Melville's Paradise / Tartarus

A detailed Summary of Melville's Paradise / Tartarus

Melville's Use of Sexual Imagery in "The Paradise of Bachelors and Tartarus of Maids"

"The Paradise of Bachelors and The Tartarus of Maids," one of Herman Melville's paired sketches, is a story that describes a visit to a temple of self-indulgent lawyers, as well as a visit to a hellish paper factory operated by "virgins." Melville uses very subtle sexual imagery at several points in the story. The imagery he uses is suggested, and is not very noticeable to a person reading the work whose not looking specifically for some sexual content. The story was, in fact, first published by Harper's New Monthly, and few people noticed the imagery Melville had hidden in his satirical sketch. "The Paradise of Bachelors" is the narrator's account of a "bachelor" London evening at a temple, where he enjoys dinner and drinks, and leaves knowing he has just seen "paradise." Melville uses little to no sexual imagery in this half of the tale. But when the same narrator voyages to the "Devil's Dungeon," in the "Tartarus" section of the story, not only is there a significant amount of sexual imagery, but horrifying imagery as well. In "The Tartarus of the Maids," Melville is satirizing the social abuse of laborers. In doing so he uses sex

ual imagery, which is most apparent in the beginning of the story, but is also present in his description of the factory later in the story.

"The Paradise of Bachelors and The Tartarus of Maids" are two separate sketches. By placing them together in one work, Melville implies that one cannot exist without the other. Although only "The Tartarus of Maids" makes use of sexual imagery, the lack of it in "The Paradise of Bachelors" seems to have a purpose. The two stories are seemingly opposites, one symbolizing heaven and then other hell. What better way to illustrate how very different the bachelors are from the maids than to purposefully not include anything of a sexual nature in one, and an abundance of subtle sexual imagery in the other? Melville's descriptions of the landscape and the people in both stories seem similar. It is not until one truly looks into this work that they realize what the author is trying to convey. In "The Paradise of Bachelors and the Tartarus of Maids," Melville is stating one thing, but painting a picture for the reader of something totally different in nature.

Upon arrival to the paper mill, the narrator meets Bach, the overseer of the factory. Bach introduces Cupid, and has him give a tour of the factory and show the narrator how the paper is made (1244). The narrator finds out that this factory solely produces blank paper, and that the girls that work there are blank, pale, compliant "virgins." The description of the actual paper making process seems similar to a sto

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Approximate Word count = 1030
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English