Evil's Masquerade: A Study of Nature and American Democracp in Helman Melville's Fiction (1846-1857) A Thesis presented to the Department of English Lakehead University Thunder Bay, Ontario, Submitted in partial fulfillrnent of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts, by Raymond Leonard Champagne May, 1996- Wonal Library Bibliathèque nationale du Cana& Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographie SeMces services bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395, nie Wel&gtOn OttawaON KIAW Otcawa ON K1A ON4 Canada Canada The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive licence allowïng the exc1USNe permettant à la National Library of Canada to Bibliothèque naîionale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distri'bute or sell reproduire, prêter, distn'buer ou copies of this thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de microfiche/fiIm, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantiaI extracts fiom it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or othenvise de celle-ci ne doivent êeimprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. Canada ABSTRACT Perhaps not surprisingly. there are asmanytheories about the intended meaning of Herman Melville ' s fiction as there are critical perspectives. and this, in turn. creates a great deal of confusion for readers interested in discovering both Melville's philosophy of evil and how his novels and stories embody his beliefs. This thesis, by virtue of advocating the existence of a unifying theme in his writing. attempts to clear up some of the issues that continue to bewilder Melville scholars. t Begi~ingwith an awareness of Melville's preoccupation with evil, the thesis examines the frequency with which he focused on the apparent discrepancy between surface appearances and underlying reality; in other words, between what seems and what is, It is my contention that Melville perceived life as a grand masquerade - beautiful to behold but masking untold evil. The thesis studies both the nature of evills masquerade and the ramifications of Melville ' s philosophical outlook and social concerns. As well, it forges vital links between his well-known and more obscure fiction. Entitled Evil 's Masquerade: A Study of Nature and American Democracy in Herman Melville's Fiction (1846-18571, the thesis first examines Melville's understanding of philosophical Nature. revealing that beneath its splendor lurks a horrible evil God is rasponsible for. 1 describe Melville's conception of the masquerade th-e in bis early work and man ' s predicament in a world where evil appears bent on destruction. The second half of my thesis highlights a crucial transitioninMelvillefswriting: while retaininghis notion of Nature ' s masquerade, he alters his view concerning the role man plays in the world, %y examining in particular the baseness of the American character, Melville unearths amasquerade thatman is guilty of perpetrating, a masquerade threatening to undermine the very foundation of democracy in America. I argue that Melville gradually turned away f rom metaphysical conundrums and began writing scathing social criticism, striving to make his country aware of its dangerous masquerade of democracy. Many critics fail to accredit Melville with any interest outside the metaphysical realm, something my research proves to be a fallacy, My intention is to chart the path 1 believe Melville's mind travelled as he immersed himself in his writing. The masquerade theme lends a cohesiveness to his fiction that many have not realized. At the same time, I have tried not to compromise that quality of lubricity that characterizes Melville ' s best writing. For 1 believe each of his works is somewhat of a Loose Fish, always elusive and thus never entirely within the critic's grasp. To beguile the time Look like the time, bear welcome in your eye, Your hand, your tongue; look like the innocent flower, But be the serpent under't. from Macbetb, 1.v. 61-64. If these waters of human nature can be so readily seen through, it niay be either that they are very pure or very shallow. f rom The Confidence-Man : His Masquerade The years of war tried our devotion to the Union; the time of peace may test the sincerity of Our faith in democracy. Ralph Waldo Emerson It is with great pride that 1 dedicate this work in loving memory of my aunt, Theresa Mabel Elizabeth Cragg Gouldsborough (1945-1994). She fought ber battle with courage. 