Mark Twain And Human Nature

Mark Twain once claimed that he could read human character as well as he could read the Mississippi River, and he studied his fellow humans with the same devoted attention. In both his fiction and his nonfiction, he was disposed to dramatize how the human creature acts in a given environment—and to understand why. Now one of America’s preeminent Twain scholars takes a closer look at this icon’s abiding interest in his fellow creatures. In seeking to account for how Twain might have reasonably believed the things he said he believed, Tom Quirk has interwoven the author’s inner life with his writings to produce a meditation on how Twain’s understanding of human nature evolved and deepened, and to show that this was one of the central preoccupations of his life. Quirk charts the ways in which this humorist and occasional philosopher contemplated the subject of human nature from early adulthood until the end of his life, revealing how his outlook changed over the years. His travels, his readings in history and science, his political and social commitments, and his own pragmatic testing of human nature in his writing contributed to Twain’s mature view of his kind. Quirk establishes the social and scientific contexts that clarify Twain’s thinking, and he considers not only Twain’s stated intentions about his purposes in his published works but also his ad hoc remarks about the human condition. Viewing both major and minor works through the lens of Twain’s shifting attitude, Quirk provides refreshing new perspectives on the master’s oeuvre. He offers a detailed look at the travel writings, including The Innocents Abroad and Following the Equator, and the novels, including The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and Pudd’nhead Wilson, as well as an important review of works from Twain’s last decade, including fantasies centering on man’s insignificance in Creation, works preoccupied with isolation—notably No. 44,The Mysterious Stranger and “Eve’s Diary”—and polemical writings such as What Is Man? Comprising the well-seasoned reflections of a mature scholar, this persuasive and eminently readable study comes to terms with the life-shaping ideas and attitudes of one of America’s best-loved writers. Mark Twain and Human Nature offers readers a better understanding of Twain’s intellect as it enriches our understanding of his craft and his ineluctable humor.

This broad-ranging companion brings together respected American and European critics and a number of up-and-coming scholars to provide an overview of Twain, his background, his writings, and his place in American literary history. One of the most broad-ranging volumes to appear on Mark Twain in recent years Brings together respected Twain critics and a number of younger scholars in the field to provide an overview of this central figure in American literature Places special emphasis on the ways in which Twain's works remain both relevant and important for a twenty-first century audience A concluding essay evaluates the changing landscape of Twain criticism

Mark Twain, the “Father of American Literature,” and renowned humorist, satirist, and commentator on humanity and American life, is best known for his classic, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Twain’s body of work, however, is expansive; from Adventures of Tom Sawyer and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court to the travelogue The Innocents Abroad and essays on human nature, religion, science, and literature, no aspect of life is left untouched by Twain. His portrayal of American life, ripe with the contradictions of America’s ideals and its actual practices, as well as his characters, at once fantastical and completely human, provide a window onto humanity and social life. As the third book in the Great Authors and Philosophy series, Mark Twain and Philosophy reveals deeper issues raised by Twain’s work and speaks to his continued relevance as a social commentator interrogating issues fundamental to our lives. From slavery, freedom, and human rights, to science, parapsychology, and religion, this book exposes how Twain’s body of work touches every corner of human experience.

"What Is Man?" is a short story by American writer Mark Twain, published in 1906. It is a dialogue between a Young Man and an Old Man regarding the nature of man. ... The work appears to be a genuine and earnest debate of his opinions about human nature, rather than satirical.

This great collection comprises the complete literary opus of Mark Twain, including novels, short stories, satires, travel books, essays and many other works: Novels The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Adventures of Huckleberry Finn The Gilded Age The Prince and the Pauper A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court The American Claimant Tom Sawyer Abroad Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc Pudd'nhead Wilson Tom Sawyer, Detective A Horse's Tale The Mysterious Stranger Novelettes A Double Barrelled Detective Story Those Extraordinary Twins The Recent Carnival of Crime in Connecticut The Stolen White Elephant The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg Captain Stormfield's Visit to Heaven Short Story Collections The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County and Other Sketches Mark Twain's (Burlesque) Autobiography and First Romance Sketches New and Old Merry Tales The £1,000,000 Bank Note and Other New Stories The $30,000 Bequest and Other Stories The Curious Republic of Gondour and Other Whimsical Sketches Alonzo Fitz, and Other Stories Mark Twain's Library of Humor Other Stories Essays, Satires & Articles How to Tell a Story, and Other Essays What Is Man? And Other Essays Editorial Wild Oats Letters from the Earth Concerning the Jews To the Person Sitting in Darkness To My Missionary Critics Christian Science Queen Victoria's Jubilee Essays on Paul Bourget The Czar's Soliloquy King Leopold's Soliloquy Adam's Soliloquy Essays on Copyrights Other Essays Travel Books The Innocents Abroad A Tramp Abroad Roughing It Old Times on the Mississippi Life on the Mississippi Following the Equator Some Rambling Notes of an Idle Excursion Down the Rhône The Lost Napoleon Mark Twain's Notebook The Complete Speeches The Complete Letters Autobiography Biographies Mark Twain: A Biography by Albert Bigelow Paine ... Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835-1910), better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher and lecturer.

