Short Fiction · Chapter
XXXVI explained
The narrator reflects on his library, confessing it consists mostly of novels and a few poets.
What happens
The narrator reflects on his library, confessing it consists mostly of novels and a few poets. He describes how he immerses himself in the sorrows and joys of imaginary characters, finding in fiction a virtue and kindness absent from the real world. He shares his emotional reactions to specific works, such as weeping for Clarissa and Charlotte's lover, and feeling terror at the plight of Cleveland among the Abaquis.
Themes in this chapter
Imagination vs. Reality
The narrator contrasts the virtuous, kind imaginary world of novels with the disappointing real world, and describes how his imagination enhances his reading experience.
Melancholy and Joy
The narrator experiences both tears from fictional sorrows and delight from imagined pleasures, moving between melancholy and joy.
Key passages
“How many tears have I shed for that poor Clarissa, and for Charlotte's lover!”
The narrator has wept over the fictional sufferings of Clarissa and the lover of Charlotte.
Illustrates the narrator's deep emotional engagement with novels.
“I meet with a woman after my heart's desire, free from whim, lightness, and affectation.”
In his imagination, the narrator conjures an ideal woman without faults.
Shows how the narrator uses fiction to create an idealized companion.
“When I read that passage a cold perspiration covers me, and my fright is as lively and real as if I was going to be roasted and eaten by the monsters myself.”
Reading about Cleveland's danger among savages makes the narrator physically sweat with genuine fear.
Demonstrates the narrator's intense vicarious experience of fictional peril.