The Rise of Silas Lapham

By William Dean Howells

Subjects: Missions, Classics, Conduct of life, Boston (mass.), fiction, Domestic fiction, Ps2025 .r5 1983, Fiction, sagas, Fiction in englishamerican writers, 1861-1900 - texts, American fiction (fictional works by one author), Rich people--fiction, 813/.4, Businessmen--fiction, Massachusetts, fiction, Classic Literature, Fiction, coming of age, Socialites--fiction, Fiction, Fiction, psychological, Wealth, Families, United states, fiction, Fiction, family life, Politics and government, open_syllabus_project, Industrialists, Ballads, Children's fiction, Moral and ethical aspects, History and criticism, Fiction, historical, Rich people, Socialites, Business ethics, Fiction, historical, general, American fiction, Readers, Businessmen, FICTION, Fiction, city life, Fiction, classics, Catholic Church, Psychological fiction

Description: The Rise of Silas Lapham is a novel written by William Dean Howells in 1885 about the materialistic rise of Silas Lapham from rags to riches, and his ensuing moral susceptibility. Silas earns a fortune in the paint business, but he lacks social standards, which he tries to attain through his daughter's marriage to the aristocratic Corey family. Silas' morality does not fail him. He loses his money but makes the right moral decision when his partner proposes the unethical selling of the mills to English settlers.