Mark Twain in Virginia City

1964 ◽  
Vol 51 (3) ◽  
pp. 511
Author(s):  
Richard G. Lillard ◽  
Paul Fatout
Keyword(s):  
1965 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 534
Author(s):  
Franklin R. Rogers ◽  
Paul Fatout
Keyword(s):  

PMLA ◽  
1978 ◽  
Vol 93 (5) ◽  
pp. 955-972 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edgar M. Branch

In his legendary lecture “The Babes in the Wood” (1863–64), Artemus Ward wanted to “go in for fun,” and he artfully structured the talk to exemplify his credo: “We better stay in the sunshine while we may, inasmuch as we know the shadows will come all too soon.” Mark Twain heard Ward speak in Virginia City and later wrote that “The Babes” was “the funniest thing I ever listened to.” This article reproduces a reasonably accurate speaking text of “The Babes” and considers it in relation to Mark Twain’s theory and practice of lecturing and to his early written humor. Its comedy offered Mark Twain, among other things, a demonstration of (1) complex rhetorical strategies and (2) a sophisticated burlesque of the serious lyceum lecture. To clarify its burlesque dimension, “The Babes” is then compared to Emerson’s lecture “The Law of Success” (which Ward had heard and reported).


1952 ◽  
Vol 7 (10) ◽  
pp. 596-596
Author(s):  
Ivan D. London
Keyword(s):  

2013 ◽  
Vol 82 (First Serie (1) ◽  
pp. 119-138
Author(s):  
Tom Hubbard
Keyword(s):  

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jerome Loving
Keyword(s):  

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