There's a lot of literature in The Piazza Tales. Melville constantly refers to other writers and books—Spenser, Shakespeare, the Bible, Greek myths (Yes, you can Shmoop all of those). These allusions are often supposed to be cute, or funny, or show that the narrator is well-read or smart. At the same time, the one writer in the book is Bartleby, a mid-level, white-collar judge. So there's a tension between literature as intellectual, highbrow awesomeness, and the writer as a passive functionary starving to death. (It's probably worth mentioning here that Melville was not a very successful writer by the time he wrote these stories. Not as unsuccessful as Bartleby, but still, he may have identified a little.)
Questions About Literature and Writing
- Do you think the narrator in "The Piazza" is a writer? What clues are there?
- Is Bartleby a writer? Explain your answer.
- What function do the quotations from Spenser serve in "The Encantadas"? Would the story lose anything if they were removed?
Chew on This
In "Benito Cereno", Babo is a great writer.
"The Piazza" and "Bartleby the Scrivener" are both about failing as a writer.