marks a significant change in the fiction of William Dean Howells. He described the book to his friend Henry James as “an example of work in a new way—the performance of a man who won’t and can’t keep on doing what’s been done already” (Nettels, 153). Howells’ theme of mankind’s unity and the responsibility of individuals to each other was influenced by several works of Leo Tolstoy (such as
The Cossacks), which he had been recently reading. Tolstoy’s advocacy of placing others’ interest before one’s own seemed to open up new opportunities for what Howells wanted to express in his own books. He described the discovery as being “somewhat comparable to the old-fashioned religious experience of people being…
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Citation: Loges, Max Lester. "The Minister's Charge". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 03 February 2016 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=176, accessed 25 November 2024.]
