Comparison of Walden and More Stately Mansions
What is the purpose of living? What kind of life do we want to live in? Why do people work so hard in life? People have different views of life. Some people believe that life is a journey they embark on from the time they were born to the time they die. Some view life as a blessing given by God to experience the world. Others view life as a struggle to make a difference in society such as improving their surroundings and working to achieve equal rights. The goals people have in life depend on what they believe life is really about and their desires for the ideal life. Walden by Henry David Thoreau and “More Stately Mansions” by Eugene O’Neill are two books that explore the meaning of life with different approaches. Walden is an autobiographical account of Thoreau’s experiences and reflections of his two-year isolation from society. “More Stately Mansions” is a play depicting the life of a wealthy family and the problems that come with it. These two works have many similarities and differences, which can be compared based on the contents, styles, point of views, tones and attitudes, and the time periods in which the books were written in.
What is necessary in life? What things make people truly happy in life? Both Walden and “More Stately Mansions” pose these questions. In Walden, Thoreau answers that people only need the basic necessities such as food, shelter, clothing, and fuel to survive in life. He believes that people do not need to have luxurious materials in life because they just get in the way of living a better life as he says in Walden,
“ Most of the luxuries, and many of the so-called comforts of life, are not only not indispensable, but positive hindrance to the elevation of mankind.” (Thoreau 12)
Thoreau expresses to readers that people do not need the luxuries and comforts of life to live, in fact, these comforts and luxuries tend to hinder the progression of human civilization. Thoreau says this because people always concentrate on earning money in their daily lives that they lose sight of the meaning of life. These people would wake up early in the morning and labor until the sun comes down to earn a minimum wage that often times causes them to get frustrated. They think to themselves why are they not earning enough and why do they work harder than others to earn money. With this ponderings, people soon find life depressing and tiring. They start to live unhappy lives. Thoreau suggests that people should try to live more simple lives, which would make them happier. He took this idea and made a two-year experiment of living the simplest life. He grew his own supply of food and worked when needed. He spent most of his time wandering the woods and admiring the beauty of nature. This style of life appears very ideal; unfortunately, many people cannot live this layback and relaxed life. People face many problems and issues in today’s world such as the low economy. There is more competition in the job world, especially in the U.S., to find work and earn enough to support the workers and their families. People cannot afford to not work and just enjoy nature and their surrounding. Even though there are these problems in life, people should attempt to identify what they really need in life and try to make their life simpler by working enough to obtain their basic needs.
“More Stately Mansions” has a much different answer than Walden. O’Neill responds that love is necessary in life. In his play, two women, Sara Harford and Deborah Harford, engage in a fight to win the love of a man, Simon Harford. Sara Harford is the wife of Simon and Deborah is the mother of Simon. These two women believe that it would be the end of the world if they lost the love of Simon. They need him in their lives so much that they will sacrifice anything for him. For example, Sara Harford tells Deborah,
“ I will-for love of him-to save him. I’ll sign everything over to you. All I’ll keep is the old farm, … You know no woman could love a man more than when she gives him up to save him.” (O’Neill 188)
One can get the impression from this quote that love is the soul existence of life for Sara Harford. She will sacrifice everything to save Simon from insanity because she loves him and does not want him to get hurt. Sara feels happy in life as long as she has her husband and they are in love and happy. Deborah Harford is like Sara. She also loves Simon deeply. Because of her love for Simon, she devices a plan to break him and Sara up. The thought of having her son and his love all to herself wheels her to live. Love is necessary in life for these two women because it induces them to live even though they maybe unsatisfied with life. It provides them with strength to endure obstacles they encounter. Love also fills the emptiness of their hearts. Even though Walden and “More Stately Mansion” respond differently to the two questions, both books still attempt to provide an answer of what they think is essential and makes people truly happy in life. This makes both books similar.
Another commonality share by Walden and “More Stately Mansions” is the style they are written in. Thoreau and O’Neill write in a conversational and candid way. Thoreau writes in a way that appears as if he talks with the reader face to face. He uses spoken English in his writing when he relates stories of his experience in nature such as when he picks apples from the trees around his house. He writes,
“Occasionally I climbed and shook the trees. They grew also behind my house, and one large tree, which almost overshadowed it, was when in flower, a bouquet which scented the whole neighborhood …” (Thoreau 198)
Thoreau uses plain language in his writing, which makes it easier for the reader to understand what he is saying. Thoreau uses images from ordinary life so readers can make connections and comprehend his point when he raises an issue. Another thing that makes Thoreau’s writing conversational is that he asks questions about issues that seem to engage the reader into the subject. When he asks questions, it makes the reader form an opinion on the topic and bring him or her into what Thoreau is trying to say. “More Stately Mansion” is also conversational because characters communicate consistently with each other through dialogues. This is true because “More Stately Mansion” is a play and dialogues are the main components of it. Characters tell the whole story through the conversations they have with each other. The language is common and simple nothing really fancy. Ordinary people can understand it without much thought as what it means when a character says a phrase. The dialogues model the way people talk in real life. The simple language used by both books reminds me of the poetry of two poets, Emily Dickinson and Robert Frost. Dickinson and Frost use ordinary language in their poems to convey their themes about life for example, Dickinson’s poem “ I years have been from home” and Frost’s poem “ The Road Not Taken.” Emily Dickinson plainly states that she has been away from home and now she has returned. She hesitates to open the door because she fears what is behind it. She finally runs away without opening the door. The vocabulary used in the poem is straightforward. This also holds true for Frost’s poem as he explains he important decision of which road to take into the woods. He uses ordinary words such as “difference,” “ another,” or “diverged.” The vocabulary of Walden and “More Stately Mansion” resembles that of the poems but sometimes the reader may come across words they do not know.
