through The Eye Of The Needle is a poignant and insightful novel that explores themes of love, duty, and social class. It is a timeless story that continues to resonate with readers today.Several of the ladies admitted that it was the greatest slavery in the world, and that it would be comparative luxury to do one's own work. But they all asked, in one form or another, what were they to do, and Mrs. Strange owned that she did not know. The facetious gentleman asked me how the ladies did in Altruria, and when I told them, as well as I could, they were, of course, very civil about it, but I could see that they all thought it impossible, or, if not impossible, then ridiculous.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.
About the Author
hrough the Eye of the Needle: A Romance is a 1907 Utopian novel written by William Dean Howells. It is the final volume in Howells's "Altrurian trilogy," following A Traveler from Altruria (1894) and Letters of an Altrurian Traveler (1904).[1] Like the second book in the trilogy, Howells casts the third and final book in the form of an epistolary novel - a form favored by some other Utopian and dystopian writers. (For examples, see: The Republic of the Future; Caesar's Column.) In the final book, Aristides Homos, Howells's Altrurian protagonist, writes a series of letters home to his friend Cyril. Homos is now located in the densely urban environment of New York City, where he confronts the contrasts between America c. 1900 and his own pastoral and agrarian Utopianism in their most extreme forms. The dramatic center of the book is the love affair between Homos and Evelith Strange, a wealthy widow of the American plutocracy. Evelith has chosen the life of a socialite because she is frustrated by the limited effects of "good works" - though her routine of idleness conflicts with her Christian values and her conscience. Evelith must decide whether to abandon her social position and her fortune to follow Homos back to Altruria. Eventually, Evelith marries Homos, and both she and her mother return with him to Altruria. Curiously, the mother-in-law finds the adjustment relatively easy, since she realizes that she has returned to the simpler life she knew in her youth. Howells gives the moral writings of Leo Tolstoy an important role in the book[2] - though not with naive acceptance. At one point, Evelith tells Homos that "Tolstoy himself doesn't destroy his money, though he wants other people to do it. His wife keeps it and supports the family." The story also includes Homos's travels abroad, and his commentaries on the societies he visits.
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