Sartor Resartus · Chapter
Testimonies of Authors explained
This chapter collects various critical and editorial responses to the publication of Sartor Resartus, including a bookseller's taster report, a newspaper critique, a North-American Review article questioning the existence of Teufelsdröckh a
What happens
This chapter collects various critical and editorial responses to the publication of Sartor Resartus, including a bookseller's taster report, a newspaper critique, a North-American Review article questioning the existence of Teufelsdröckh and Heuschrecke, and prefaces from New England editors defending the work's style and substance.
Free preview opens on this chapter — companions, themes, and character notes appear beside the text.
Narrative arc
Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Resolution.
- Setup
- Breaking point
- Aftermath
- Closing
This is the story's dramatic climax because it presents the emotional and psychological peak of Teufelsdröckh'…
Full beat labels and climax notes unlock in the reader.
Follow the arc while readingThemes in this chapter
- Critique of Society and Materialism
The chapter includes a critique of dandyism and the superficiality of fashion, as seen in the reviewer's comments on the work's treatment of dress.
- The Role of the Artist and Thinker
The New England editors defend the author's eccentric style as a vehicle for serious speculation, highlighting the tension between artistic expression and public reception.
Characters to notice
- Diogenes Teufelsdröckh
The supposed author of the Philosophy of Clothes, whose existence is doubted by the North-American Reviewer.
- The Editor
The compiler of Sartor Resartus, addressed by the bookseller and defended by New England editors.
- Herr Hofrath Heuschrecke
Mentioned as a purported correspondent whose existence is questioned by the North-American Reviewer.
- Blumine
Referenced as the 'Flower-Goddess' heroine, considered a fictional name by the reviewer.
Key passages
“The only thing about the work, tending to prove that it is what it purports to be, a commentary on a real German treatise, is the style, which is a sort of Babylonish dialect, not destitute, it is true, of richness, vigour, and at times a sort of singular felicity of expression, but very strongly tinged throughout with the peculiar idiom of the German language.”
The sole evidence that the book is a genuine commentary on a German work is its style, which is a mixed dialect that, while occasionally rich and vigorous, is heavily influenced by German idiom.
The North-American Reviewer questions the authenticity of the work based on its stylistic peculiarities.
“But what will chiefly commend the Book to the discerning reader is the manifest design of the work, which is, a Criticism upon the Spirit of the Age—we had almost said, of the hour—in which we live; exhibiting in the most just and novel light the present aspects of Religion, Politics, Literature, Arts, and Social Life.”
The book's main appeal to thoughtful readers is its clear purpose: a critique of the contemporary spirit, covering religion, politics, literature, arts, and social life with fresh insight.
The New England editors praise the work's critical engagement with the modern era.
