Evan Altman
12 December 2000

Twain's Connecticut Yankee and the Question of Plagiarism

It is often said of the craft of writing that good authors borrow, but great writers steal. It is also said that Samuel Langhorne Clemens, known to the world as Mark Twain, was a great author. Twain's standing in the literary world is unchallenged by most. He has left a broad legacy, both in his own country and throughout the world. The combination of the first idea of the felonious habits of writers with Twain's reputation, then, would lead to the possibility that Mark Twain, quite probably the greatest author in American history, did not deal entirely with original material. Perhaps this, though, is not a strong enough statement. By examining A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, along with previous Arthurian works, it becomes clear that Twain's words were not all his own. Twain's Connecticut Yankee was influenced by, and borrowed heavily from, earlier Arthurian works by American authors.

Though they are not American, it is necessary to note the contributions of history's most well know Arthurians. Both Sir Thomas Malory and Alfred, Lord Tennyson had a tremendous effect on Twain's work. The most obvious of Twain's influences was Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte D'Arthur. While on a lecture tour, George W. Cable, a friend of Twain's, recommended the book. Twain could not even set Le Morte down and it soon became one of his favorites (Kaplan 143). This affection could not keep Malory safe from Twain's attacks, though, as much of Connecticut Yankee's satire is directed at its predecessor's conventions. Though Tennyson did not play as large a role in Connecticut Yankee's construction, it is likely that his idyllic portrayal of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table was a target of Twain's. Despite his clear allusions to these previous authors, though, Twain owed the greatest debt to American writers.

Connecticut Yankee was greatly responsible for the foundation and expansion of the American Arthurian tradition. Twain established a standard by which future Arthurian literature would spring. He is credited with the "Americanization" of the legend of King Arthur and his knights. By stripping away the idyllic, courtly aspects of the Round Table, Twain removed much of the mystique and glory of the legend. He added in its place the down to earth facets of everyday life. These facets are known attributes of American literature and have since crept more heavily into the Arthurian legend. Twain had other influences as well, as stated by H. Bruce Franklin. In his article, "Traveling in Time with Mark Twain," Franklin credits Connecticut Yankee as being "the first fiction to explore philosophical and political paradoxes inherent both in the very conception of time travel and in Anglo-European perceptions of time" (Scholnick 159). Not only did Twain influence the way authors would deal with legend, but he also affected the way they would deal with the future. Because of the popularity of A Connecticut Yankee, Mark Twain is often viewed as the pioneer of the Arthurian tradition in America. Even with all of this to his credit, however, he was by no means the first to bring the Arthurian legend to America; he was simply the biggest.

One of the first authors to poke fun at the Arthurian legend, this Twain predecessor made a "deliberate mockery of the chivalric ideals of Tennyson's Camelot" (Lupak 35). A poet by nature, Fawcett is considered "one of the most noteworthy sonnet-writers in America" (sonnets.org). It is his contribution to the American Arthurian tradition, however, that is interesting in dealing with the question of Connecticut Yankee's originality. Fawcett, like Twain, was unhappy with Tennyson's portrayal of Arthur's court. His contribution to the legend is embodied in the humorous work, "The New King Arthur: An Opera Without Music."

This play derives its humor from a satirical view of the Knights of the Round Table and their various idiosyncrasies. Though much of his intent and some of his humor is shared by Twain, it is not likely that Edgar Fawcett had a great deal of influence on Connecticut Yankee's composition. The aspects of humor and satire are clearly shared by both authors. The same is true for their treatment of the vaunted legend. Both Twain and Fawcett regard the previous literary views of Arthur's court with disdain. When dealing with the probability of influence, though, it is necessary to examine the conventions of specific works. Fawcett uses word play and inversion of Tennyson's ideal portrayal to conjure his humor. Twain, on the other hand, deals with biting satire of the church, despotism, and chivalry in order to elicit his laughs. While it is possible that Twain had read Fawcett prior to writing Connecticut Yankee, the poet's "The New King Arthur" was not on Twain's mind when he laid pen to paper.