Walden and “More Stately Mansions” are also candid. In Walden, Thoreau speaks freely on his ideas about the society he lives in and what he thinks is wrong or right. He does not hold back his sarcasm and irony in his criticism. For example, when he says that people are slaves of their own property. He also continues saying that men begin to dig their graves as soon as they are born and are permanently crushed beneath their burdens. He says sarcastically that men labor too much in life that they are engulfed by it. “More Stately Mansions” is candid because the characters are open and honest about their feelings and opinions. For example, Deborah calls Sara vulgar names such as “Irish slut” and “whore”. She does not hide her hatred toward Sara. She speaks her opinions about Sara directly. Sara is also frank with her view about Deborah when she calls Deborah a madwoman. These two women are true to their feelings toward each other and do not hide it from the reader. It is plain in the open that they abhor each other.
Both books also convey a sense of humor. Thoreau hides his sense of humor in his puns, epigrams, and wry jokes throughout Walden. For instances, at one point in the book he says, “ We meet at meals three times a day, and give each other a mew taste of that old musty cheese that we are.” His humor is not out in the open, so readers often miss it. “When Thoreau tries to be humorous he often adapts a pose of mock-seriousness making it difficult to detect his humor.” (Cliff Notes) “More Stately Mansions” also has humor in it. The humor is conveyed in the dialogue for example when Simon and Deborah talk about another character named John Harford. Deborah told Simon that she asked John to come to her garden once and the reaction John had was of an astound man who was so surprised as if a nun had asked him to her bedroom. That part of the dialogue was funny despite the fact that the whole book is filled with jealousy, hatred, and love. The humor helps make the play and the Thoreau’s book become less serious to read and more fun.
Despite these many similarities between these two books, there are also differences. One major difference is the format the authors use. Thoreau writes his book in an autobiographical or journal format. O’Neill uses the format of a play. Another difference between the two is the point of view they are written from. Walden is written from the author’s own point of view. Thoreau gives his own thoughts about issues in society and writes of his own experience living in society and in nature. He would include his feelings about things and record observations such as the squirrels he sees or the pond. He uses “I” in his book very often so readers can tell that he writes about his own encounters with nature and society and not someone else’s. “More Stately Mansion” is written from each character’s own point of view. For example,
“Ah, I’m a fool to waste a thought on her-Even the part of him that belongs to the Company will be mine now- all of him- and my children, too, will be all mine! -This is my home…” (O’Neill 118)
This quote was from Sara’s own point of view about Deborah. We can see through Sara’s eyes that she is very possessive of her husband and her children. She will not give any thing up to Deborah. O’Neill writes the play from the different viewpoints of characters.
The two authors also approach the subjects differently and use different tones. Eugene O’Neill makes direct interaction between characters to express his view such as relationships between in-laws, husband and wife, and mother to son. The tone appears to be loving, bitter, and envious. Thoreau uses natural surroundings and ideas pertaining to society to prove his point. The tone in his writing is very serious, ironic, and sarcastic.
Thoreau and O’Neill lived through different time periods, which explains the different elements they use in their books. Thoreau lived during a religious, literary, and philosophical movement called the Transcendental Movement. People during this time believed in an idealistic system of thought. They based their belief on the unity of all creation, goodness of mankind, supremacy of insight, and nature. Thoreau puts many of these ideas into his book making Walden one of the most studied literatures of this period. O’Neill was part of the American Drama which embraced the 1940’s to the 1980’s. Plays from this time period worked to address contemporary issues in society. Plays featured real people in real situations of life. Characters and plots were treated realistically. “More Stately Mansion” fell into this category. It reflected one type of family life present during that time realistically. The elements and contents in Walden and “More Stately Mansions” give a contrast of the two periods. Thoreau includes nature and spirituality in his book but lacked the romance in “More Stately Mansion.” “More Stately Mansion” contains more affection between characters and emotion. It does not contain themes of nature and spirituality. Readers can tell that the Transcendental Movement and the era of American Drama were concern about different things, which Walden and “More Stately Mansion” revealed to readers. Despite the differences, both books tried to explain what was important during those times.
Walden and “More Stately Mansion” are books from different time periods yet they share some commonalities as well as differences. Both attempt to explain a concept in life that many people have wonder about but with different approaches. Thoreau was more idealistic in his thought while O’Neill more realistic. Thoreau revealed his intentions through nature, society, and spirituality. O’Neill expresses his thoughts through emotions and romance. Nevertheless, each is unique and powerful in its own way. Both brought new elements to American literature and gained admiration from readers.
Bibliography
Lathem, Edward Connery. “ The Road Not Taken.” The Poetry of Robert Frost. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc. New York, 1969.
Milch, Robert J. Walden [Cliff Notes]. Lincoln, Nebraska: Cliff’s Note Incorporated, 1981.
O’Neill, Eugene. “More Stately Mansions: A New Play.” New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, 1964.
Reuben, Paul P. "Chapter 8: American Drama - An Introduction." PAL: Perspectives in American Literature- A Research and Reference Guide. June 24, 2003. 9 September 2004
http://www.csustan.edu/english/reuben/pal/chap8/8intro.html
Siegenthaler, Peter. Emily Dickinson: Collected Poems. Running Press Book Publishers. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: 1991.
Thoreau, Henry David. Walden. New York: Marboro Books Corp, 1992.
“ Transcendentalism.” American Eras. 8 vols., Gale Research, 1997-1998. Reproduced in Student Resource Center. Detroit: Gale, 2004. <http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/SRC>
