A Modern Instance

Howells, William Dean, 1837-1920Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

4.0

Word count: 856K words
Chapters: 86

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.A Modern Instance by William Dean HowellsAuthor: Howells, William Dean, 1837-1920,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Jun 1, 2005

Editor's review

A Modern Instance is a novel in which Howells explores marriage and social ethics, and it is often regarded as an important work in his realist oeuvre. The story revolves around a couple's marital choice and its breakdown, examining private feelings within a network of public opinion, professional pressure, and moral judgment. Howells's narration is restrained, with little dramatic melodrama, and focuses more on the credibility of his characters' circumstances and on everyday detail, which makes the novel read like a record of social observation. For readers studying American literary realism, it is a suitable sample for understanding the shift in the conception of the novel at the end of the nineteenth century; for general readers, it offers an old mirror for examining marital commitment and personal freedom. The language is English, and the narrative pace is rather slow, requiring patience. As you read, pay attention to how the author uses an observer-like narration to create moral tension, and to the social conditions behind the characters' choices.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers studying American literary realism and the late-nineteenth-century novel
General readers interested in fiction about marriage and family ethics
Literature enthusiasts who want to understand Howells's style and narrative techniques
Readers with English reading ability who are willing to read a long novel slowly

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer strong plots and fast-paced stories
Readers with little experience reading English who need a Chinese translation
Those expecting a romantic-comedy ending

Reading tips

First learn about the late-nineteenth-century American public discourse on marriage and divorce, then enter the story.
Pay attention to the narrator's observer perspective and note the external pressures at each of the characters' major choices.
After finishing the first half, pause and predict where the characters are heading, then check your judgment against the later text.
Read it alongside other realist novels of the same period to appreciate Howells's restrained style.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

What is this book mainly about?

The novel revolves around the formation and breakdown of a marriage, depicting the characters' choices under the pressures of emotion, public opinion, and society. Howells uses a realist technique to present the conflict between private life and social norms, focusing not on spectacular plot but on the credibility of the characters' circumstances and on moral complexity.

Can I read it without a Chinese translation?

This is a public-domain English e-book, and the text is in English. Readers with some English reading ability can read it directly; if it is difficult, you can first find a Chinese introduction to learn the outline of the story and then try the original, or use a dictionary and auxiliary tools to work through it chapter by chapter.

Why does it read rather slowly?

Howells deliberately adopts a restrained realist narration, valuing everyday detail and the gradual changes in his characters' psychology rather than dense dramatic conflict. This approach requires readers to slow down and pay attention to the implications in dialogue and scenes; with patience, you will better appreciate its moral tension.

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About the author

Howells, William Dean, 1837-1920 Author

William Dean Howells (1837–1920) was an American author and literary editor, with 107 works held in the collection. His writing spans novels, travel books, memoirs, and literary essays, and his representative works include My Mark Twain, Indian Summer, A Boy's Town, A Modern Instance, and A Hazard of New Fortunes. Howells drew on close observation of everyday life, writing in a plain style with gentle irony and attending to moral questions and human situations amid social change; his travel book Venetian Life and his memoir Literary Friends and Acquaintance record his journeys and personal recollections of American literary figures. Public information is limited, so biographical details are not elaborated here; readers may turn to the works above to learn about his subjects and style.