Another American author, Oscar Fay Adams, also chose Tennyson as the target of his writing. Adams "responds to Tennyson in a similarly [to Fawcett] mocking tone" (37) as he re-tells the story of Arthur using the Idylls as a basis. The blank nature of Adams' verse mirrors the rather dark, blank nature of his work "Gawain and Marjorie." He tells the story of two young people in love and how that love goes unrequited. The lack of a successful conclusion to "Gawain and Marjorie" was certainly not unprecedented, but Adams did include certain aspects that were not common to the Arthurian legend. Adams' work focuses more on the ordinary, rather than the extraordinary, nature of life. Alan and Barbara Tepa Lupak state that, "Typical of American literature, [Adams] shift[s] the focus to everyday concerns" (37). Perhaps the greatest contribution Adams has is portrayal of the "snake in the grass." This is the idea that no matter how well things may seem on the surface, there is always something dark and evil slithering just out of sight. However, as the story ends, all of the hope is dashed. This facet of Arthurian literature is one that appears in Twain's work as well.

There is great similarity in the approaches Adams and Twain take in their treatment of legend. Twain's "approach has a thematic analogue in a number of later Arthurian works which question the possibility of achieving the glorious dream of Arthur's kingdom or of remaining an innocent in a world that, however Edenic it may seem, always has a serpent in the garden" (Lupak 58). The same can be said for Adams, who came before Twain. As with Fawcett, though, it is again unlikely that Twain drew much from Adams. He may have read "Gawain and Marjorie," but Twain's story has no direct parallels with the tragic tale of the two lovers. Any similarities are probably derived from the fact that both authors were writing in a style common to American writers. Both attempted to inject the Arthurian legend with a sense of the ordinary. Twain, however, succeeded in doing so on a much larger scale.

Though Max Adeler was not known as an Arthurian author, his work "The Fortunate Island" may have influenced Twain more than any other. In order to deal with Adeler and his story, it is first necessary to deal with their names. Both the man and the work had several different titles in their existences. Max Adeler was actually one of the pseudonyms -- the other was John Quill -- used by author Charles Heber Clark (Publication History 28). Likewise, "The Fortunate Island" was originally titled "Professor Baffin's Adventures." It has been theorized that the name change occurred because a reprinting of Adeler's collection, "The Fortunate Island and Other Stories," resulted in the attribution of the book's title to the story in question (Publication History 29). Nonetheless, the story was available to the public, and "it would appear, then, that, some years before Mark Twain set about writing A Connecticut Yankee, 'Professor Baffin's Adventures/The Fortunate Island' could be read in three different books" (Publication History 30).

A brief sketch of Adeler's work quickly reveals it many similarities with Twain's Connecticut Yankee. As the story opens, Professor E.L. Baffin and his daughter Matilda are set afloat in the professor's liferaft following a shipwreck. The displaced Americans soon land on an island, one that the natives claim had broken off from England in the time of King Arthur. The culture and lifestyle have not altered a bit from those of the 6^th Century, though time has progressed a great deal. Professor Baffin proceeds to be indoctrinated into the life of the island, while at the same time sharing his knowledge of technology and innovation. He and Matilda encounter kings, knights, and an ever-annoying chivalric code. After nearly one week on the island, an American ship arrives. The professor and his daughter board with the intent of returning to the island, but a sudden storm blows the ship from shore. A blow to the head renders the professor unconscious and, after waking, his tales of adventure on the island are believed by his daughter and the ship's crew to be no more than a dream. It is true from a simple overview that "The Fortunate Island" has much in common with Twain's work. With a closer view of the material, it becomes evident that the similarities are more than just coincidence (Fortunate Island).

The presence of humor is something that both "The Island" and Connecticut Yankee share. Both Twain and Adeler go to lengths to place their protagonists in situations which are funny to the reader. Edward Foster notes this in "A Connecticut Yankee Anticipated: Max Adeler's Fortunate Island," writing, "[Baffin's] nineteenth-century reactions to the discomforts of medieval housing and armor, and to the forwardness of medieval maidens lead to a number of humorous situations similar to those of Hank Morgan" (Foster 74). The ideas of courtship, marriage, kingdoms, and adventures are responsible for a great deal of humor in both works. Both the professor and Hank are enlisted to ride to the aid of captured damsels. Both men must arm themselves and must deal with the discomforts of that act. Adeler's protagonist is forced to gird himself with armor that was "a size or two too large for him" and made him feel "as if he weighed at least three thousand pounds" (Fortunate Island 19). After spending a "considerable amount of difficulty in adjusting the pieces properly" Professor Baffin makes "a futile attempt to bend his elbows so that he could embrace [his daughter]" (19). Further trials ensue, all stemming from the nature of the protective gear. Hank's first experience with armor and its inconveniences were much the same as the professor's, showing that creating humor through the impracticality of medieval conventions was not an original thought from Mark Twain. Though Twain's humor is at times much darker than Adeler's, its origin is very much the same.

Even more alike, though, is the use of 19^th Century innovation in a 6^th Century world. Professor Baffin and Hank Morgan each use "modern inventions to awe the natives and demonstrate the superiority of . . . achievement" (Foster 75). Among the inventions the professor shares are an umbrella, a watch, matches, cigars, and even a revolver. After the professor exhibits the telegraph to King Brandegore, the King gave the professor "exclusive concessions of the right to build lines within his dominions" (Fortunate Island 24). In addition to the telegraph, and later, the telephone, "Sir Bleoberis had procured several skillful armorers, and under the directions of the Professor they undertook to construct, in rather a crude fashion, a small steam engine" (24) that would eventually be placed aboard a boat. In Connecticut Yankee, Hank Morgan endeavors to connect all of England by "building several lines of railway" (CY 228). Hank had even succeeded in putting "a steamboat or two on the Thames" (228). He, like the professor, uses his knowledge and enlists capable men to do the work. While not exact matches, these parallels to Hank Morgan are too bold to miss.

An even stronger tie than innovation alone is the way in which some items are used. Revolvers, for instance, are employed by both protagonists in order to keep their adversaries at bay. Hank's exploits are much greater, but when the professor was forced to duel, he "fired, and the cavalier's horse rolled in the dirt" (Fortunate Island 29). By comparison, readers will see that Hank Morgan drew his weapon, "there was a flash and a roar," and "Here was a riderless horse plunging by" (CY 226). It is very interesting to note that the professor is dueling with one of Sir Sagramor's knights while Hank Morgan's first victim was Sir Sagramour himself. Before the dueling incident, "Adeler . . . contrives a massacre" (Foster 75). Before leaving his boat, "The Professor stopped to make the fire in the furnace more brisk, and to tie down the safety valve" (Fortunate Island 27). After putting a good distance between himself and the boat, the professor looks back to see "the boat torn to fragments," (28) killing three men. This massacre was by no means the genocide that Twain depicts, but its effect is quite the same. While these tails of destruction link the two stories closely, there are yet more ties between them.

Not only are certain details of the plot similar, but the basic frames of the stories are alike. Each deals with a sort of travel through time, a displacement of the 19^th Century into the 6^th. Furthermore, although Adeler's "'frame' does not involve the temporal displacement and regression of an individual, the net dramatic effect is the same as that of A Connecticut Yankee" (Foster 74). What can be made of the endings of each of the protagonists' adventures? Both men fall asleep and awake to a world different from that which they left. Hank is put to rest by a spell from Merlin and sleeps for thirteen centuries. The professor, on the other hand, is thrown headfirst into a chest by a "lurch of the vessel" (Fortunate Island 31) and lays unconscious for several days. Their stories are largely unbelievable and they have no real proof of their journeys. Technicalities aside, these conventions of the plots are nearly identical.

