Martin Eden · Chapter
XLV explained
Martin Eden, now famous, is besieged by magazines claiming to have discovered him, by begging letters, and by women who appraise him.
What happens
Martin Eden, now famous, is besieged by magazines claiming to have discovered him, by begging letters, and by women who appraise him. He feels emotionally numb and detached from life. Lizzie Connolly notices his mental sickness. Ruth Morse visits him, confessing her love and willingness to abandon her bourgeois life for him, but Martin tells her it is too late—he is sated with life and incapable of feeling. He gives a thousand dollars to Kreis, who offered him a wild investment scheme, but Martin remains indifferent to everything, including his own fame and identity.
Themes in this chapter
Success and Disillusionment
Martin achieves fame and financial success but feels empty and disillusioned, unable to find meaning in his accomplishments.
Individualism and Alienation
Martin becomes alienated from his own identity and from others, feeling detached from the fame and love offered to him.
Love and Idealism
Ruth's idealized love is contrasted with Martin's realization that he never loved the real Ruth, only an ethereal creation of his own.
Characters to notice
- Martin Eden
Experiences emotional numbness and detachment from life despite his fame; rejects Ruth's love and gives money to Kreis without feeling.
- Ruth Morse
Visits Martin, confesses her love, and offers to abandon her bourgeois life for him, but is rejected as it is too late.
- Lizzie Connolly
Notices Martin's mental sickness and expresses concern, wishing the right woman could make him care.
- Kreis
Visits Martin with a wild investment scheme; accepts a thousand dollars from Martin as a gift for the night of philosophy.
- Mrs. Morse
Drives by Martin and smiles and nods, but the episode does not affect him.
Key passages
“He knew, now, that he had not really loved her. It was an idealized Ruth he had loved, an ethereal creature of his own creating, the bright and luminous spirit of his love-poems.”
Martin realizes that his love for Ruth was never genuine; he had loved a fantasy version of her that he invented.
Martin's disillusionment with love and his recognition of his own idealization.
“I am sick, very sick. How sick I did not know till now. Something has gone out of me. I have always been unafraid of life, but I never dreamed of being sated with life.”
Martin confesses to Ruth that he is emotionally and spiritually exhausted, having lost all desire for life.
Martin's profound sense of emptiness and detachment from life.
“The one thing he was not was that colossal appetite that all the mob was bent upon feeding.”
Martin feels that the public's image of him as a famous writer is a false construct that he does not identify with.
Martin's alienation from his own fame and public persona.