This carefully edited collection has been designed and formatted to the highest digital standards and adjusted for readability on all devices. Contents: Novels The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Adventures of Huckleberry Finn The Gilded Age The Prince and the Pauper A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court The American Claimant Tom Sawyer Abroad Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc Pudd'nhead Wilson Tom Sawyer, Detective A Horse's Tale The Mysterious Stranger Novelettes A Double Barrelled Detective Story Those Extraordinary Twins The Recent Carnival of Crime in Connecticut The Stolen White Elephant The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg Captain Stormfield's Visit to Heaven Short Story Collections The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County and Other Sketches Mark Twain's (Burlesque) Autobiography and First Romance Sketches New and Old Merry Tales The £1,000,000 Bank Note and Other New Stories The $30,000 Bequest and Other Stories The Curious Republic of Gondour and Other Whimsical Sketches Alonzo Fitz, and Other Stories Mark Twain's Library of Humor Other Stories Essays, Satires & Articles How to Tell a Story, and Other Essays What Is Man? And Other Essays Editorial Wild Oats Letters from the Earth Concerning the Jews To the Person Sitting in Darkness To My Missionary Critics Christian Science Queen Victoria's Jubilee Essays on Paul Bourget The Czar's Soliloquy King Leopold's Soliloquy Adam's Soliloquy Essays on Copyrights Other Essays Travel Books The Innocents Abroad A Tramp Abroad Roughing It Old Times on the Mississippi Life on the Mississippi Following the Equator Some Rambling Notes of an Idle Excursion Down the Rhône The Lost Napoleon Mark Twain's Notebook The Complete Speeches The Complete Letters Autobiography Biographies... Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835-1910), better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher and lecturer.

In this comparison of Mark Twain with six of his literary contemporaries, Leland Krauth looks anew at the writer's multifaceted creativity. Twain, a highly lettered man immersed in the literary culture of his time, viewed himself as working within a community of writers. He likened himself to a guild member whose work was the crafted product of a common trade--and sometimes made with borrowed materials. Yet there have been few studies of Twain in relation to his fellow guild members. In Mark Twain & Company, Krauth examines some creative "sparks and smolderings" ignited by Twain's contact with certain writers, all of whom were published, read, and criticized on both sides of the Atlantic: the Americans Bret Harte, William Dean Howells, and Harriet Beecher Stowe and the British writers Matthew Arnold, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Rudyard Kipling. Each chapter explores the nature of Twain's personal relationship with a writer as well as the literary themes and modes they shared. Krauth looks at the sentimentality of Harte and Twain and its influence on their protest fiction; the humor and social criticism of Twain and Howells; the use of the Gothic by Twain and Stowe to explore racial issues; the role of Victorian Sage assumed by Arnold and Twain to critique civilization; the exploitation of adventure fiction by Twain and Stevenson to reveal conceptions of masculinity; and the use of the picaresque in Kipling and Twain to support or subvert imperialism. Mark Twain & Company casts new light on some of the most enduring writers in English. At the same time it refreshes the debate over the transatlantic nature of Victorianism with new insights about nineteenth-century morality, conventionality, race, corporeality, imperialism, manhood, and individual identity.

A reference guide to the great American author (1835-1910) for students and general readers. The approximately 740 entries, arranged alphabetically, are essentially a collection of articles, ranging significantly in length and covering a variety of topics pertaining to Twain's life, intellectual milieu, literary career, and achievements. Because so much of Twain's writing reflects Samuel Clemens's personal experience, particular attention is given to the interface between art and life, i.e., between imaginative reconstructions and their factual sources of inspiration. Each entry is accompanied by a selective bibliography to guide readers to sources of additional information. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR