THE RISE OF SILAS LAPHAM - Page 4 of 5 - book summaries and study materials

Summary and Analysis Chapter XIV

Bromfield Corey brings up the first topic of discussion — art. “You architects,” he says to Mr. Seymour, Silas’ architect, “and the musicians are the true and only artistic creators. All the rest of us, sculptors, painters, novelists, and tailors, deal with forms that we have before us; we try […]

Summary and Analysis Chapter XIII

William Dean Howells

Mrs. Lapham worries about how she will answer the invitation, how she will dress, and, most important, how her family will find something to talk about. Silas decides he must buy his first dress coat and debates over the need for gloves. Penelope refuses to go, believing it is a […]

Summary and Analysis Chapter XII

William Dean Howells

Bromfield maintains that Tom’s visits are meaningless, but Mrs. Corey decides she must call on the Laphams; afterward she is still more repulsed by their nervousness during her call. Nevertheless, she decides they must have a dinner. Analysis The Corey women, despite their repulsion, submit themselves to the inevitability of […]

Summary and Analysis Chapter XI

William Dean Howells

Tom must admit that the Laphams do not have these “felt” qualities. When Bromfield visits Lapham’s office, Silas’ treatment of him is condescending, reducing Bromfield to the father of the boy to whom he generously gave employment. At home that evening, Silas suggests inviting the Coreys to a housewarming, and […]

Summary and Analysis Chapter X

William Dean Howells

Summary Silas is spending too much on additions to the house, and Mrs. Lapham objects. She is greatly relieved when he reveals he has loaned the remaining money he planned to spend on the house to Rogers, who wishes to invest in some business venture. Persis also objects to Silas’ […]

Summary and Analysis Chapter IX

William Dean Howells

He reports to his family that the Laphams do not read with any attention to quality, but that they are not unintelligent people. “They are very quick, and they are shrewd and sensible,” he says. “I have no doubt that some of the Sioux are so,” his father retorts. “But […]

Summary and Analysis Chapter VIII

William Dean Howells

Mrs. Corey objects more to the possibility of marriage between Tom and Irene than to Tom’s going into the Lapham enterprise. She feels she could not get along with Irene, whom she says is insipid. “There is nothing to her,” she states. “The chief consolation that we American parents have […]

Summary and Analysis Chapter VII

William Dean Howells

Analysis Lapham’s pride has nearly reached its peak, for he now has a Corey under his thumb. Also, his daughter may capture Tom as a husband, again raising their social position. Silas’ greed has not been sated; he desires more social recognition. From this peak, he must fall and be […]

Summary and Analysis Chapter VI

William Dean Howells

Despite his mother’s objections to this “common” man, Tom visits Lapham and offers to take over the selling of paint in foreign countries with his knowledge of French, German, and Spanish. He offers to sell on a commission, and Lapham decides to talk over the matter, taking Tom to his […]

Summary and Analysis Chapter V

William Dean Howells

Howells relates that Bromfield was a painter who traveled to Rome, painted, and lived off his father. He made money only painting portraits, but, since he was wealthy, “It was absurd,” Howells tells us, “for him to paint portraits for pay and ridiculous to paint them for nothing; so he […]