Pierre (Cyclopedia of Literary Places)
At a glance:
- Author: Herman Melville
- First Published: 1852
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Philosophical
- Time of Work: Early nineteenth century
- Genres: Long fiction, Philosophical realism
- Subjects: Family or family life, New York, North America or North Americans, Northeast, U.S., United States or Americans, Suicide, Authors or writers, Nineteenth century, New York City, Brothers and sisters, Incest, Illegitimacy
- Locales: New York, NY
Places Discussed
Saddle Meadows. Name of both the New York village and the nearby ancestral manor of Pierre Glendinning’s family. Herman Melville modeled the estate on his own Arrowhead estate, near Pittsfield, Massachusetts, as well as his Uncle Herman’s home at Gansevoort in upstate New York. From the start of the novel, Pierre embodies Saddle Meadows. The grandeur of the countryside is reflected in the physical and spiritual grandeur of this cultivated youth and his heroic lineage. The novel opens with repeated assertions that Pierre is fortunate to have been born and...
[The entire page is 870 words long]
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