Political Satire and Gender in Henry Adams's Democracy

Literary Experiments and Narrative Intentions. Henry Adams is the author of two novels, Democracy: An American Novel and Esther, both undertaken as diversions from his work on the nine-volume History of the United States during the Administrations of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, and both undertaken as self-conscious experiments. At the time of publication, Adams acknowledged neither as the work of his hand, and Democracy appeared anonymously.

Adams's idea of an experiment in fictional narrative did not mean expanding the range of experience represented in the novel or pressing the genre's aesthetic boundaries, as it would with such contemporaries as Henry James, Mark Twain (Samuel Longhorne Clemens), and Kate Chopin. Rather, he was intent on discovering whether the novel could serve as a vehicle of ideas and the stimulus for discussion within the complacent upper-class circles among which he moved. Democracy takes on the task of representing the corruption and abuse of power associated with Ulysses S. Grant's administration and challenging the readership to assess the republic's failure to live up to its stated ideals.

Evolution of Critical Focus and Themes of Gender. Over time, as the topical references to Grant-era events and personalities have faded, the novel has become most memorable for its treatment of gender issues. Influenced by Lewis Henry Morgan's Ancient Society, Adams had already shown interest in the status of women in early cultures, a theme he explored in his essay "The Primitive Rights of Women," delivered as a Lowell Institute lecture in 1876; he would return to the theme in Mont Saint Michel and Chartres. Accordingly, Democracy and Esther both feature female protagonists who are intent upon understanding and reinventing their role in society.

Anonymity, Literary Reception, and Narrative Mechanics. Democracy is what is known as a roman à clef, a novel whose characters bear such close resemblance to prominent contemporary figures that the readership is drawn into the game of matching fictional character with "real life" counterpart. The book's publication history suggests that Adams succeeded in engaging his audience in just such a game, one that naturally extended to efforts to identify the novel's author. Marian Adams, his acerbicly opinionated wife, was often credited with its authorship.

The plot of Democracy concerns the adventures of the affluent New York widow Madeleine Lee, who at age 30, having lost her husband and infant and having sought distraction in travel abroad, readings of German philosophy, and assorted genteel philanthropies, moves to Washington, D.C., to study at close range the sources and tendencies of power in the post-Civil War republic. There, as a rich and stylish woman, she rapidly assembles a salon habituated by:

· Aristocratic foreign diplomats.

· A former Confederate gentleman officer.

· A defeated Connecticut reform congressman.

· A world-weary Massachusetts historian.

· An Illinois senator.

Political Corruption and the Faustian Allegory. Master of the back-room deal, the senator begins courting Madeleine aggressively as part of his quest for presidential office. Madeleine initially regards Ratcliffe as a coarse western politician of dubious character and is able to resist his advances. But, as he succeeds in drawing her into his confidence and tantalizing her with the idea of the power she might wield through her association with his rising star, Madeleine very nearly succumbs to his marriage proposal, and it is only through the southerner John Carrington's 11th-hour confirmation of Ratcliffe's rumored corruption that Madeleine pulls back from the abyss.

The novel thus serves as a parable concerning the allure of power and the price at which power is attained. Madeleine's story is clearly a variation on the theme of Faust, always a favorite with Adams. In reaction to her nearly disastrous seduction by the allurements of power, Madeleine flees to Egypt and seeks restoration of her shattered composure in contemplation of the pyramids.

Sectional Dynamics and Critique of Democratic Governance. Democracy accomplishes various objectives. It offers a portrait of a federal government in which a weak executive branch takes marching orders from a Senate dominated by special interests: In 1880 readers would note pronounced resemblances between Senator Ratcliffe and the real-life senator James G. Blaine, as well as between the novel's weak-minded president and Grant. It presents a composite of regional types and suggests ways in which sectional identities have become antiquated.

Madeleine Lee, half-Bostonian and half-Philadelphian, has been married to a Virginia Lee, and although her husband has died and the child of their cross-regional alliance has not survived, Madeleine turns to her southern confidant Carrington for advice and support. While the Massachusetts historian and the Connecticut former congressman represent receding national influences, the corrupt but powerful senator Ratcliffe incarnates the crude but formidable West, domain of the railroad and big corporation, an ascending influence little interested in republican ideals and public ethics.

To the degree that Adams's narrative prophetically anticipates the rise of western influences unchecked by republican idealism, Democracy augurs a dystopian national future. But, the novel stops short of conclusively identifying one region as a source of the republic's virtue or corruption. And, although it proceeds on the assumption that women possess a moral sense superior to that of men, neither does it affirm that women must lead in moral reform: High on this book's agenda is a reconsideration of the role of women, traditionally the repository of civic virtue, in a postwar world in which domestic scenes no longer circumscribe the woman's sphere of direct influence.

In fact, prior to the novel's opening, Madeleine's domestic world has collapsed. In quest of a productive life as a widow, she obtrudes upon a world of male intellectual and political pursuits. The closer she is to possessing power, the more her moral vision blurs. Disabused of what an alliance with Ratcliffe would entail in the way of moral compromise, Madeleine flees as far as she can from the scene of her near-seduction and the proximity of that scene to real political power. In the closing passages there is some suggestion that she might return, but the terms of her homecoming are far from clear.

For Discussion or Writing
1.Explain how Adams identifies specific regions of the United States and links these regions to particular types. To what extent do Adams's depictions of different regions of the United States still apply today? Can you identify contemporary politicians who bear a resemblance to Ratcliffe?

2. What does Adams present in this novel as the greatest threat to American democracy? Select three central scenes that clearly demonstrate an erosion of democratic values and explain how they support your position.

3. Identify key parallels linking Madeleine Lee's story to the temptation of Faust as written about by Christopher Marlowe. Explain how Adams adapted the Faust story so that it applies to the circumstance of an American woman in the 19th century. What would you say Adams's primary aim was?