Nice Work by David Lodge - Essay Example

In his Nice Work David Lodge describes the novelist as " a capitalist of the imagination " , who "invents a product which consumers didn't know theywanted until it is made available " (Lodge ,39) , describing thus the connection he finds between mass culture , whose roots are to be found in the transformations that took place in the nineteenth century ,and the development of the novel as a literary genre at the same epoch : " The novel was the first mass -produced cultural artefact ." ( Lodge , 40 ) Lodge 's analysis of the novel as a " mass -produced artefact " clearly states the intrinsic connection between artistic production and the external social , political , and scientific conditions of the epoch.One of the most important features of the nineteenth century , which also caused the advent of Realism , as a literary paradigm , is the shift of emphasis from the individual human being ,to mass culture or capiatalism . Romantic idealism and individualism are abandoned ,and make room for materialist philosophies and realism ,art and imagiantion become "capitalist " in the sense that their aspirations resemble those of capitalist economy , the novelist immitating mass production in his work , both Balzac and Zola , for example being the authors of very voluminous works , La Comdie Humaine and Les Rougon Macquart , which through the great number of characters and through the very careful and faithful representation of society as a whole , attempt to give a total and faultless view of immediate reality . This aspiration towards production and representation , rather than towards creation is perhaps the central aspect of the nineteenth century literature .This aspect influnced thus , in the first place, literary production in what regards its form - prose and the novel , most of all , became predominant , as compared to poetry . This is very well illustrated in the fate of the poet who is the central figure of Illusions Perdues , Lucien , whose temperament and destiny could very well be that of any of the Romantic geniuses and , a destiny which is also greatly responsible for the title of the novel - as it is filled with dissilusionment , a term that very well describes the epoch of realism , where the illusions of genius and artisic merit are constantly baffled by the rules of a mediocre society , where noblity , political interests , social status , all prevail upon the true qualities of the individual . Realism in France was , as Victorian literature in England , to a great extent the product of a whole range of scientific , social , political and economical transformations that took place in the nineteenth century. These transformations regard first of all industralization and the beggining of technological and scientific progress , the expansion of education , of mass media , all decisively bringing the human race itself into focus , giving it confidence in its own power . These transformations affect on the one hand , the political scene of the age , where the same orientation towards mass culture is observed , through the attempts to change the form of government from the absolute monarchy to the republic , wherethe social classes could be abolished .Thus , in France , the lapse of time between the French Revolution in 1789 until 1900 , is characterized by periodical political shifts between two alternative forms of government monarchy to republic and back to monarchy again . These political shifts were the cause of great struggles among the social classes of the time, between the nobility and the bourgeoisie , most of all .This struggle is clearly illustrated in Balzac's Illusions perdues , where Lucien Chardon or Lucien du Rubempre , the name he takes in the pursuit of his ambitious designs to attain fame and a high social status through his talent and genius as a poet. In the first part of the novel , Balzac depicts the provincial lives of the " two poets " and friends , at the same time , Lucien Chardon , the son of an apothecary , and David Schard , the owner of a printing house. Both of them are very poor and part of the bourgeoisie of the town of Angouleme , and in spite of them being very gifted intellectuals , their fates are filled with dissilusions and humility. Lucien , as opposed to his friend , has also the grace of figure that normally would have made him fit for a significant social position . Still , none of his hopes , of his " illusions " and plans are to be realised , in spite of his talent , his struggles and ambition , as his steps are constantly thwarted by a society that has very definite , preestablished signs for nobility . The scene of the provincial life is opposed to that of the capital , Paris , where the code of manners is so strict and absolutely lacking of allowances , that Balzac observes that every little detail of appearance , of conduct , every gesture , that is every little impression is crucial in society , hiding the true temperament of a person or his merits : ""Dans ce monde o les petites choses deviennent grandes, un geste, un mot, perdent un dbutant. Le principal mrite des belles manires et du ton de la haute compagnie est d'offrir un ensemble harmonieux o tout est si bien fondu que rien ne choque". ( Balzac , 120 ) Society demands perfection in appearance and manners , forgetting everything else . Everything and everyone that is " unfashionable " is cruelly rejected and ridiculed . It is a society where Darwin's biological principle " survival of the fittest " is perfectly applicable . Balzac 's phrase "le luxe des ides " is very to the point of the superficiality of the society that Lucien encounters in Paris , and where an elaborated elegance of manners and shallow witticism could replace any fault in a person , rendering her or him "distinguished " : ""Surpris par l'esprit d'-propos, la finesse avec laquelle ces hommes formulaient leurs rponses, Lucien tait tourdi par ce qu'on nomme le trait, le mot, surtout par la dsinvolture de la parole et l'aisance des manires. Le luxe qu'il avait trouv le matin dans les choses, il le retrouvait (le