A MODERN INSTANCE (American Classics Series)
A Realist Portrait of Marriage, Divorce, Ambition, and Moral Disintegration in Gilded Age AmericaBy William Dean Howells
Length16h 55m
About this audiobook
Published in 1882, A Modern Instance is a pioneering work of American realism that examines the disintegration of a marriage within a rapidly changing, post-Civil War society. Through the troubled relationship of Marcia Hubbard and Bartley Hubbard, and the surrounding perspectives of figures such as Basil March, William Dean Howells explores divorce, journalism, gender expectations, social mobility, and the moral consequences of self-deception. Its restrained prose, psychologically attentive characterization, and refusal of melodramatic resolution place it in deliberate opposition to the romantic and sentimental conventions dominant in nineteenth-century fiction. The novel's "modern" quality lies not merely in its subject matter, but in its sustained interest in ordinary motives and social pressures. Howells (1837–1920), often called the dean of American letters, was a novelist, critic, editor, and influential advocate of literary realism. His work at The Atlantic Monthly brought him into the center of American literary culture, while his engagement with European realist writers and his observations of American provincial and urban life shaped his artistic program. His commitment to representing experience honestly informs the novel's balanced treatment of its characters, neither reducing them to villains nor excusing their failures. A Modern Instance is especially recommended to readers interested in the origins of American realism, the history of marriage and divorce, and fiction that joins social criticism to nuanced psychological portraiture. It remains a rewarding, intellectually serious study of how private choices are formed by public expectations.
Audiobook details
Rating★★★★ 3.8 (1.1K)
Includes LibraryThing, Goodreads, StoryGraph, Amazon
GenreGeneral Fiction, Literary Classics
Length16 hrs 55 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateJan 2, 2016
LanguageEnglish
The Pumpkin Glory & Other Christmas StoriesWilliam Dean Howells3h 2m$1.99 · $0.00
A Pair of Patient LoversWilliam Dean Howells8h 28m3.2 (35)$1.99 · $0.00
AN OPEN-EYED CONSPIRACYWilliam Dean Howells4h 16m$1.99 · $0.00
The Flight of Pony Baker (Illustrated Edition)William Dean Howells5h 45m$1.99 · $0.00
The Complete Travel Books of W.D. Howells (Illustrated Edition)William Dean Howells66h 39m$1.99 · $0.00
A Pair of Patient Lovers (Unabridged)William Dean Howells8h 29m$1.99 · $0.00
A Chance Acquaintance (Unabridged)William Dean Howells6h 43m$1.99 · $0.00
The Leatherwood God (Historical Novel)William Dean Howells5h 53m3.6 (275)$1.99 · $0.00
An Open-Eyed Conspiracy (Unabridged)William Dean Howells4h 16m$1.99 · $0.00
A Traveler from Altruria & Through the Eye of the Needle (Dystopian Classics) (Annotated)William Dean Howells15h 27m$2 · $0.00
William Dean Howells: 27 Novels in One Volume (Illustrated) (Annotated)William Dean Howells248h 40m$2 · $0.00
William Dean Howells - Premium Collection: 27 Novels in One Volume (Illustrated) (Annotated)William Dean Howells249h 52m4.5 (12)$2 · $0.00
Christmas Every Day & Other Christmas Stories by William Dean Howells (Annotated)William Dean Howells3h 10m3.9 (424)$2 · $0.00
The Complete Works of William Dean Howells (Annotated)William Dean Howells436h 7m$2 · $0.00
THE VENICE NOVELS: A Foregone Conclusion, Ragged Lady & The Lady of the Aroostook (Annotated)William Dean Howells26h 3m$2 · $0.00
The Complete Short Stories of William Dean Howells: 40+ Tales & Children's Stories (Illustrated) (Annotated)William Dean Howells42h 10m$2 · $0.00
Christmas Every Day and Other Stories (Illustrated) (Annotated)William Dean Howells2h 52m3.4 (43)$2 · $0.00
THE MARCH FAMILY TRILOGY: Their Wedding Journey, A Hazard of New Fortunes & Their Silver Wedding Journey (Annotated)William Dean Howells43h 10m$2 · $0.00
Venetian LifeWilliam Dean Howells11h 12m3.9 (28)$2 · $0.00
WhistlerAnn Patchett10h 45m4.6 (4.6K)$29 · $0.00
Demon CopperheadBarbara Kingsolver21h 3m4.5 (949.4K)$46 · $0.00
