X-Nico

2 unusual facts about The Way of All Flesh


Antaeus

In Samuel Butler's novel The Way of All Flesh, Ernest Pontifex's aunt Alethea encourages him to learn carpentry "as a means of kissing the soil should his Hercules ever throw him;" that is, to learn a trade to live off of in case he chooses not to pursue the object of his studies, theology.

The Way of All Flesh

Butler dared not publish it during his lifetime, but when it was published it was accepted as part of the general reaction against Victorianism.



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