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ENOUGH OF BOTH WORLDS: THE NOVELS OF E. P. ROE Ann Harrold-Doering A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate School of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY March 1974 Approved by Doctoral Committee BOWLING GREEN STATE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY © 1974 ANN HARROLD-DOERING ALL RIGHTS RESERVED IT ABSTRACT This study of the novels of Edward Payson Roe, which were popular between 1872 and 1914, was based on the premise that the popular novel serves as a "mirror of life." It was found that Roe used a form ula, "Enough of Both Worlds," to reflect and mould both the readers’ spiritual and temporal lives. Analysis of the elements of this formula —the Situations, the Characters, and the Messages—provided insights into the attitudes, values, and critical concerns of the popular audience. Roe, a Presbyterian minister who left the pulpit to extend his ministry to a wider sphere through what he called "society sermons," was a popular if not an artistic success. The first and second chapters of this study surveyed his contemporary reputation, his life, and placed him into the context of his time. The experiences of Roe's life informed his novelistic ministry: man must have nurture enough for success in his practical as well as his religious life. The third, fourth, and fifth chapters analyzed the elements of the formula. The Situations provided plot, instruction, and interest to Roe’s readers. The Characters were stereotypes which provided models and lessons and, at the same time, represented the ideals and aspira tions of the democratic Christian nobility of American society. The Messages served to reveal the audience's need for faith, reassurance, and practical aid in their lives. Roe's novels provided a conservative basis of affirmative religion, practical instruction, and information which his readers used as a bulwark against the problems of their era. The sixth chapter showed the similarities in Roe's relation to his audience to that of later novelists. Representative works of C. M. Sheldon and H. B. Wright along with six modern novels were analyzed to compare and contrast Roe's era and the present. Vast differences were discovered between the worlds reflected in the "mirror of life." Although the bases for the popular formula have changed with different audiences, this study showed that the elements have remained stable. Thus, the method of analysis developed in this study of E. P. Roe provides a useful tool for future students of the popular novel. Ill CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION ....................................................... 1 CHAPTER I. THE CONTEMPORARY REPUTATION OF E. P. ROE: THE 1870’S AND 1880’S ....................... ..... 8 II. THE LIFE AND MINISTRY OF E. P. ROE: "ENOUGH OF BOTH WORLDS"................................ 34 III. ROE’S BEST-SELLING FORMULA: THE SITUATIONS ............... 69 IV. ROE’S BEST-SELLING FORMULA: THE CHARACTERS .......... 96 V. ROE’S BEST-SELLING FORMULA: THE MESSAGE ................. 131 VI. CHANGING REFLECTIONS IN THE "MIRROR OF LIFE"...............159 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................ 184 APPENDIX............................................................. 205 INTRODUCTION The novels of Edward Payson Roe, the subject of this study, were published in large editions at regular intervals from 1872 until 1914. Estimates of the total number of his readers show four million to be a conservative probability. His best-known novel, Barriers Burned Away, was adapted for both the stage and the screen. Although carefully preserved copies of Roe’s novels may still be obtained from antique dealers, the public libraries no longer have the name of E. P. Roe in their catalogues. Roe's extraordinary popularity seems to have been limited to the period prior to the First World War, although sales were recorded into the 1920’s. This pattern is typical for a popular novel, according to James D. Hart, who says there is a "cultural lag" which would allow the expectation that an audience for such books may exist long after the last publication date.1 Such popularity entitles Roe to an important position in scholarly consideration of the popular culture of America. The values of the much-read novel for scholarly analysis are primarily its histor ical and cultural implications. "Popular art," according to Russel Nye, "confirms the experience of the majority . [and] has been an unusually sensitive and accurate reflector of the society for which it is produced. The popular artist corroborates (occasionally with great skill and intensity) values and attitudes already familiar to his audience; his aim is less to provide a new experience than to validate an older one."2 1 2 Working directly from this assumption, that the values and attitudes of a society can be determined through the analysis of popular art, this study is intended to discover this validated know ledge in