soir, l'Opra) dans les ides". (Balzac , 121) Thus , Lucien is confronted with obstacles impossible to surmount in his way to the glory he expects for his talent . Everything in his life seems to be made of illusions , starting with his infatuation for Madame de Bargeton which starts in Angouleme , but ceases immediately upon the two lovers arrival and escape to Paris , where they find themselves in the middle of a brilliant and polished society , that they are obliged to compare each other with the rest of the members of the company , and to admit with each other faults they had not seen before . Their attachment had been formed only out of the same desire for the outstanding ,and out of vanity , but what had made them seem outstanding in the provincial scene fades away in Paris . Thus , Balzac gives a perfect instance of the increasing phenomenon of mass culture , where the individual is effaced by a the society and its relentless rules . All the struggles of Lucien to gain a place in this society terribly fail , and he is obliged to return to Angouleme penniless and with all his dreams unfulfilled. One of the most important aspects in Balzac ' s book that relate it to the transformations taking place in nineteenth century France , an aspect that Zola 's Au bonheur des dames equally illustrates , is that of technological advancement and scientific progress , which deeply affect the society of the time : Illusions perdues opens with the story of the printing house the father of David owns , an which works with old devices and instruments , made of wood . Jerome Nicholas Sechard is a miser , and very limited man who sells the presses to his son , at the same time opposing any improvement that may be added to them , or any renewal . Thus , the rival printing house is able to profit and bring the Sechard house to ruin , by winning over all the clients of the region . The same profit from progress for the ones that adopt the changes , and the same ruin for those that oppose them is illustrated by Zola , who actually places the economical situation of commerce in the nineteenth century at the centre of his novel Au bonheur des dames . The very title of the novel is given by the name of a Parisian shop that sold clothing articles and fabrics for women. This shop is owned by Ocatve Mouret , a " man of the world " , young and seemingly without scruples , adopts the newest ideas of commerce , which point again to mass culture : to have a big shop that would sell everything , instead of the small shops that only have merchandise of one or two sorts . Like in Balzac , the shop becomes the ruin of the smaller shops , like that of Baudu , Denise's uncle , who has a smll shop called " Au Vieil Ebleuf" . Zola carefully observes and analyses the commercial life in the trade with women's fabrics at his time , giving abundant details regarding the life inside the shop . In a different manner than that of Balzac he too emphasizes the overwhelming importance of the social conventions and rules in the life of the nineteenth century people , through this centering of the novel around a shop that deals in fabrics - thus showing the extreme relevance of clothes and of the style of dressing at the time , which could very easily define a person's social position , as well as his or her nobility . But " Au bonheur des dames " bears even more significance as the symbol of luxury and desire of possession that become crucial drives for a materialist and shallow society . The fascination and extreme attraction that allures the women at each " talage " of the expensive fabrics is exploited by Octave Mouret , who makes this exploitation of the women the key of his commercial success. So , alon with the observation of commerce ,the novel also analyses the nature of the desire , especially that of the woman , thus very well portraying the society of the nineteenth century where the very strict moral rules bring to the surface very strong impulses and desires , temptations and the power of seduction . At the beginning of the novel the poor and orphan Denise is as innocent and uninitiated as Lucien in Illusions perdues , but unlike the latter , she practically metamorphoses from the shy girl to a charming woman , by the end of the novel . The shop functions as the place of her initiation , and the most important factor of it . The shop becomes a symbol for desire and temptation itself : " On eut dit que toutes les sductions des magasins aboutissaient cette tentation suprme, que c'tait l l'alcove recule de la chute , le coin de la perdition ou les plus fortes succombaient ." ( Zola , 328 ) The desire is central in the naturalist novel of Zola ,and the shining fabrics are the symbol of the powerful attraction of luxury , but also of love ,and every other impulse , because all the drives particular of the human nature seem to gather in the symbol of the shop , which symbolically contains the word " happiness" in its name . Thus , Zola centers his novel on one of the most important aspects of the nineteenth century society - the rage of buying and selling is not caused only by the economic developments of the age , but also symbolic of the nature of life itself in the nineteenth century : man is seen always in the middle of these continuous exchanges with the society he is a part of , and also with the web of productions of this society, and institutions. Indulging in these temptations is against the conventions of the nineteenth century society , and Zola emphasizes obsessively the brilliance of the world contained inside the shop , thus portraying a society that although seems to repress desire and impulse , it also cultivates them, and all of these could be summed up under the name of " happiness" . The most significant attributes of the magical shop are on the one hand , light , brilliance , and on the other , its monstruousity , given by its intricate mechanisms , by the multitude of people working inside , and by the multitude of buyers : " Il y avait comme un largissement continu , un rayonnement de le clientle , remporte aux quatre points de la cit , viadnt les magasins