Mark Twain's Critique of Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offenses
This paper analyzes Mark Twain's acerbic 1895 essay "Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offenses," in which Twain systematically attacks James Fenimore Cooper's fiction, particularly The Deerslayer. The paper examines Twain's specific charges against Cooper, including violations of dialogue construction, inaccurate observation, and implausible plotting. It also considers Twain's broader opposition to the Romantic literary tradition and his mockery of critics such as Brander Matthews who praised Cooper's inventiveness. The analysis concludes that Twain's criticism, while harsh, was grounded in a coherent set of literary standards rather than mere personal animosity.
- Introduction: Overview of Twain's 1895 essay on Cooper
- Twain's Animosity Toward the Romantic Tradition: Twain's broader opposition to Romantic literary conventions
- Charges Against Cooper's Literary Craft: Twain's 114 offenses and mockery of Cooper's admirers
- Cooper's Failures in Dialogue: Twain's attack on Cooper's inconsistent dialogue
- Conclusion: Twain's criticism as principled, not purely personal
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What makes this paper effective
- Uses direct quotation from Twain's essay to anchor each analytical point, letting the primary source speak for itself before offering commentary.
- Situates Twain's criticism within a broader cultural context — opposition to the Romantic Movement — rather than treating it as purely personal.
- Balances presentation of Twain's harsh rhetoric with a measured concluding judgment about the legitimacy of the critique.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates close reading of a primary source essay. Rather than summarizing Twain's argument in the abstract, it extracts and interprets specific quoted passages — particularly Twain's attack on Cooper's dialogue and his mockery of Brander Matthews — to build its analytical argument from textual evidence.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with context and a thesis, then moves through Twain's general charges, his specific objections to Cooper's dialogue, and closes with a brief evaluative conclusion. Though compact, the structure follows a standard analytical arc: context → evidence → interpretation → judgment.
Introduction
This paper examines Mark Twain's acidic commentary on James Fenimore Cooper's writing style and skills. It studies Twain's 1895 essay carefully to explain why Twain found Cooper's work less than brilliant and in total violation of the literary rules Twain himself observed.
Twain's Animosity Toward the Romantic Tradition
In 1895, Mark Twain wrote an acerbic essay on James Fenimore Cooper's books, criticizing him rather ruthlessly for numerous literary offenses. From the very beginning of the essay, it was clear that Twain seriously disliked the Romantic tradition in writing. He was not particularly against Cooper as an individual; he was against the Romantic Movement for taking liberties with literary rules.
Twain's chagrin was grounded in Cooper's inability to follow those rules. He asserted that in The Deerslayer, Cooper had "committed 114 offenses against literary art out of a possible 115." Twain's biting remarks did not end there: he examined almost fifteen of the most commonly used literary devices or skills and charged Cooper with violating every one of them.
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