the works of E. P. Roe and to express its implications for modern students of American society. Methods for making this kind of discovery in the popular novel are not unlike the traditional methods of literary analysis. Little attention need be given to evaluation of artistic merit, although the popular novel mayor may not be an artistic success, because the only evaluation criterion of any impor tance is that of the novel’s immense popularity. Once the popularity is established, emphasis must be placed upon analysis of the novel’s structure in order to determine the ways in which the separate parts— character, setting, and theme—combine to form the whole. This is accomplished as in traditional kinds of critical analysis, by going directly to the novel or group of novels. Patterns are then observed and categorized which serve to classify the total information of that body of work. The popular novel usually seems to be written according to a formula in which attitudes and values change as the society which it reflects changes. The elements of the popular formula seem fairly stable, however. The main focus of the study is upon the elements of Roe’s successful formula, "Enough of Both Worlds." A secondary and preliminary focus, deemed necessary because of the paucity of informa tion available to the modern audience, is upon Roe's position among his contemporaries and upon biographical data pertinent to the novels. The first chapter surveys Roe’s contemporary reputation. It 3 clearly establishes Roe as a popular success, possibly as the most popular novelist of his time. Although there was no doubt of that popularity, the critics of the 1870’s divided rather sharply upon the point of Roe’s artistic success. By the 1880’s, it was clear that Roe was no longer considered a major literary artist, even by his most sympathetic critics. During this period, the rise of Critical Realism as a standard for the interpretation of literary quality served to contradict the less exacting judgment of the popular audience. Roe’s novels were, in fact, the antithesis of the kind of artistic excellence favored by this critical movement, whose major writers were Henry James, Mark Twain, and William Dean Howells. James was never a popular success. Twain, who was immensely popular, was appreciated chiefly for his use of humor, a genre which Roe never attempted. It is Howells, the chief promulgator and most respected critic of the movement, whose work is most useful in the discussion of Roe’s relation to his contem poraries. Because Howells’ domestic novels of the 70’s and 80’s shared, in lesser degree, the popularity of Roe’s, a consideration of similari ties and differences in their novels shows that, although differing widely in literary excellence, both novelists mirrored the values, attitudes, and concerns of their society. Other popular writers of the period are also briefly considered to emphasize similarities in audience appeal. The second chapter presents Roe’s biography as it is pertinent to his writing. Until very recently, the reputation of the author was the key to his success with the popular audience. Roe’s novels were 4 planned to be "society sermons," to minister to the spiritual and temporal needs of his audience. Thus, the experiences of Roe’s life are important for two reasons: One, his experiences show him as the good man he needed to be to gain the confidence of his audience. Two, his commentary on these experiences showed the ideals and attitudes which are later apparent in his novels. The biographical data and the analysis of Roe’s purposes as a novelist lead to a preliminary explana tion of the formula, "Enough of Both Worlds." The third chapter discusses the first of the three elements of the formula—The Situations. Roe used spectacular current events such as the Chicago Fire, the Charleston earthquake, a Yellow Fever epidemic; he also used commonplace events such as runaway horses, auctions, and donation parties. In every instance, the situation provided the occasion for Roe to give the advice necessary to both the spiritual and temporal welfare of his audience. Roe's death-scenes, a staple situa tion in the religious novel, are typical of this. Roe’s readers enjoyed generous glimpses of the future world as interpreted by the dying character. In addition, they received ample instruction about the demeanor proper to the bereaved. The fourth chapter considers The Characters—the second element of the formula. Portrayals of True Knights and True Ladies exist side- by-side with Dickensian "Grotesques," ethnic stereotypes, Belles, and Bon Vivants. Roe’s emphasis showed his recommendation of the idealized characters as models for his audience; thus, the implication is that Roe’s preference mirrored the ideals of his audience as well as showed 5 his intention to reinforce these ideals in order to reform the actions of his audience. In the fifth chapter, the third element in the formula—The Messages—is discussed.

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