The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today facts for kids
First edition book cover
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| Author | Mark Twain, Charles Dudley Warner |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | American Publishing Company |
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Publication date
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1873 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback) |
| Pages | 630 |
The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today is a famous novel written by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner. It was first published in 1873. The book makes fun of the greed and political corruption that was common in America after the American Civil War.
Even though it's not one of Twain's most famous books, it has been printed over 100 times. This novel is special because it's the only one Twain wrote with another author. Its title also gave a whole period of U.S. history its name. The time from the 1870s to about 1900 is now called the Gilded Age. This name quickly became known for showing off wealth, wanting too much money, and dishonesty in public life.
Contents
What the Story is About
The story follows a poor country family, the Hawkinses. They hope to get rich by selling a huge piece of land that their father, Silas "Si" Hawkins, bought. After many adventures in Tennessee, the family can't sell the land, and Si Hawkins passes away.
The rest of the Hawkins family's story focuses on their beautiful adopted daughter, Laura. In the early 1870s, she goes to Washington, D.C. She wants to become a lobbyist, which means she tries to convince lawmakers to support her ideas. With help from a senator, she joins high society and tries to get the government to buy the family's land.
Two Different Paths
Another part of the story, written by Warner, is about two young, wealthy men, Philip Sterling and Henry Brierly. They are looking for ways to make money from land. They travel to Tennessee with a group to measure land and buy it for speculation. Speculation means buying something hoping its price will go up so you can sell it for a profit.
Philip is kind and hardworking. He is in love with Ruth Bolton, who wants to be a doctor and believes in equal rights for women. Henry is a natural salesman, charming but not very deep.
Funny Moments and Characters
Mark Twain wrote the parts about the Hawkins family, which include many funny scenes. For example, there's a steamboat race that ends in a crash. Another funny part is when Laura teases a clerk in a Washington bookstore.
A very funny character throughout the book is Colonel Beriah Sellers. He is always hopeful but always broke. He's a bit like the character Micawber from another famous book. Colonel Sellers was based on James Lampton, who was Mark Twain's cousin. The idea of the land purchase plot came from Twain's own father buying land in Tennessee. Twain wrote that his family hoped to sell this land for 40 years, but it never happened.
Life in Washington, D.C.
Most of the story takes place in Washington, D.C. The book makes fun of the greed and dishonesty of the people in power. Twain also pokes fun at the new rich who try to act like they've always been wealthy. For instance, Laura meets "Mrs. Patrique Oreille," who changed her name to hide her Irish background.
The Story's End
In the end, Laura cannot convince Congress to buy the Hawkins land. She faces a big challenge when she is involved in a difficult situation, but she is found innocent with the help of a kind jury and a smart lawyer. However, after trying to start a career giving speeches, she loses her hope and passes away, regretting her past choices.
Washington Hawkins, the oldest son, had always believed he would be rich because of his father's promise. He finally gives up the family's ownership of the land because he can't afford to pay the taxes. He seems ready to take control of his life, saying, "The spell is broken, the life-long curse is ended!"
Philip, using his engineering skills, finds coal on Mr. Bolton's land. He wins Ruth Bolton's heart, and they seem set for a happy marriage. Henry and Sellers will likely continue to live by their wits, always finding ways for others to pay their bills.
Main Ideas of the Book
The main idea of the novel is that many people in society were obsessed with getting rich quickly, especially through buying and selling land. This is shown by the Hawkins family and even by Ruth's educated father, who still gets involved in risky money-making plans.
The book doesn't talk about other things often linked to the "Gilded Age." These include big factories, huge companies that control everything, or dishonest city politics.
How the Book Was Written
Charles Dudley Warner was a writer and editor who lived near Mark Twain in Hartford, Connecticut. They were good friends. According to Twain's biographer, Albert Bigelow Paine, their wives dared Twain and Warner at dinner to write a better novel than the ones they usually read.
Twain wrote the first 11 chapters, and then Warner wrote the next 12. Most of the other chapters were also written by just one of them. However, the last few chapters were written together. The whole novel was finished between February and April 1873.
When the book first came out, critics liked its humor and satire. But they didn't think the collaboration was very successful. They felt the two different stories written by each author didn't fit together well. One review in 1874 said the novel was like a poorly mixed salad dressing, where "the ingredients are capital, the use of them faulty."
Why This Book is Important
The name Gilded Age, which describes a period in American history, comes from the title of this very book. Twain and Warner got the idea for the name from William Shakespeare's play King John (1595). In the play, it says: "To gild refined gold, to paint the lily... is wasteful and ridiculous excess."
To "gild" gold means to put a thin layer of gold on top of something that is already gold. This is seen as over-the-top and wasteful. This idea perfectly describes the time Twain and Warner wrote about in their novel. Another way to understand the title is to compare it to a "Golden Age." A "Gilded Age" suggests that something only looks good on the outside, like a thin layer of gold over a cheaper metal. This gives the title a negative meaning about the time, events, and people in the novel.
