"The Paradise of Bachelors and the Tartarus of Maids" is a short story written by American writer Herman Melville in April 1855. Best known for his novel Moby-Dick, Melville wrote numerous books and short stories. A combination of two sketches, one set in the center of London's legal industry and the other in a New England paper factory, this story can be read as an early comment on globalization. In the first sketch, the London bachelors, all lawyers, scholars, or writers, enjoy a sumptuous meal in a cozy apartment. In the second sketch, the New England "maids" are young women working in a paper factory.
Famous quotes containing the words paradise, bachelors and/or maids:
“We, who have already borne on the road to Paradise the lives of the best among us, want a difficult, erect, implacable Paradise; a Paradise where one can never rest and which has, beside the threshold of the gates, angels with swords.”
—J.A. (José Antonio)
“We old bachelors smell like dogs, do we? So be it. But I must take issue with your claim that doctors who treat female illnesses are womanizers and cynics at heart. Gynecologists deal with savage prose the likes of which you have never dreamed of.”
—Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860–1904)
“Three little maids from school are we,
Pert as a school-girl well can be,
Filled to the brim with girlish glee, Three little maids from school!”
—Sir William Schwenck Gilbert (1836–1911)