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The Rise Of Silas Lapham Analysis

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The Rise Of Silas Lapham Analysis
As Boston flourished in the 1800s as a trading center and a financial hub, the influx of wealth allowed various individuals to climb up the socioeconomic ladder. This new class of wealthy individuals often clashed with the established “old money” Brahmins living on the Southern Slope of Beacon Hill, and this conflict is exemplified in the novel The Rise of Silas Lapham, by William Dean Howells.
In the novel, the Lapham family rose up the social ladder due to having a successful mineral paint business. Their daughter Penelope, is being courted by Tom Corey, a member of a prominent family on Beacon Hill. In an interaction with his father, Tom Corey remarks to him that, “I mean that I saw it wouldn’t be quite fair to test him by our standards”
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