The Paradise of Bachelors and the Tartarus of Maids

"The Paradise of Bachelors and the Tartarus of Maids" is a short story written by American writer Herman Melville.

[1] A combination of two sketches, one set in the center of London's legal industry and the other in a New England paper factory, this story can be read as an early comment on globalization.

In the first sketch, the London bachelors, all lawyers, scholars, or writers, enjoy a sumptuous meal in a cozy apartment near the Temple Bar.

Melville was inspired to write "The Paradise of Bachelors" by a trip to the Inns of Court in December 1849.

"The Tartarus of Maids" was inspired by his visit to Carson's Old Red Paper Mill in Dalton, Massachusetts in January, 1851.

An engraving of a room with book shelves.
The Room over Temple Bar , 1876, Frederick Wentworth after WPH
Black and white photograph of a one-storey building with one door and five windows surrounded by leafless trees.
Crane and Company Old Stone Mill Rag Room in 1988. [ 2 ]