Martin Eden (London)
Short summary
Oakland, California, early 1900s. Martin Eden, a rough sailor, visited the home of Arthur Morse after saving him from hoodlums.
There he met Arthur's sister Ruth and fell deeply in love with her refined beauty and cultured world. Inspired by her, Martin resolved to educate himself and become a writer worthy of her. He worked grueling jobs, including a brutal stint in a laundry, while writing prolifically and studying philosophy, particularly Herbert Spencer. Despite constant rejections from magazines and crushing poverty, he persisted.
Ruth and Martin became engaged, but her family disapproved of his unconventional career and lack of steady income. Ruth herself doubted his writing abilities and urged him to get a respectable job. When newspapers falsely portrayed Martin as a dangerous socialist after he spoke at a meeting, Ruth's family forced her to break off the engagement. Martin, devastated, continued writing.
His friend Brissenden, a brilliant dying poet, became his only intellectual companion before committing suicide. Suddenly, Martin's work began selling for large sums, bringing him fame and wealth. The same society that had scorned him now celebrated him, but Martin felt only emptiness and disillusionment. Ruth tried to reconcile, but he realized she loved his success, not him. Exhausted and spiritually dead, Martin booked passage to the South Seas.
His wilful hands and feet began to beat... But he had fooled them and the will to live that made them beat and churn. He was too deep down. They could never bring him to the surface.
Detailed summary
Division into chapters is editorial.
Martins introduction to Ruths world
Martin Eden followed Arthur into a spacious, elegant house, feeling profoundly out of place in his rough sea clothes. The young sailor struggled with his cap and his natural rolling gait, acutely self-conscious about his appearance. Arthur, perceiving his discomfort, subtly helped by taking his cap and stepping away to read a letter, allowing Martin a moment to compose himself.
Martin's attention was captivated by an oil painting of a stormy sea, then by a pile of books on a center table, which ignited a powerful yearning. He impulsively approached, handling volumes and reading titles, discovering Swinburne and becoming engrossed. While absorbed in reading, a young woman entered. Arthur introduced her as Ruth, and Martin was immediately struck by her ethereal beauty, likening her to a pale gold flower. His mind conjured rapid images of all the women he had known, all instantly overshadowed by Ruth's unparalleled grace.
Martins awakening and transformation
Ruth invited Martin to sit, noticing his lacerated hands and cheap clothes. She inquired about a scar on his neck, which he attributed to a fight in Salina Cruz. Ruth reacted with visible shock to his blunt account. Martin then tried to discuss Swinburne, mispronouncing the name, and was gently corrected by Ruth. She expressed surprise that he thought Swinburne might be dead and critiqued him as indelicate and not truly great. Martin felt confused and inarticulate, like a navigator adrift on a strange sea, but resolved to master this new world of thought for Ruth.
The dinner experience proved bewildering for Martin. The array of cutlery and unaccustomed customs intimidated him, contrasting sharply with his seafaring background. He observed the family's affection with warmth, seeing it as a revelation utterly absent from his own harsh life. Martin felt immense pressure throughout the meal, struggling with proper cutlery use and the constant influx of new impressions. His initial quietness inadvertently contradicted Arthur's description of him as a wild man. Despite his outward calm, his powerful nature resisted the second fiddle role, and occasionally his true, unrefined speech slipped out.
Martin becomes a writer
Leaving Ruth's house, Martin descended the steps consumed by ecstatic trance. He had finally met the woman he had always anticipated. She was unlike any woman he had known, her flesh an emanation of her spirit. This perception of the divine startled him, as he had always been irreligious. However, in her eyes, he glimpsed an immortal soul. His newfound ambition urged him to grasp this eternal life by possessing her, though not in the carnal sense. He envisioned a soul-possession, a refined comradeship of spirit.
Martin returned to California after eight months at sea, his money exhausted but his mind enriched. During this voyage, he dedicated himself to rigorous self-education, studying grammar and reading Shakespeare. A profound revelation struck him: he decided to become a writer, envisioning himself as a conduit through which the world would see and feel. He saw writing as a career path to win Ruth's approval and a means to become a giant of the world. Upon arriving in Oakland, Martin immediately began writing, starting with an article about treasure-hunters for the San Francisco Examiner.
Intellectual growth and first struggles with rejection
Martin's desire to write reawakened, with stories and poems spontaneously forming in his mind. He visited Ruth again, and she was struck by his improved appearance and refined speech. However, she showed disapproval when he outlined his plan to write for a living, arguing that writing required an apprenticeship. Ruth suggested he get a thorough education, specifically recommending high school. Martin initially protested but relented when she implied he could continue writing alongside his studies.
