Burr (novel)
Encyclopedia
Burr by Gore Vidal
, is a historical novel
challenging the traditional iconography of United States history via narrative and a fictional memoir of Aaron Burr
. Burr was variously the third US vice president, a US Army officer in and combat veteran of the Revolutionary War
, a lawyer and a U.S. senator from New York. In an 1804 duel, while still vice president, Burr killed Alexander Hamilton
, who had been the first US Treasury Secretary.
series. It portrays its eponymous anti-hero as a fascinating and honourable gentleman, and skewers most of his contemporaries, e.g. George Washington
, an incompetent general who lost most of his battles; Thomas Jefferson
, with whom Burr tied for the presidency in the election of 1800
, as a fey, especially dark and pedantic hypocrite who schemed and bribed witnesses in support of a false charge of treason against Burr after almost losing the election to him; and Alexander Hamilton
, the bastard opportunist who rose with Washington, before Burr killed him in their famous duel.
Like Vidal's historical novels Julian and Creation, Burr contains an imaginary memoir. In fact, Vidal did meticulous research of hundreds of documents to come up with his alternative reading of history. In an afterword, the author maintains that in all but a few instances, the characters' actions and many of their words are based on actual historical records.
Indeed, the election of 1800 did result in a tie between Aaron Burr and Thomas Jefferson, and it took more than 30 ballots in the House of Representatives before Jefferson became president and Burr his vice president (as mandated by the election rules at the time). Many other incidents in the novel are verifiable in the historical record, including Jefferson owning (and probably fathering) slaves, James Wilkinson serving as a double agent for Spain, Alexander Hamilton being challenged to duels by opponents who felt slandered by him, and Burr's trial and acquittal on charges of treason. There are also many parallels in the novel to Aaron Burr's real memoir, written by Matthew L. Davis and published shortly after Burr's death.
The narrator in Burr is the fictional Charles ("Charlie") Schuyler, a young man of Dutch descent working as an apprentice in Burr's New York law office some 30 years after the treason trial. Charlie is not from a political family and is ambivalent about politics and practicing law. While procrastinating over the bar exam, he writes stories for newspapers and dreams about being a successful writer so he can move to Europe.
A major plot thread involves Vice President
(and presidential candidate) Martin Van Buren
, who is rumored to be Burr's illegitimate son. Charlie is enlisted by Van Buren's political enemies to glean facts about Van Buren from Burr. He is tempted by the promise of a fortune if he writes a pamphlet proving that Van Buren is Burr's bastard son, which would ruin the future president's political career. He is torn between honoring Burr, whom he admires, and gaining a fortune to take the woman he loves away to a new future. In the end, Charlie learns more than he could have imagined about Burr, Van Buren, and about his own character.
Perhaps the most controversial aspect of the novel is the premise that the "despicable" gossip spread by Hamilton which led to his death by Burr's bullet was that Burr had practiced incest with his beloved daughter, Theodosia. Though purely the speculation of author Vidal (albeit after some consideration of the evidence and probability), this ultimately fictional and unprovable plot device has been repeated as factual on the Internet and in less scholarly works.
Three parts follow in 1835:
. The third book in the series, 1876
, tells of Charlie Schuyler returning to the United States after having spent nearly forty years in Europe.
Gore Vidal
Gore Vidal is an American author, playwright, essayist, screenwriter, and political activist. His third novel, The City and the Pillar , outraged mainstream critics as one of the first major American novels to feature unambiguous homosexuality...
, is a historical novel
Historical novel
According to Encyclopædia Britannica, a historical novel is-Development:An early example of historical prose fiction is Luó Guànzhōng's 14th century Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which covers one of the most important periods of Chinese history and left a lasting impact on Chinese culture.The...
challenging the traditional iconography of United States history via narrative and a fictional memoir of Aaron Burr
Aaron Burr
Aaron Burr, Jr. was an important political figure in the early history of the United States of America. After serving as a Continental Army officer in the Revolutionary War, Burr became a successful lawyer and politician...
. Burr was variously the third US vice president, a US Army officer in and combat veteran of the Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
, a lawyer and a U.S. senator from New York. In an 1804 duel, while still vice president, Burr killed Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton was a Founding Father, soldier, economist, political philosopher, one of America's first constitutional lawyers and the first United States Secretary of the Treasury...
, who had been the first US Treasury Secretary.
Description
Burr is the first sequential novel of the author's seven-novel Narratives of EmpireNarratives of Empire
The Narratives of Empire series is a heptalogy of historical novels by Gore Vidal. Published between 1967 and 2000, they chronicle the history of Vidal's "American Empire", from dawn to decay, by interweaving the private stories of two fictional American families with the public stories of...
series. It portrays its eponymous anti-hero as a fascinating and honourable gentleman, and skewers most of his contemporaries, e.g. George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
, an incompetent general who lost most of his battles; Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
, with whom Burr tied for the presidency in the election of 1800
United States presidential election, 1800
In the United States Presidential election of 1800, sometimes referred to as the "Revolution of 1800," Vice-President Thomas Jefferson defeated President John Adams. The election was a realigning election that ushered in a generation of Democratic-Republican Party rule and the eventual demise of...
