트웨인과 워너의 『도금 시대』 다시보기: 필립 스털링을 중심으로

초록

This paper aims to illuminate a frequently overlooked aspect of Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner’s The Gilded Age. While both authors collaborated on nearly all aspects of the novel, it is widely acknowledged that Twain primarily authored the portion featuring Colonel Sellers and Laura Hawkins, while Warner was responsible for the story-line centered around Philip Sterling and Ruth Bolton. Since the novel’s publication, critical attention has disproportionately focused on Twain’s contribution, leaving Warner’s section largely ignored. This lopsided approach to the novel, the paper contends, has hindered critics from fully appreciating the narrative’s overall structure. As a follow-up to a previously published article, which argues that Colonel Sellers, one of the story’s two central characters, is portrayed as a paradigm of an unscrupulous businessman, this paper shifts its focus to Philip Sterling, the other pivotal figure. Philip exhibits several virtues reminiscent of Horatio Alger-style heroes, especially characters like Dick in Alger’s initial and second stories. These virtues encompass hard work, perseverance, courage, moral integrity, intelligence, a thirst for knowledge, and a stroke of luck. Philip’s stark contrast with characters like Sellers, Harry, Bigler, and Small becomes evident. Considering that Alger-style heroes are not only depicted as exemplary citizens but also as successful businessmen, it is plausible to interpret Philip as a positive portrayal of a businessman. The deliberate dichotomy created by the authors between morally upright and morally deficient businessmen must be viewed as their commentary on the period they inhabited. Beyond all other forms of corruption, they may have believed that the corruption within the business world during the mid-19th century, persisting until the end of the century, was the primary reason they coined their era as “the Gilded Age.”

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