The unnamed narrator is in many ways the opposite of Bartleby: an optimistic and stable man, the lawyer seems to be a completely devoted contributor to both society and the economy in general. Thus, it's possible Melville chose the lawyer as his narrator to more dramatically emphasize Bartleby's stagnation and listlessness. Unlike his employer, Bartleby seems completely apathetic about his work, and seems to have no faith in the occupation that he has chosen for himself. Indeed, Bartleby seems to be simply going through the motions in life and is uninterested in his work. As such, the lawyer's optimistic work ethic and contribution to the work force is, in some sense, deconstructed. Therefore, we can hypothesize that Melville chose a stable and normal lawyer as his narrator in order to call into question, through Bartleby's apathy, the robust American work ethic represented by this lawyer.
Does anybody know the etymology of the phrase "sweet dreams"? I tried googling but did not find anything satisfying. Is this a relatively new phrase of the modern world or has this been in use for some time? I think it's the latter one. Answer The OED has the interjection as "a farewell to someone going to bed" from the 20th century: 1908 Sears Roebuck Catal. 198/1 Tenor Solos..Good Bye, Sweet Dreams, Good Bye. But it goes back until at least the 19th and possibly 18th centuries. John Wolcot, writing under the pseudonym of Peter Pindar, used it in his poem "Orson and Ellen; A Legendary Tale" published in 1801: Also from 1801 in The infernal Quixote (Page 287) by Charles Lucas: In the March 1776 of The Universal Magazine was published "The Serenade. A Pastoral Tale. From the German of Gesner" , where the shepherd Daphnis watches over his beloved as she sleeps and sings: The same tale appears in 1776's as Idyl XI, " Daphnis ...
Comments
Post a Comment