Wealth and Virtue
Utopian Republicanism in Tom Wolfe’s The Bonfire of the Vanities
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 10892546 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Henrik Torjusen (University of Oslo, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2015 |
| Volume | 47 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 22-39 |
| Publication date | 2015-03-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | American Studies in Scandinavia (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0044-8060 • E-ISSN: 0044-8060 |
| Publisher | Copenhagen Business School (PUBLISHER • DK) |
| DOI | 10.22439/asca.v47i1.5159 |
| OpenAlex | W2520226545 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 6 |
Tom Wolfe’s first novel, The Bonfire of the Vanities, has often been viewed as a satirical attack on Wall Street and the mentality of a city torn to pieces by ethnic strife. Wolfe’s reaction was to deny that his novel was a satire. This article argues not only that the pursuit of status and freedom has a serious and non-serious side in Wolfe’s works, but also that in Bonfire Wolfe’s actual ideal takes the shape of a utopian republicanism and leads back to a notion of a society consisting of unique and free individuals united in a common pursuit for a just society in light of the common good—not in the shape of equality, but in light of virtue and freedom
Ideal (ethics · Political science · Sociology · Virtue · American Political and Social Dynamics · American Sports and Literature · Law · Philosophy · Race, History, and American Society
| Highly cited | No |
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