The moralism and determinism of the no-choice plot goes directly back to the Calvinist ethos, in my opinion--one cannot escape their eventual fate because predestination has locked one into the inexorable pathway that leads to either salvation or destruction.
The timing of your essay is interesting, because I've just finished reading Louis Bromfield's POSSESSION. There are a lot of similarities between POSSESSION and Willa Cather's FLIGHT OF THE LARK, in that they both involve female musicians who turn down the traditional female role of their era (late 19th/early 20th century) to follow the dream of their talent. But Ellen Tolliver is one of the strongest female characters of her era, in that she follows her dream even to the point of rejecting the man of her dreams when their marriage turns out bad, and quite firmly telling him that their child is hers, and that she will not turn him over to his father's family at all.
Note: for anyone picking up Bromfield, be aware that there's quite a bit of casual anti-Semiticism in the use of stereotypical descriptions, along with other ethnicities and a subplot involving a negatively portrayed and veiled gay crush. It's jarring, and unfortunate given that otherwise Bromfield is quite progressive in writing his powerful, rich women. They have children out of wedlock or after separating from their husband, but that doesn't destroy their lives.
This is super informative and super relative to my current work. Thrilled that Rob shared it today. Gonna give it a close read when I get time. Thank you!
A nice little synchronicity: Early drafts of the first 3 sections of a story about messy rich people are on my Substack.
I don't want to give too much away, but Kurt Vonnegut wrote something close to "Rich people are just poor people with money" in Bluebeard.
Love this. Have thought about this before, particularly with regard to powerful protagonists on prestige programs--Tony Soprano, Don Draper, Logan Roy. These people are just inherently more interesting than a nobody working in a retail store. For the reasons you mentioned (they can do more things, and more interesting things) and also just human nature: we like people who are like us or ... who are like who we wish we could be. We all wish to be powerful.
Excellent piece!
The moralism and determinism of the no-choice plot goes directly back to the Calvinist ethos, in my opinion--one cannot escape their eventual fate because predestination has locked one into the inexorable pathway that leads to either salvation or destruction.
The timing of your essay is interesting, because I've just finished reading Louis Bromfield's POSSESSION. There are a lot of similarities between POSSESSION and Willa Cather's FLIGHT OF THE LARK, in that they both involve female musicians who turn down the traditional female role of their era (late 19th/early 20th century) to follow the dream of their talent. But Ellen Tolliver is one of the strongest female characters of her era, in that she follows her dream even to the point of rejecting the man of her dreams when their marriage turns out bad, and quite firmly telling him that their child is hers, and that she will not turn him over to his father's family at all.
Note: for anyone picking up Bromfield, be aware that there's quite a bit of casual anti-Semiticism in the use of stereotypical descriptions, along with other ethnicities and a subplot involving a negatively portrayed and veiled gay crush. It's jarring, and unfortunate given that otherwise Bromfield is quite progressive in writing his powerful, rich women. They have children out of wedlock or after separating from their husband, but that doesn't destroy their lives.
This is super informative and super relative to my current work. Thrilled that Rob shared it today. Gonna give it a close read when I get time. Thank you!
A nice little synchronicity: Early drafts of the first 3 sections of a story about messy rich people are on my Substack.
I don't want to give too much away, but Kurt Vonnegut wrote something close to "Rich people are just poor people with money" in Bluebeard.
Love this. Have thought about this before, particularly with regard to powerful protagonists on prestige programs--Tony Soprano, Don Draper, Logan Roy. These people are just inherently more interesting than a nobody working in a retail store. For the reasons you mentioned (they can do more things, and more interesting things) and also just human nature: we like people who are like us or ... who are like who we wish we could be. We all wish to be powerful.
Belonging to the side of haters of "messy, rich people" plot, I also don't want Ted Lasso because I also dislike "rabidly optimistic hero" plots.