Ten Nights in a Bar-Room and What I Saw There

Ten Nights in a Bar-room and What I Saw There is an 1854 novel written by T. S. Arthur.

Plot

Joe Morgan is the father of a loving wife and family, but meets his moral downfall when introduced to alcohol. Morgan quickly becomes an alcoholic and spends most of his time at a bar. One day, his daughter begs him to return to his family. He initially ignored her, until she is hit in the head by a flying bottle. On her deathbed, the daughter begs Morgan to abandon alcohol, to which he agrees.

Impact

The book was a financial success and would go on to be made into a play, musical and film. Ten Nights in a Barroom was the second most popular book of the Victorian Era, following Uncle Tom's Cabin.[1]

The work is also significant because of its promotion of the Cult of Domesticity and prohibition. Arthur used the book to argue that women needed to steer men to the path of morality to protect the home. Nothing was as dangerous to morality as alcohol, so its use needed to be restricted by women.[2] The book is the first work to openly call for prohibition and was a popular temperance melodrama.[3][4] The novel was easily transferred to play format, so it was frequently used to promote prohibition to large audiences. The play based on the novel continued to be popular even after the end of prohibition in the United States, although it was usually presented as a parody. [5]

References

  1. ↑ Chrzan, Janet (2013), Alcohol: Social Drinking in Cultural Context, Routledge, p. 76
  2. ↑ Martin, Scott (2005). Cultural Change and the Market Revolution in America, 1789-1860. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 219.
  3. ↑ Adams, Bluford (1997). E Pluribus Barnum: The Great Showman and the Making of U.S. Popular Culture. U of Minnesota Press. p. 125.
  4. ↑ "Ten Nights in a Bar Room". Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media. Retrieved 23 May 2014.
  5. ↑ Walters, Ronald (1997). American Reformers, 1815-1860, Revised Edition. Macmillan. p. 134.