1 will always remember the way she used to sit in the shade of our old tree in the backyard, often alone with her private thoughts. She taught me to cherish laughter, time spent with family and friends. and al1 the other little things in life we take for granted. I miss her, First and foremost, 1 want to thank my mom Elaine, my dad Bill, my sister Leah, and my brother-in-law John for their unfailing support. Without their love and encouragement this thesis would not have materialized. A special thanks to my mother and sister for putting a lot of time and effort into helping me type the final draft of this paper. 1 wish to thank Professor R.D. MacDonald who first introduced me to Moby-Dfck f ive years ago . For his guidance and patience during my study of Melville at Brock University f am eternally grateful 1 would also like to take this opportunity ta express my utmost gratitude to Professor W.G. Heath, who kept my passion for Melville's writing alive during rny postgraduate years at LakeheadUniversity. Themeticulousness withwhich he reviewed this manuscript at al1 of its stages forced me to dive deeper into Melville ' s work than 1 have eve'r done before. I thank Dr . Heath both for supervising this thesis and for being the first to make me feel welcome when 1 was so many miles from home. 1 also extend my appreciation to Dr. Liman of the English staff at Lakehead University for agreeing to critique this paper even while on sabbatical. And, lastly, I thank my best friend, Karen, for believing in me even when 1 questioned my ability to write this thing. In Thunder Bay, she sat with me over many cups of coffee as we lost ourselves in the most enjoyable discussions about American literature and life in general . Karen's love for English never fails to inspire me. TABLE OF CONTENTS CONTENTS PAGES IScarBm&mz The Masquerade Theme............... -1-9 (!aqpmZ EP Nature's Masquerade ...............10-28 c4hg$bE Hm: Unmasking the American Character .-54-88 G2hpm~'RVs America8s Masquerade ............ -89-118 Tokens of a Divided -pire .....-119-126 INTRODUCTION . The Masquerade Theme . when beholding the tranquil beauty and brilliancy of the ocean's skin, one forgets the tiger heart that pants beneath it; and would not willingly remember, that this velvet paw but conceals a remorseless fang. f rom Moby-Dick, "The Gilder " Introduction: The Masquerade Theme There bas always been, and 1 suspect will continue to be, a fixation for llblacknessw in American literature. This wblacknessw is not easy to define; in fact, a great deal of its meaning, power, and aura lies in its abstruseness. It has, of course, been manif ested in dif f erent ways in dif f erent eras by different authors in the twentieth century: John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath dramatizes the circumstances of Depression-era Americans, Ernest ~emingwaycaptures a sense of the ferocity of brute nature in much of his work, and William Faulkner's prominent themes of death and suicide are evinced powerfully in such masterful works as Light in Auqust and The Sound and the Fury. No matter how disparate these portrayals of lifelsblackness may seem, there is no escaping the f act that they are al1 inherently dark. Their imagery and symbolism, in the final analysis, serve to unveil something innately tragic about life. Steinbeck, Hemingway, and Faulkner are just three of a long succession of gifted writers whose work has had the advantage of the rich tradition of nineteenth-century American fiction from which to take inspiration. One of the first American writers consciously to recognize and express this sense of blackness was Herman Melville (1819-1891), a man spurned by his American reading public largely because of the dark and complex messages behind his best fiction. In his essay, "Hawthorne and His Mos~es,'~ Melville attributes the greatness of authors - including 3 Shakespeare and Hawthorne - to their conception of what he deems the I'great power of blacknessgm(540). Melville is surely correct: this intuitive understanding of blackness would seem to be what has made al1 of the aforementioned writers great. Certainly, it is what has made Melville so renowned this century. His influence in giving American literature both direction and stimulus is evident in Faulkner's claim that if thexe was one book he wished he could have written, it would be Melville's masterpiece Moby-Dick (Blotner 550). It was out of my fascination for this theme of blackness that the topic for this thesis arose. 1 began to see an interesthg correlation between Melville% well-known preoccupation with what he saw as the discrepancy between appearance and reality and the dark truth (blackness) characterizing reality. According to this philosophy, appearances function as a masquerade, disguising the evil at work in the world. Becoming convinced of Melvillels constant use of the masquerade theme in his narratives, 1 had only to turn to the criticism of distinguished Melville scholars such as Harry Levin and James E.