Professor E.L. Baffin and his counterpart, Hank Morgan, though completely different men, share many characteristics. As Foster states, "Both men share one important trait with equal force: the American zeal for progress, self-improvement, and getting ahead" (74). Hank and the professor exude Americanism from their pores. Each man is so confident in their culture and its advancements that they cannot help but teach it to everyone else. As Hank established numerous schools and factories, so the Professor Baffin planned a series of lectures on everything from Sociology to optics. Another striking resemblance in the characters is their ingenuity. Though E.L. Baffin is a professor of sociology, he is able to lay telephone cable and plan the construction of a steam engine. Since Hank is used to working with his hands, it is obvious that he would be able to design and build various machines as well. In addition to using their devices to try to better their new worlds, both men also realize the intrinsic value of the "magical" powers their work possesses. Though the similarities between Hank and the professor abound, it is difficult to claim that they came because of any influence of one work on the other. The likeness between the two men most probably springs from the fact that they are stereotypical Americans.

Though Twain's story contains numerous similarities to "The Fortunate Island," it holds many differences as well. Much of these spring from the fact that Twain transposed many of his own ideas and plot innovations over Adeler's basic frame. A Connecticut Yankee's satire is much more bitter and politically charged than "Fortunate Island's." While Adeler derives humor simply from the incongruency of two differenct eras, Twain uses his novel to attack the Catholic Church, royalty, and England in general. Twain's protagonist even attempts to "overthrow the Catholic Church and set up the Protestant faith on its ruins" (CY 228). Twain envisioned a slaughter of thousands and thousands of men, while Adeler conceived a minor explosion with three casualties. Another detail, one that might first seem trivial, is the difference in characters in the two works. Twain deals directly with the characters and events of Arturiana, while Adeler chooses to create his own branch of the legend. With A Connecticut Yankee, Twain simply had more room to deal with a number of complex subjects. He included much more depth and a great deal of significance to his satire. It is in this area of complexity and intent that Twain and Adeler differ the greatest.

In the end, though, the countless similarities outweigh the differences. Like Adams and Fawcett before him, Adeler dealt with a treatment of the Arthurian legend that deviated from past portrayals. His humor and his addition of everyday aspects can be seen as characteristics of American literature. Under these pretenses, Twain would seem to owe no more to "The Fortunate Island" than to any other work. Once the details of the works are uncovered, though, the truth arises. There are numerous parallels between Twain and Adeler that are simply too blatant to miss. Encounters, objects, and names are shared by both stories. Nevertheless, while it is obvious that Twain was indebted to Adeler, his plagiaristic intent is not so obvious.

Max Adeler himself was positive that Twain had pirated his ideas. He even went so far as to include a simple note about Twain's action on the first page of a reprinting of "The Fortunate Island." The note read simply: "It is necessary to say that this tale was first published 1881 and antedates a story with a similar theme by a noted author" (Inspiration 25). Judging from the similarities between the two stories, it would seem that Twain most certainly received some influence from Adeler. The question then arises: how extensive and how intentional was it? Ketterer offers the opinion "that Mark Twain had, at least subconsciously, derived the essential idea and specific incidents for A Connecticut Yankee from " 'The Fortunate Island'" (Inspiration 25). This idea of subconscious plagiarism offers a simple explanation for some of the parallels between the two stories. It is conceivable that Twain had read Adeler's work and simply incorporated certain aspects of it into his own by accident. Judging from the extent of the similarities, though, the idea of subconscious plagiarism does not provide a full answer. In order to find a more complete solution, Twain's own words and career must be taken into account.

It is known that Mark Twain began his career as a newspaper humor columnist. According to Horst J. Kruse, in a job such as this, "'borrowing' was more or less common practice and even essential" (10). Kruse also states that Twain was extremely touchy where the subject of plagiarism, either intentional or subconscious, was involved (10). This sentiment is quite at adds with a quote from Twain himself, who boldly claimed: "the last man gets the credit and we forget the others, . . . ninety-nine parts of all things that proceed from the intellect are plagiarisms, pure and simple" (Inspiration 25). This is seemingly an admission of guilt on Twain's part. Whether he is speaking specifically about A Connecticut Yankee or just the typesetting machine, he appears to be incriminating himself. But even if Twain himself admitted guilt, what can be taken from this?

