The Life and Works of Mark
Twain
“Every time you stop a school, you will have to build a jail. What you
gain at one end you lose at the other. It's like feeding a dog on his own
tail. It won't fatten the dog.”


Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) is
recognized as one of the best American
writers of all time.
His work and criticism of society is still
relevant today.
Samuel Clemens
1835-1910



Grew up in the frontier
town of Hannibal,
Missouri on the banks of
the Mississippi River
Spent many summers
playing in the slave
quarters of his uncle’s
farm
Father died when
Clemens was only 11
forcing him to leave
school and go to work
Early Work

1847 - Became a printer's apprentice for a local
newspaper to help support family



Arranged the type for each of the newspaper's
stories, allowing Clemens to read the news of the
world while completing his work.
1853 – 1857 Worked in New York and
Philadelphia writing articles for several
newspapers (was fired for writing stories that
had not happened yet).
1857 – Returned home to become a riverboat
pilot on the Mississippi River
Civil War Years

During the Civil War, Twain formed a
Confederate militia known as the "Marion
Rangers."


The militia disbanded after approximately two weeks.
Traveled from Missouri to Nevada by stagecoach
in search of silver


It was during these years that Clemens first
witnessed mistreatment of Native Americans.
Suffered many disappointments and mishaps
Life and Works



1865-Clemens published one
of his short stories, "Jim
Smiley and His Jumping Frog"
in papers across the country.
The popularity of this story
brought notoriety and a full
time writing job
His writings were so popular
that, one year later, he
embarked upon his first lecture
tour, which established him as
a successful stage performer.
Olivia Langdon






Daughter of a very wealthy
coal businessman
Met Samuel Clemens in 1867
through her brother Charles
First date was to a reading by
Charles Dickens in New York
City.
Courted her mainly by letter
She rejected his first proposal,
but they became engaged two
months later
In February 1870, they were
married.
The Honeymoon Period


Langdon’s father
bought the couple a
house in the nicest
part of New York
A few years later, they
sold the house and
built the house of
their dreams in
Connecticut (pictured).
Life and Work




1870-Married Olivia Langdon, she gave birth to
son, Langdon
1871-Moved to Hartford, Connecticut to be
closer to his publisher, Langdon dies
1872-Published his famous book, Roughing It,
which detailed his early experiences
1873-Clemens began to focus his writing on
social criticism
The Nature of his Prose

As Clemens traveled around the country, he
found much of what he saw, contemptuous





Slavery
Treatment of the Native Americans
Greed
Hypocrisy
Abuse of power (this will be a theme throughout all of
Twain’s work)
The Nature of his Prose


Clemens used his writing as a forum to
express his feelings
Instead of coming right out and saying
what he was upset about, he wrote
fictitious stories that made fun of the
behaviors he disliked

This type of writing is known as Satire
The Nature of his Prose

When Clemens was writing, there was a shift in
writing style from romanticism to realism

Romanticism - stressed strong emotion as a source of
aesthetic experience, placing new emphasis on such
emotions as trepidation, horror and awe



Ex: “The Good old days, Golden Years
Realism - emphasizes how life really is, rejects
sentimental or emotional notions
Realism addresses social problems through
believable characters (What makes these
characters believable?)
Life and Work

1874-1891 Clemens and his family (which now
included three daughters) lived in Hartford and
he made a substantial living and created many
of his masterpieces





The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876)
Life on the Mississippi (1883)
The Prince and the Pauper (1881)
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1889)
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884)
Life and Work



Clemens made plenty of
money but always
invested it poorly
1891- his publishing
company failed and
Clemens was forced to
file for bankruptcy
He moved his family to
Europe while he worked
to pay off his debts
Life and Work


Clemens was able to pay off his $100,000
in debt by doing lecture tours around the
world
People paid good money to go to these
lectures because Clemens extremely funny
Life and Work



Clemens stayed in Europe until
1900 when his debt was paid
off
His time there exposed him to
even more human cruelty than
he had witnessed in America
(slavery, treatment of Native
Americans, etc.)
His writing took a dark turn
but much of his antigovernment work was not
published until after his death
Life and Work




1903 – Olivia became sick
and Clemens took her
back to her home in Italy
where she later died
1903-1909 Clemens
continued to give lectures
and write
1909- one daughter
married and another died
of an epileptic seizure
April 21, 1910, Samuel
Clemens died
The Clemens Children




Olivia Susan Clemens
(1872-1896)
A very sickly child
Was close to her father
and is commonly referred
to as his favorite
Her death sent him into a
great depression
The Clemens Children




Clara Langdon Clemens
(1874-1962)
Very well educated and
often traveled with her
father
Clara was determined
during her lifetime to
preserve her father's
image as a lovable,
innocent humorist
Died of a drug and
alcohol overdose
The Clemens Children





Jane Lampton Clemens
(1880-1909)
Very sickly -father was very
protective of her
Was involved in animal rights
and several hobbies
1904-went crazy and tried to
kill the housekeeper-had to go
to a sanatorium
Drowned during a seizure in
the bathtub
Language


1884- The Adventures of Huckleberry
Finn- first book of its kind
Breaks the racial barrier


Use of word “nigger”
Shows African Americans as humans with
emotions, opinions, hopes, dreams

Not any different from whites’ emotions, opinions,
hopes, dreams
Characters


The characters in
Clemen’s works were
often modeled after
people he knew
Tom Sawyer and Huck
Finn are
representations of
himself
“Training is everything. The peach was once a bitter almond;
cauliflower is nothing but cabbage with a college education. “


It is through the work
of Clemens that we
get a glimpse of late
19th century America
The wit and humor or
Clemens is rivaled by
none