avec la clameur ronflante d'une cluse . Cependant , les toitures du Bonheur , les grands lettres d'or des enseignes , les bannires hisses en plein ciel , flambaient toujours au reflet de l'incendie du couchant , si colossales dans cet clairage obilque , qu'elles voquaient le monstre des rclames , le phalanstre dont les ailes , multiplies sans cesse , dvoraient les quartiers (...) L'ame pandue de Paris (...) s'endormait dans la srnit du soir ..." ( Zola , 498- 499) These attributes are symbolic of Parisian life itself , first the complicated mechanisms and the incessant movement of the life of the city , indicating the masses that make the author speak of Paris itself as having a soul , as Dickens' London , made of the souls of all its inhabitants . The permanent conscience of the crowd enveloping the city , on the one hand , and also the attributes of splendor and light , meant to encompass the very life of these crowds , on the other hand, make of the shop seem a sort of allegory . The love between Denise and Octave that grows inside the shop ,is eventually what brings them happiness , thus blending the machinations of commerce and technological progress with human feelings. The bond between the life of Paris itself and of each individual living in it , is here as evident as it is in Balzac , also , the shops seem to dispute over the women itself , thus aquiring a will of their own , and pointing to the first signs of the mass phenomenon that will increase afterwards : " C'tait la femme que les magasins se disputaient par la concurrence , la femme qu'ils prenaient au continuel pige de leur occasions , aprs l'avoir tourdie devant les talages ." ( Zola , 83 ) Thus , in both Zola and Balzac the mass culture of the nineteenth century is represented with the specific careful analysis of realism , that tries to get as close as possible to nature itself , and imitate its ways , as Zola points in his theory about art as a " screen" , more or less faithful to reality , in accordance to the literary paradigm it belongs to : " L'Ecran raliste est un simple verre de vitre , trs mince , trs clair , et qui a la prtention d'tre si parfaitement trensparent et se reproduisent ensuite dans toute leur ralit. Ainsi , point de changement dans les lignes , ni dans les couleures : une reproduction exacte , franche et naive . L'Ecran raliste nie sa propre existence. (...) Quoi qu'il dise , il existe , et des lors , il ne peut pas se venter de nous rendre le cration dans la splendide beaut de la vrit. " (Zola , 508 ) Thus , the realism demands that the story would tell itself , with as little of the interfering of its author as possible . Balzac , in Illusions perdues observes this literary tendency of his epoch , when he remarks that poetry was not much in demand , through one of the publisher that gives advice to Lucien , to take up prose instead of poetry ,if he insists on writing . ( Balzac , 191) Balzac theorizes on literature , and his placing of a character like Lucien , the Romantic poet on the scene of Parisian life makes a decisive contrast to the realism specific to the age. The book is significantly dedicated to Romantic Victor Hugo , the revolutionary sprits who is fighting for the liberty of the socially oppressed. The two novels resemble thus in the manner of their construction because of the realism and the analytical force of the observation , also in the depiction of the role and impact of industrialization and the beginning of mass production , this bringing about the shift of focus from the romantic individual to the mass of people , but also differing in the denoument of the books , and in the conclusion of the destiny of the main characters - the novel of Balzac is clearly one of " lost illusions" , of unfulfilled dreams , where all hope of happiness is baffled by a materialistic world , whereas in Zola 's book , the destiny of the main characters is crowned finally by happiness , and both the characters are reformed . Also ,both depict very large , immense tableaux of human life , one could easily say that in fact their novels both have the same main character : Paris . Society is seen in the movement of its interractions , their creation aspires to the complexity and vastity of nature itself . Their works are concerned with everything around them ,the least element of real life must not escape their eye. Their main concern is the imitation of nature , but especially in the creation of their characters. Their creation has indeed the ambition of representing the web of life , of human life in the immediate reality of the social conventions . Sometimes this dependence of the individual upon society takes unprecedented proportions , like , for instance , in the case of the very simple and obedient husband of Madame de Bargeton in Illusions Perdues , when he goes , prompted by his wife demand satisfaction from the man that had spoken against the honor of his wife , and on his way there he takes everything with his usually simpilcity , and without any alarm , except at the thought that he did not know what to say , since his wife had not properly prepared them for that . This extreme awe of the society , that even surpasses the natural fear of death ,of the rules at the core of it , and the emphasis on manners and conduct inside in society , man as a " social animal " , brings to light one of the most important traits of realism , which , in spite of its avowed inclination to follow the ways of nature , is more closely preoccupied with human existence in society , and with human destiny , rather than the general truths about life. Both Balzac and Zola breed the same aspiration towards a full representation of the picturesque society , and form their novels in the manner of large paintings ,and horizontal , simultaneous display of facts , people ,and lives , mostly unconcerned by depth of structure , or the reaching of general themes . Sources : Balzac , Honore de Illusions perdues , Le livre de poche , Paris : 1988 Lodge , David Nice Work , Penguin Books , London : 1988 Zola , Emile Au bonheur de dames , Flammarion , Paris : 1999 Read More