, as a fey, especially dark and pedantic hypocrite who schemed and bribed witnesses in support of a false charge of treason against Burr after almost losing the election to him; and Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton was a Founding Father, soldier, economist, political philosopher, one of America's first constitutional lawyers and the first United States Secretary of the Treasury...
, the bastard opportunist who rose with Washington, before Burr killed him in their famous duel.
Like Vidal's historical novels Julian and Creation, Burr contains an imaginary memoir. In fact, Vidal did meticulous research of hundreds of documents to come up with his alternative reading of history. In an afterword, the author maintains that in all but a few instances, the characters' actions and many of their words are based on actual historical records.
Indeed, the election of 1800 did result in a tie between Aaron Burr and Thomas Jefferson, and it took more than 30 ballots in the House of Representatives before Jefferson became president and Burr his vice president (as mandated by the election rules at the time). Many other incidents in the novel are verifiable in the historical record, including Jefferson owning (and probably fathering) slaves, James Wilkinson serving as a double agent for Spain, Alexander Hamilton being challenged to duels by opponents who felt slandered by him, and Burr's trial and acquittal on charges of treason. There are also many parallels in the novel to Aaron Burr's real memoir, written by Matthew L. Davis and published shortly after Burr's death.
The narrator in Burr is the fictional Charles ("Charlie") Schuyler, a young man of Dutch descent working as an apprentice in Burr's New York law office some 30 years after the treason trial. Charlie is not from a political family and is ambivalent about politics and practicing law. While procrastinating over the bar exam, he writes stories for newspapers and dreams about being a successful writer so he can move to Europe.
A major plot thread involves Vice President
Vice President of the United States
The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
(and presidential candidate) Martin Van Buren
Martin Van Buren
Martin Van Buren was the eighth President of the United States . Before his presidency, he was the eighth Vice President and the tenth Secretary of State, under Andrew Jackson ....
, who is rumored to be Burr's illegitimate son. Charlie is enlisted by Van Buren's political enemies to glean facts about Van Buren from Burr. He is tempted by the promise of a fortune if he writes a pamphlet proving that Van Buren is Burr's bastard son, which would ruin the future president's political career. He is torn between honoring Burr, whom he admires, and gaining a fortune to take the woman he loves away to a new future. In the end, Charlie learns more than he could have imagined about Burr, Van Buren, and about his own character.
Perhaps the most controversial aspect of the novel is the premise that the "despicable" gossip spread by Hamilton which led to his death by Burr's bullet was that Burr had practiced incest with his beloved daughter, Theodosia. Though purely the speculation of author Vidal (albeit after some consideration of the evidence and probability), this ultimately fictional and unprovable plot device has been repeated as factual on the Internet and in less scholarly works.
Narrative Frame
Vidal presents Burr's stories of the immediate post-Independence period more or less sequentially, but severally, as they are dictated to (and revised by) Charlie Schuyler, through the main section of the novel, called 1834, thus:- Chapter Ten : Memoirs of Aaron Burr--One
- Chapter Eleven : Memoirs of Aaron Burr--Two
- Chapter Twelve : Memoirs of Aaron Burr--Three, Memoirs of Aaron Burr--Four
- Chapter Thirteen : Memoirs of Aaron Burr--Five
- Chapter Fourteen : Memoirs of Aaron Burr--Six
- Chapter Fifteen : Memoirs of Aaron Burr--Seven
- Chapter Eighteen : Memoirs of Aaron Burr--Eight, Memoirs of Aaron Burr--Nine
- Chapter Nineteen : Memoirs of Aaron Burr--Ten
- Chapter Twenty : Memoirs of Aaron Burr--Eleven
- Chapter Twenty-one : Memoirs of Aaron Burr--Twelve
- Chapter Twenty-five : Memoirs of Aaron Burr--Thirteen
- Chapter Twenty-seven : Memoirs of Aaron Burr--Fourteen
- Chapter Twenty-eight : Memoirs of Aaron Burr--Fifteen
- Chapter Thity-two : Memoirs of Aaron Burr--Sixteen
- Chapter Thirty-four : Memoirs of Aaron Burr--Seventeen
- Chapter Thirty-six : Memoirs of Aaron Burr--Eighteen
Three parts follow in 1835:
- Chapter Two : Memoirs of Aaron Burr--Nineteen
- Chapter Five : Memoirs of Aaron Burr--Twenty
- Chapter Seven : Memoirs of Aaron Burr--Twenty-one
Narratives of Empire
Burr is the first in a series of novels in which Vidal follows generations of a fictional family through the history of the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The third book in the series, 1876
1876 (novel)
Gore Vidal's 1876 is the third historical novel in his Narratives of Empire series. It was published in 1976 and details the events of a year described by Vidal himself as "probably the low point in our republic's history."...
, tells of Charlie Schuyler returning to the United States after having spent nearly forty years in Europe.