Martin took the high school examination but failed every subject except grammar. Professor Hilton advised him to return to grammar school for at least two years. Ruth suggested night school, but Martin remained reluctant, believing he could learn faster independently. He argued that while most people need guides, he could navigate the chart-room of knowledge himself. His mind raced with a profound inner vision: a desire to express his internal world and his love for Ruth. He realized the secret of great expression, of making words obedient and potent.
Hard times in the laundry and recovery
Martin decided against studying Latin, prioritizing writing and earning money. He struggled with countless rejections from magazines. His attempts to secure credit from local tradesmen were met with increasing resistance. After forty hours without food, Martin pawned his overcoat for five dollars. He later pawned his watch and bicycle to buy stamps for his manuscripts. Despite his dire financial situation, Martin continued to write, but rejected manuscripts were daily returned to him.
Facing starvation, Martin met Joe, a laundryman, who proposed a partnership at Shelly Hot Springs. Martin agreed, attracted by the prospect of a private room to study. The work in the modern steam laundry proved relentless. Martin and Joe performed well, but the day extended past supper until ten o'clock. Martin attempted to read but succumbed to sleep, unable to keep his eyes open despite his efforts. The cycle of grueling work continued for weeks, with Martin's entire consciousness absorbed by labor, leaving no room for intellectual thought.
Declaration of love and engagement
After leaving the laundry, Martin returned to Oakland and spent significant time with Ruth. Their intimacy deepened rapidly. Martin expressed his intention to go to sea for another voyage to earn money for his writing endeavors. Ruth openly expressed her disappointment. Martin confessed to having succumbed to drink several times during his laundry work, which deeply repelled Ruth. This confession marked the furthest distance between them since their first meeting, but paradoxically paved the way for greater intimacy, stirring pity and idealistic thoughts of reform within her.
On a warm, languid California day, Martin and Ruth sat together on their favorite knoll. The setting's overwhelming beauty began to dissolve their academic focus. Ruth, drawn by an irresistible force, leaned towards him, her shoulder lightly touching his. His arm drew her closer, and their lips met. Ruth's only rational thought was that this must be love. Martin confessed he had loved her from the very first moment he saw her. Ruth clarified that she meant she knew he loved her from the first, but her own feelings came suddenly when his arms went around her.
Deepening poverty and philosophical development
Upon Ruth's return home, her mother immediately discerned a significant event. Ruth explained that she and Martin were engaged, much to her mother's incredulous vexation. Mrs. Morse outlined her plans for Ruth, emphasizing marriage within her social standing, not to someone like Martin, whom she described as rough, coarse, penniless, and irresponsible. The family tacitly accepted the engagement but made no public announcement, understanding it would be a long one. They did not encourage Martin to seek conventional employment, hoping his lack of progress would contribute to the engagement's eventual dissolution.
Martin's intellectual journey took a significant turn after encountering socialists at City Hall Park. A particular encounter with a disciple of Herbert Spencer sparked Martin's interest. His second attempt with Spencer's First Principles proved revolutionary. He became completely engrossed, reading through the night. Spencer's work provided him with a unified framework for knowledge, revealing a universe governed by law rather than caprice. The most profound impact was the realization of the correlation of all knowledge. He began to see connections between seemingly disparate subjects, unifying the universe in his mind.
Return from sea and growing conflicts with Ruth
Martin reads his Love-cycle poems to Ruth on a beautiful autumn day. After he finishes, she hesitates, finding the poems beautiful but questioning their marketability. She pleads with him to understand that while flattered, they do not make their marriage possible. Ruth suggests he consider becoming a reporter. Martin immediately rejects the idea, stating it would spoil his style. Ruth, lacking understanding of creative joy, presses him on editorial revisions. Martin becomes heated, dismissing editors as failures who couldn't succeed as writers themselves.
Give me two years. I shall succeed... I know what I have in me; I know what literature is, now; I know the average rot that is poured out by a lot of little men who have failed.
Ruth reveals she has spoken to her parents, who are against their union, but she has secured an offer for Martin to work in her father's office. Martin demands to know if her decision is of her free will. She firmly confirms her actions are her own will, expressing shame due to his disgrace. Martin questions if love is weaker than social concerns. Ruth defensively states she is not common after what has transpired. When he asks if literature is not his vocation, she declares she doesn't think he was made to write.
