Bartleby, the Scrivener

E145048

"Bartleby, the Scrivener" is a classic 1853 short story that explores passive resistance and modern alienation through the enigmatic law-copyist Bartleby, famous for his refrain, "I would prefer not to."

All labels observed (4)

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Statements (49)

Predicate Object
instanceOf short story
work of fiction
adaptedAs films
stage plays
television productions
author Herman Melville
centralConflict Bartleby vs. workplace expectations
centralMotif repetition of refusal
countryOfOrigin United States of America
surface form: United States
criticalReception considered a classic of American literature
famousLine I would prefer not to.
firstPublishedIn Putnam’s Magazine
surface form: Putnam's Magazine
genre literary fiction
psychological fiction
short story
influenceOn existentialist literature
modernist literature
literaryForm prose
literaryMovement American Romanticism
Gothic literature
surface form: Dark Romanticism
mainCharacter Bartleby, the Scrivener self-linksurface differs
surface form: Bartleby
narrativePerspective first-person
narrator unnamed lawyer
originalLanguage English
originalTitle Bartleby, the Scrivener self-linksurface differs
surface form: Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall-Street
protagonistOccupation law-copyist
scrivener
publicationYear 1853
relatedConcept bureaucratic dehumanization
civil disobedience
passive resistance
settingCity New York City
settingCountry United States of America
surface form: United States
settingEnvironment law office
settingPeriod 19th century
pre-Civil War America
settingPlace Wall Street
studiedIn law and humanities courses
literature courses
philosophy courses
symbol Wall Street as symbol of capitalism
office walls as symbol of isolation
theme bureaucracy
free will
individualism
isolation
modern alienation
passive resistance
work and capitalism

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (7)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Herman Melville notableWork Bartleby, the Scrivener
Melville notableWork Bartleby, the Scrivener
subject surface form: Herman Melville
Bartleby, the Scrivener mainCharacter Bartleby, the Scrivener self-linksurface differs
this entity surface form: Bartleby
Bartleby, the Scrivener originalTitle Bartleby, the Scrivener self-linksurface differs
this entity surface form: Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall-Street
The Piazza Tales containsWork Bartleby, the Scrivener
Crispin Glover notableWork Bartleby, the Scrivener
this entity surface form: Bartleby (2001 film)
Dogma mainCharacter Bartleby, the Scrivener
this entity surface form: Bartleby