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The Railroad, Consumerism, and Deep Time in Nineteenth-Century Literature

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The Railroad, Consumerism, and Deep Time in Nineteenth-Century Literature 1 JUNCTIONS: THE RAILROAD, CONSUMERISM, AND DEEP TIME IN NINETEENTH-CENTURY LITERATURE A dissertation presented by Laurel Ann Kornhiser to The College of Arts and Sciences In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosphy in the field of English Northeastern University Boston, Massachusetts January 2010 2 JUNCTIONS: THE RAILROAD, CONSUMERISM, AND DEEP TIME IN NINETEENTH-CENTURY LITERATURE by Laurel Ann Kornhiser ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences of Northeastern University, January 2010 3 ABSTRACT The railroad was both the icon of the Industrial Revolution and one of the most significant transformative forces of the nineteenth century. Despite this, as Herbert Sussman suggests, “With few exceptions, during the Victorian period, the machine appears in the minor works of major poets and the major works of minor poets” (2). The same can be said of prose writers. This study examines four major prose works, two written by American authors and two by British writers, in which the railroad plays more than a minor role: Walden by Henry David Thoreau, Dombey and Son by Charles Dickens, Middlemarch by George Eliot, and Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser. These works represent the railroad at different stages of development. Middlemarch (1871) is set at the moment when the railroad is poised to appear on the Midlands landscape. Walden and Dombey and Son were both written within the first two decades of the train’s appearance, a time period when the far-reaching effects of this new technology were first being registered. Dreiser set Sister Carrie (1900) in the mid 1890s, shortly before the automobile and the aircraft will overshadow the train as the dominant means of transportation. Despite this time spread, all four works engage with similar issues related to the train: the rise of consumerism, the disconnection of producers from consumers, the re-evaluation of self as consumer, as cargo, and as one of the masses, and the disconnections from origins that result from these circumstances. Concomitant with the public debut of the railroad was the publication of Charles Lyell’s Principles of Geology , which had far reaching effects on epistemologies and metaphysical beliefs. At the moment that the train was said to be annihilating time and space, Lyell’s evidence was 4 suggesting that the earth was much older than previously believed—millions rather than thousands of years old—and that the evidence showed geological processes to be slow and uniform over deep time rather than quick and catastrophic, as the Bible suggests. This study analyzes the interpenetration of these forces and the issues that arise from them within these works. The coming of the railroad and the new sense of deep time foundationally challenge notions of self as these writers show. Train rides raise new sensations within the human body, demonstrate the relativity of perspective, and transport the individual en masse in a newly mobile society, one in which identities can be changed along with venues. Drawing the focus outward, both along endless horizontal rails and toward a wide range of mass manufactured goods, eventually displayed in the Crystal Palace and the subsequent department stores to which the railroads helped give rise, the railroad symbolized the superficial track of life. Lyell’s theories challenged notions of self not only by raising the question of the significance of any one life on a time line of millions of years, but also by suggesting that there were no discernible beginnings or endings, leaving uncertain not only origins but ultimate destinations. Though it may seem these two forces ran along parallel tracks, their paths did cross: excavations for railway tracks exposed to the public the layers of the geological record. The four works of this study suggest that these tracks crossed in the minds of their writers as well. Thoreau and Eliot use the notion of deep time to assimilate or understand the long-term meaning of the railroad. Dickens uses the seemingly eruptive nature of the railroad to challenge uniformitarian theory, while Dreiser uses the railroad to symbolize the metonymic line of evolution. 