Brissendens friendship and family alienation
Martin encounters his sister Gertrude on Broadway, who observes his haggard appearance and recognizes his desperation. She presses a five-dollar gold piece into his hand, feigning it as a belated birthday gift. Martin passionately defends his writing, asserting its quality despite everyone else's lack of faith. Later that day, he attends a dinner at the Morse home, where he meets Russ Brissenden. Initially, Martin finds him anemic and boorish, but at the Grotto, Martin is astonished by Brissenden's brilliant conversation and immense intellect.
Brissenden not only assures Martin of his poetic talent but also reveals himself to be a poet. Martin is deeply impressed by Brissenden's work and astonished it remains unpublished. Brissenden dismisses the idea of publishing, advising Martin to love beauty for its own sake and shun magazines. He argues that joy comes from the act of creation, not from success or fame. Martin counters that his pursuit is not for fame but for love. Brissenden warns that bourgeois cities will kill him, describing them as degrading pest-holes. Despite their disagreements, they share a profound liking for each other.
Personal losses and growing despair
Martin receives a letter from The Parthenon accepting Brissenden's Ephemera for publication, offering three hundred and fifty dollars. Martin takes an electric car downtown to share the news. Upon arriving at Brissenden's hotel, he discovers his friend committed suicide five days prior by shooting himself through the head. Martin, seemingly detached, sends a telegram authorizing publication. He eventually finishes his manuscript Overdue, experiencing relief. He notices The Parthenon magazine featuring Ephemera with lavish illustrations and critical acclaim, but finds the presentation cheap and vulgar.
Success without meaning
Martin awakens feeling tired and passive, receiving checks in the mail. The excitement he once felt has vanished. His luck abruptly changes when he receives a three-hundred-dollar check from The Millennium for Adventure. More of his previously rejected stories are now accepted and published by prominent magazines. His novel The Shame of the Sun is accepted by Singletree, Darnley & Co. The book evidently becomes a hit, igniting fierce controversy. Money and fame pour in, but Martin remains amused rather than truly interested.
You are feeding me now because you are herd animals; because you are part of the mob; because the one blind, automatic thought in the mob-mind just now is to feed me.
Martin is unexpectedly invited to dinner by Mr. Morse, who had previously forbidden him from his house. Martin feels no anger but rather tolerates him, secretly wondering how he endures the humiliation. He observes a striking paradox: during his struggling days when he desperately needed food, no one offered him dinner. Now, rich and famous, invitations are abundant. He concludes that bourgeois society values him for his fame and money, not his true self or his artistic endeavors.
I am of the same value that I was when nobody wanted me. What is puzzling me is why they want me now. Surely they don’t want me for myself, for myself is the same old self they did not want.
Final disillusionment and death
One January evening, Brissenden leads Martin to a working-class ghetto to meet intelligent men who have read the books. Martin attends a socialist meeting and speaks passionately, criticizing the slaves and their morality. A cub reporter, present at the meeting, reconstructs an entire speech from single words, portraying Martin as an arch-anarchist. Martin reads a newspaper article about himself, headlining him as a notorious socialist leader. Ruth sends him a letter explaining that her parents have commanded the engagement be broken. Martin encounters Ruth on the street and demands to know if her decision is of her free will. She firmly confirms it is.
Martin finds himself profoundly lonely, his life hollowed out by the cessation of writing, Brissenden's death, and his estrangement from Ruth. He feels a strong pull towards the South Seas. Later, Ruth arrives at his hotel room, explaining her mother wanted her to marry Charley Hapgood but now would permit her to marry Martin. Martin dryly notes his unchanged nature, questioning whether Ruth's renewed love is based on his recognition and money. Ruth passionately confesses her love, but Martin confesses his sickness, a profound satedness with life, leaving him empty of desire.
You would have formalized me. You would have compressed me into a two-by-four pigeonhole of life, where all life’s values are unreal, and false, and vulgar.
Days before sailing on the Mariposa, Martin undergoes a physical examination where he is declared perfectly healthy. He realizes his illness is not physical but mental. During the voyage, he observes other passengers whom he dislikes, finding their bourgeois minds superficial. A new misery descends: the realization that he will have to go ashore in Tahiti. Late one night, unable to sleep, he reads a Swinburne volume. The idea that dead men rise up never fills him with gratitude, as death appears as the ultimate escape. He slips out the porthole into the water, deliberately breathing in water and swimming downwards until his will breaks, drifting into darkness, ceasing to know.