Altemose-Melville

Herman Melville (1819-1891) Life · Born Herman Melvill on August 1, 1819 to an upper class family in New York City. · Father, Allan, failed in economic endeavors · Added the ‘e’ to his name to avoid his father’s debts and had to work to support his mother and seven siblings · Took up whaling, aboard the //Acushnet//, from which he jumped ship and lived with cannibals in the South Pacific · Returned to whaling and served in the U.S. Navy. · Married Elizabeth Shaw in 1847 · Moved to Pittsfield, Massachusetts in 1850, where he met Nathaniel Hawthorne, who became his mentor and almost father figure · Most works did not receive literary merit until the 1920s, but continued to write until his death on September 28, 1891

Literature · Very ambitious with his writing, seeking to make a name for himself as a great writer, focused on the social and religious issues in his mind and society · // Typee // and //Omoo// (1844)- about life with the cannibals · // Mardi // (1849)- allegorical novel, hated for its complexity · // Redburn // (1849) and //White-Jacket// (1850) · Inspired by Nathaniel Hawthorne and Shakespeare’s “King Lear” to create the symbolic, transcendental work he is most famous for, //Moby Dick// (1851) · // Moby Dick // ’s failure at the time turned Melville to more cynical, satiric writings such as //Pierre// (1852) and //Confidence Man// (1857) · Other works- //Billy Budd// (posthumous), epic poem //Clarel// (1876), and more Literary Movement · Influenced by: o Romantic prose of Nathaniel Hawthorne o Transcendental movement in America o Lingering Calvinist ideas · Works showed the reason, logic, spirituality, and self-reliance of mankind stressed in Transcendentalism · Characters like Captain Ahab also show limits of self-reliance dictated by sin, displaying Melville’s Calvinist influences 

Works Cited: Davis, Clark. __Novels for Students__. Ed. Deborah Stanley. Gale. 1999. Litz, A. Walton and Leonard Unger, eds. “Herman Melville.” __American Writers__. Volume 2. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1979- 1998. “Moby-Dick.” __Novels for Students__. Ed. Deborah Stanley. Vol. 7. Detroit: Gale, 1999. 22 pp. __Gale Virtual Reference Library__. Gale: Pen Argyl Area High School Library. 29 April 2010 . “Transcendentalism.” def. 2. __Dictionary.com__. Unabridged (v 1.1). 2008. Random House, Inc. 29 April 2010 .