5 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Every work of this type is the product of original thoughts as well of ideas spawned by others. I am deeply grateful to Arlene MacGregor, who originally helped me to brainstorm the topic of the railroad in nineteenth-century literature and started my thinking on the track of consumption. Her willingness to talk through my theories and her unfailing encouragement to keep going were key to the completion of this project. I would also like to thank Alana Barrett, whose sharp mind, keen sense of literature, and belief in me helped keep me engaged, Cynthia Nichols, who commiserated with me on time management issues and gave hope and helpful coping techniques, Donna Murphy, who helped keep my creative spirit alive, and Kathryn Mudgett, who generously shared her experiences and insights and reminded me to keep writing. I would like to thank my dissertation committee at Northeastern University for having “deep time” patience with this project as well as for their helpful advice and intellectual guidance. Laura Green and Mary Loeffelholz, thank you. I would especially like to thank my committee chair, Guy Rotella, who provided not only expedient feedback on drafts but asked important questions and urged, when necessary, “re-vision.” His support was foundational to this entire project. I would like to acknowledge a lecture delivered by Bruce Harvey at the New Bedford Whaling Museum entitled “Melville the Seeker, Science, and the World of Ruins; or Digging Toward Eternity,” which sparked my pursuit of issues of deep time in the works of this study. Elizabeth Dillon, Ph.D., of Northeastern University, you were 6 the deus ex machina, whose last minute ministrations behind the scenes allowed me to finish. Heartfelt thanks to my family, especially my sister Patti, who took me to task if I got off track, who patiently listened to stories of my stress, and who unfailingly believed in me. I would also like to thank my brother, Norm, who would simply say, “You can’t quit,” my brother Bill, who called me “professor” long before I ever got there, my sister, Pam, who remains an inspiration for her passion for deep time and for the mysterious world of ideas, to my father for his love of history, and my mother for her infinite patience, loving guidance, and passion for English. Most of all, I would like to thank my children, Derek and Cassandra, the two lights of my life, who tolerated papers and books everywhere, who heard me talk of my Ph.D. and dissertation from the time they were born, and whose encouragement and support have been profound. This project is dedicated to Richard Kornhiser. He was with me when I started my academic pursuits, and though he is not here to see the end result, he has been a constant presence in my heart—always. 7 TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract 2 Acknowledgements 5 Table of Contents 7 Introduction 9 Chapter I. The Railroad in Walden : Digging Deeper to Rise Higher 20 A. Introduction 20 B. “Sounds” in Light of “Economy” 27 C. Clothes, Commodities, and the Masses 30 D. Shelter, Fluctuating Markets, and the Division of Labor 48 E. Food, Dissipation, and Disease 58 F. The Train in Deep Time 67 Chapter II. The Railroad in Dombey and Son : Commodities, Consumerism, 82 and Catastrophe A. Introduction 82 B. Dombey: The Man of Commodities Rides the Rails 87 C. Carker: The Man and the Machine 104 D. Mr. Toodle: The Railroad Man 116 E. Staggs’s Gardens: Overturned by the Railroad 121 F. Conclusion 129 8 Chapter III. The Railroad in Middlemarch : The People, The Place, 132 and Perspective A. Introduction 132 B. Chapter 56: The Coming of the Railroad 136 C. The Railroad, Commodities, and Consumerism 158 D. Deep Time, Perspective, and Reflections on “Railway” 173 E. Conclusion 189 Chapter IV. The Railroad in Sister Carrie : Consumerism in Chicago, 192 Spectacle in New York A. Introduction 192 B. The Track to Consumerism: Drouet and Destination Chicago 200 C. Hurstwood: Spectacle’s Shadow in the City of Spectacle 214 D. The Railroad, Restlessness, and Relentlessness 232 Notes 244 Bibliography 260 9 INTRODUCTION The railroad was a prominent transformative force of the nineteenth century. In England, it signaled the end of mercantilism and gave rise to a new national cohesion. Disconnected provincial villages, with their localized politics, disparate dialects, and self- sufficient cottage industries became absorbed in the country’s growing mainstream as it finalized the shift from a feudal to a capitalist economy. The train facilitated the movement of workers as they left the countryside to labor in the new manufacturing and service industries. For a country expanding its influence and holdings around the world, the train also became part of the machinery of empire. While England debated and slowly implemented reforms as part of the rising spirit of democracy, uncertainty about class equality and anxiety about shifting class statuses was outwardly symbolized through the configurations of their first trains. The British initially favored designs based on stagecoaches: they were compartmentalized, with groups of riders isolated from each other (Schivelbusch 72-76). In the United States, the train was heralded as the means of fulfilling Manifest Destiny, and by 1869, the East and West were connected by the transcontinental railroad. The country grew and grew up with the Industrial Revolution. To many, the railroads and their industries exemplified the bold energy of the nation and signaled a new era of democracy.
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