To Kill a MockingbirdHarper Lee12h 18m4.5 (7.4M)$29 · $0.00
Remarkably Bright CreaturesShelby Van Pelt11h 17m4.4 (1.7M)$29 · $0.00
Cast in BloodMichelle Sagara16h 35m4.6 (607)$33 · $0.00
The Captain Blood Trilogy (Annotated)Rafael Sabatini29h 20m4.6 (1K)$3 · $0.00
Ship of the Line (Annotated)Cecil Louis Troughton Smith11h 13m4.6 (1K)$2 · $0.00
The George Orwell CollectionGeorge Orwell24h 46m4.5 (14.4K)$12 · $0.00
Time RegainedMarcel Proust15h 38m4.5 (9.2K)$2 · $0.00
Driving ForceElle James4h 58m4.6 (407)$20 · $0.00
When God Calls the HeartBrian Bird, Michelle Cox3h 24m4.6 (439)$10 · $0.00
Five Little IndiansMichelle Good10h 34m4.5 (64.5K)$29 · $0.00
Lolth's WarriorR. A. Salvatore13h 20m4.6 (2.4K)$33 · $0.00
The Things We Cannot SayKelly Rimmer13h 48m4.5 (359.1K)$33 · $0.00
The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du BoisHonoree Fanonne Jeffers29h 49m4.5 (58K)$8 · $0.00
Going PostalTerry Pratchett11h 23m4.5 (189.9K)$29 · $0.00
Glen AffricKarine Giebel22h 51m4.5 (3.2K)$46 · $0.00
The Book Of NegroesLawrence Hill15h 45m4.5 (107.3K)$33 · $0.00
Anne of Green GablesL. M. Montgomery11h 1m4.5 (1.2M)$2.30 · $0.00
Lieutenant Hornblower (Annotated)C. S. Forester11h 41m4.5 (2.9K)$2 · $0.00
To Kill a MockingbirdHarper Lee12h 18m4.5 (7.4M)$29 · $0.00
These Precious DaysAnn Patchett11h 14m4.5 (45.2K)$29 · $0.00
Henry V (The Play, Historical Background and Analysis of the Character in the Play)William Shakespeare, William Hazlitt8h 50m4.6 (1.3K)$1.99 · $0.00
H. P. LOVECRAFT Ultimate Collection: Novellas, Short Stories, Poetry & Essays (Annotated)H. P. Lovecraft12h 28m4.6 (2.3K)$2 · $0.00
Time RegainedMarcel Proust16h 8m4.5 (10.6K)$1.99 · $0.00
The Mis-Education of the NegroCarter Goodwin Woodson4h 32m4.5 (28.4K)$10 · $0.00
Lessons in TruthH. Emilie3h 50m4.6 (1.4K)$4.70 · $0.00
TORAH - Bilingual Edition: English/Hebrew (Annotated)Max Margolis, JPS28h 26m4.6 (1K)$2 · $0.00
Betty Crocker picture cooky bookBetty Crocker, Inc. General Mills2h 13m4.5 (6.5K)$1 · $0.00
The Complete Tales of Beatrix PotterBeatrix Potter3h 36m4.5 (75K)$3 · $0.00
Anne of Green GablesL. M. Montgomery11h 1m4.5 (1.2M)$2.30 · $0.00
Crime and Punishment (The Unabridged Garnett Translation) (Annotated)Fyodor Dostoevsky24h 25m4.5 (15.4K)$1.99 · $0.00
The North American IndianEdward S. Curtis, Frederick Webb Hodge6h4.5 (1.2K)$2 · $0.00
The Picture of Dorian Gray: The Uncensored 13 Chapter Version + The Revised 20 Chapter Version (Annotated)Oscar Wilde16h 12m4.5 (2.8K)$1.99 · $0.00
Grimoire Of The Everyday WitchIsadora Lys / Virginia Santos5h 35m4.5 (3.9K)$9 · $0.00
Winnie-the-PoohAlan Alexander Milne2h 52m4.5 (401.1K)$3 · $0.00
Sitting PrettyRebekah Taussig7h 33m4.5 (18.9K)$26 · $0.00
The Poetic Edda & The Prose EddaSnorri Sturluson, Saemund Sigfusson9h 34m4.5 (4K)$1 · $0.00
The Complete Satires & Essays of Mark Twain (Annotated)Mark Twain23h 21m4.5 (1.1K)$2 · $0.00
Anne of Green GablesLucy Maud Montgomery11h 10m4.4 (1.3M)$8 · $0.00
You may also like
The Forsyte SagaJohn Galsworthy37h 2m4.2 (30.3K)$1.99 · $0.00
The Sun Also RisesErnest Hemingway7h 55m3.9 (552.3K)$2.30
The Lady Macbeth of the Mzinsk DistrictNikolai Leskov2h 1m4.1 (9.3K)$2 · $0.00
In ChanceryJohn Galsworthy10h 56m4.3 (2.8K)$21
Far from the Madding CrowdThomas Hardy13h 50m4.1 (202.3K)$18 · $0.00
Madame BovaryGustave Flaubert11h 57m3.9 (438.2K)$34 · $0.00
Sylvia's Lovers (Annotated)Elizabeth Gaskell24h 44m3.8 (4.8K)$2 · $0.00
Cousin BetteHonoré de Balzac17h 39m4.0 (13.4K)$4.10 · $0.00
Ivanoff: A PlayAnton Pavlovich Chekhov2h 36m3.9 (4.5K)$2.30
The DevilLeo Tolstoy2h 1m3.9 (9.6K)$2.30 · $0.00
Wuthering HeightsEmily Brontë12h 3m4.0 (1.9M) · 1003Free
CarmenProsper Mérimée3h 53m3.7 (10.3K)$2 · $0.00
The Lady Macbeth of the Mzinsk DistrictNikolai Leskov3h 18m4.1 (9.4K)$1 · $0.00
Ethan FromeEdith Wharton3h 18m3.7 (185.5K)$2.30 · $0.00
THE MOON AND SIXPENCEWilliam Somerset Maugham9h 42m4.1 (36.4K)$1.99 · $0.00
An Outcast of the IslandsJoseph Conrad11h 55m3.7 (1.7K)$20 · $0.00
The SubterraneansJack Kerouac4h 14m3.8 (20.1K)$20
Three SistersAnton Chekhov2h 36m4.2 (28.7K)$1.20 · $0.00
To LetJohn Galsworthy9h 42m4.3 (2.6K)$20
A Woman's PastimeGuy de Maupassant7h 10m3.8 (1.4K)$1 · $0.00