By understanding the origins of Twain's work, it is possible to better understand the Arthurian legend. It is true that Twain had read Adeler's story before beginning his own work. By recognizing and accepting this as fact, followers and students of the Arthurian tradition are actually gaining another piece of the legend's puzzle. "The Fortunate Island" can be read and taught along with A Connecticut Yankee. Ideally, "The Fortunate Island" could be published along with A Connecticut Yankee. Placing both works together would certainly make comparison easy. Just the controversy of the issue could give birth to a wealth of discussion and research topics. Mark Twain fans would have an opportunity to view the first model of one of his stories. Adding "The Fortunate Island" to the recognized cannon of American Arthurian literature would not diminish Twain's standing, but rather, would provide insight and background for A Connecticut Yankee.

Following from this, naturally, is the question of the difference in the popularity of the two works. Why is Twain read but Adeler not? Much of the answer can be found in the size of the works. A Connecticut Yankee is a novel while Adeler's work is simply a short story. It was originally published with several other works in a collection or as a single story among many in a literary journal. "The Fortunate Island" could have been easily overlooked or overshadowed in this form. The authors' names would have had a huge effect as well. Max Adeler was only a "minor humorist" (Inspiration 24), while Mark Twain was a widely respected author. Both Max Adeler and "The Fortunate Island" were never very popular and as time passed, both the man and the story faded into obscurity. Another, perhaps more superficial reason, for the fading of Adeler's tale is that is does not specifically involve King Arthur or the Knights of the Round Table. They are briefly mentioned, but presence is absent. Twain's novel deals with the characters and events immortalized time and time again throughout literary history.

Though intertextuality and common themes abound in literature, particularly when dealing with the Arthurian legend, it can be concluded that "The Fortunate Island" profoundly influenced A Connecticut Yankee. In order for a legend to grow, it must be passed on from one storyteller to another. Even the Bible was handed down by word of mouth before appearing in writing. All stories must begin with a single author or speaker. From that point, they are re-told or copied by others, all the while gaining new facets and, perhaps, greater fame. This is true in the case of Max Adeler's "Fortunate Island." Adeler laid the foundation for what was to become the father of the American Arthurian legend. In mirroring the adventures of Professor E.L. Baffin, Twain was guilty of the same kind of plagiarism that brings innovation. In this case, though, Twain was the giant standing on the shoulders of men.

Works Cited

 

Adams, Oscar Fay. "Gawain and Marjorie." The Camelot Project. <www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/adamsgaw.htm.>

Adeler, Max. "The Fortunate Island." The Camelot Project. <www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/adeler.htm>

Clemens, Samuel Langhorne. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. New York: Norton, 1982.

Fawcett, Edgar. "The New King Arthur: An Opera Without Words." The Camelot Project. <www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/fawcett/htm>

Foster, Edward. "A Connecticut Yankee Anticipated by Max Adeler's Fortunate Island." Ball State University Forum 9.4 (Autumn 1968): 73-76.

Franklin, H. Bruce. "Traveling in Time with Mark Twain." In American Literature and Science. Ed. Robert J. Scholnick. Lexington: University of Kentucky Press, 1992. Pp. 156-71.

Ketterer, David. "'The Fortunate Island' by Max Adeler: Its Publication History and A Connecticut Yankee." Mark Twain Journal 29.2 (Fall 1991): 28-32.

Ketterer, David. "'Professor Baffin's Adventures' by Max Adeler: The Inspiration for A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court?" Mark Twain Journal 24.1 (Spring 1986): 24-34.

Kruse, Horst H. "Literary Old Offenders: Mark Twain, John Quill, Max Adeler and Their Plagiarism Duels." Mark Twain Journal 29.2 (Fall 1991): 10-27.

Lupak, Alan and Barbara Tepa Lupak. "Reaction to Tennyson: Parody." King Arthur in America. Cambridge: D.S. Brewer, 1999.

Mark Twain: A Collection of Critical Essays. Henry Nash Smith, ed. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1963.

Sharp, William. Sonnet Central. "Nineteenth Century American Sonnets." <www.sonnets.org/fawcett.htm>