Abstract
Herman Melville’s short novel Bartleby, the Scrivener, depicts a scrivener’s passive resistance and eventual death in isolation, revealing the mechanisms of al-ienation under 19th-century capitalism. Taking Lefebvre’s Tripartite Model of Space theory as an analytical framework, this study analyzes how spatial structures sustain authority in the narrative. Physical space, mental space, and social space are intertwined with each other, constituting a complete set of spatial control mechanisms in the capitalist system. The office space presents a clear hierarchy of power. The lawyers maintain a managerial order of power through spatial divisions, while the employees justify their existence through. Bartleby’s silent refusal disrupts the balance of the spatial structure: his non-cooperation rejects the capitalist logic of functionality, efficiency, and obedience. As his alienation deepens, he is excluded from the social structure and dies in prison. Through Lefebvre’s Tripartite Model of Space analysis, the novel reveals how space materializes the discipline of capitalism, making Bartleby’s resistance a tragic critique of systemic alienation.
References
Dai, J. (2022). "I would prefer not to": The eventful declaration of Bartleby, the scrivener. Foreign Literatures, (02), 148-158.
https://doi.org/10.16345/j.cnki.cn11-1562/i.2022.02.012
Dai, Y. (2021). From panopticon to oligopticon: Foucault, Latour and the space-power relationship in social media. Chinese Journal of Journalism & Communication, 43(07), 6-24.
https://doi.org/10.13495/j.cnki.cjjc.2021.07.001
Harvey, D., Zhang, Y., & Yang, Q. (2018). Marx and the universal alienation of contemporary capitalism. Tianjin Social Sciences, (04), 4-14.
https://doi.org/10.16240/j.cnki.1002-3976.2018.04.001
Lefebvre, H. (1991). The production of space (D. Nicholson-Smith, Trans.). Blackwell. (Original work published 1974)
Melville, H. (2001). Bartleby, the scrivener. In Melville's short novels (pp. 3-33). W.W. Norton and Company. (Original work published 1853)
Soja, E. (2005). Third space: Journeys to Los Angeles and other real-and-imagined places (Lu Y., et al., Trans.). Shang-hai Educational Publishing House. (Original work published 1996)
Wang, Y., & Wang, Y. (2022). Potentiality, resistance and bare life: Giorgio Agamben on Melville's Bartleby. Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art, 42(05), 103-111.
https://doi.org/10.16240/j.cnki.1002-3976.2018.04.001
Zheng, B. (2016). Space: A keyword in critical theory. Foreign Literature, (01), 89-97.
https://doi.org/10.16430/j.cnki.fl.2016.01.010
How to cite this paper
Spatial Narrative in Bartleby, the Scrivener
How to cite this paper: Meng Zhang, Yueqiu Liu. (2025) Spatial Narrative in Bartleby, the Scrivener. Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Science, 9(8), 1496-1500.
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.26855/jhass.2025.08.004