New Grub Street · Chapter
XV: The Last Resource explained
Edwin Reardon, now aged and worn by poverty and anxiety, struggles to complete a one-volume novel after months of labor.
What happens
Edwin Reardon, now aged and worn by poverty and anxiety, struggles to complete a one-volume novel after months of labor. His marriage to Amy is strained by financial desperation and mutual resentment. Jasper Milvain visits briefly, discussing the three-volume system and the literary marketplace. Reardon reflects on his lost creative freedom and considers abandoning literature altogether.
Themes in this chapter
Poverty and Class
Reardon's physical and mental decline is directly tied to his financial desperation; poverty is compared to slavery.
Artistic Integrity vs. Commercialism
Reardon laments writing for money rather than for art, contrasting his past creative freedom with the pressure of the three-volume system.
Marriage and Money
The strain of poverty erodes the Reardons' marriage, leading to resentment and emotional distance.
Characters to notice
- Edwin Reardon
Aged by poverty and anxiety, he struggles to write and is haunted by his past creative freedom.
- Amy Reardon
Bitter and strained, she spends more time at her mother's house to save food and avoid conflict.
- Jasper Milvain
Visits briefly, discusses the three-volume system and the literary marketplace; estrangement from Reardon grows.
- Harold Biffen
Mentioned as a recipient of Reardon's new novel, though Reardon fears Biffen will despise him.
Key passages
“poverty is to the modern world just what that of slavery was to the ancient. Rich and destitute stand to each other as free man and bond.”
Poverty in modern times is as degrading as slavery was in ancient times, creating a divide between the rich and the poor.
Reardon articulates the theme of poverty as a form of social bondage.
“The work was done for its own sake. No hurry to finish it; if I felt that I wasn't up to the mark, I just waited till the better mood returned.”
He used to write purely for the love of it, without financial pressure, and could afford to wait for inspiration.
Reardon contrasts his past artistic integrity with his current commercial desperation.
“A triple-headed monster, sucking the blood of English novelists.”
The three-volume novel system is a monstrous force that drains the life from writers.
Milvain criticizes the three-volume system as exploitative of authors.