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Kâtip Bartleby
On Wall Street, a lawyer decides to hire another clerk for his office. This diligent clerk, Bartleby, arrives earlier than everyone else and leaves later, but he has one peculiar trait: he prefers not to do things. As the lawyer tries to deal with Bartleby's unwillingness, he finds himself embroiled in a confrontation.
"Nothing irritates a serious person as much as passive resistance."
In Herman Melville's story, "Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall-Street," Bartleby is a copyist or clerk hired by a Wall Street lawyer who is responsible for ensuring the legality of his wealthy clients' financial transactions and property holdings ("I am perfectly suited to a business of this kind; I am, in fact, quite well adapted to it"). The lawyer, the narrator of Bartleby's story, describes himself as a cautious and prudent man. He was employed by John Jacob Astor, and he mentions that Astor's name has a round, circular sound and resonates like a bar of gold. John Jacob Astor is a real historical figure, a wealthy man at the forefront of the labor market and land monopoly, and a prominent figure in the business and political life of New York in the 1840s.
For the lawyer, Bartleby was the strangest clerk he had ever encountered. When Bartleby appeared at the lawyer's office in response to the job advertisement, he was pale, impeccably clean, pitiably respectable, and utterly despondent.
Herman Melville's story, published in 1853, is a modern work that has sparked numerous and diverse interpretations since its publication. While it has been analyzed through medical, psychoanalytic, historical, philosophical, and political-economic perspectives, the story continues to maintain its quality of being open to multiple interpretations and remains a subject of ongoing research.
As a story that resonates with the modern capitalist world, this narrative, set against the backdrop of 19th-century capitalism and the rigid world of capitalist modernity, presents a historical panorama through the narrator, a lawyer, and his ambivalent account of Bartleby. It offers a critical perspective on the alienation created by this soulless world, the isolation of modern working life, and the oppressive laws that prevent rest.
What relevance can the financial center of a bygone era and Bartleby's words, originating from the 19th century, have for the world of today?
Cihangir Studio Stage (CAS) is exploring this issue in its new theater season...
"Nothing irritates a serious person as much as passive resistance."
In Herman Melville's story, "Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall-Street," Bartleby is a copyist or clerk hired by a Wall Street lawyer who is responsible for ensuring the legality of his wealthy clients' financial transactions and property holdings ("I am perfectly suited to a business of this kind; I am, in fact, quite well adapted to it"). The lawyer, the narrator of Bartleby's story, describes himself as a cautious and prudent man. He was employed by John Jacob Astor, and he mentions that Astor's name has a round, circular sound and resonates like a bar of gold. John Jacob Astor is a real historical figure, a wealthy man at the forefront of the labor market and land monopoly, and a prominent figure in the business and political life of New York in the 1840s.
For the lawyer, Bartleby was the strangest clerk he had ever encountered. When Bartleby appeared at the lawyer's office in response to the job advertisement, he was pale, impeccably clean, pitiably respectable, and utterly despondent.
Herman Melville's story, published in 1853, is a modern work that has sparked numerous and diverse interpretations since its publication. While it has been analyzed through medical, psychoanalytic, historical, philosophical, and political-economic perspectives, the story continues to maintain its quality of being open to multiple interpretations and remains a subject of ongoing research.
As a story that resonates with the modern capitalist world, this narrative, set against the backdrop of 19th-century capitalism and the rigid world of capitalist modernity, presents a historical panorama through the narrator, a lawyer, and his ambivalent account of Bartleby. It offers a critical perspective on the alienation created by this soulless world, the isolation of modern working life, and the oppressive laws that prevent rest.
What relevance can the financial center of a bygone era and Bartleby's words, originating from the 19th century, have for the world of today?
Cihangir Studio Stage (CAS) is exploring this issue in its new theater season...
Date & Time
Start
22 November 2026, Sunday
20:30
End
22 November 2026, Sunday
22:30
Location - Cihangir Atölye Sahnesi
Ticketed Event
