ABSTRACT
Vernon Louis Parrington explains, to use the popular phrase, it has been evolved, along with and because of the evolution of society. The impact of evolutionary thinking as it affected late nineteenth-century literary criticism is markedly apparent in the outline of Parrington’s argument and in the diction of the passage. Parrington’s initial Harvard diary entry illustrates the duty-bound conscience—striving to fulfill his parents’ wishes and to continue his own closely monitored program of self-development—that lies at the center of Riesman’s concept of the inner-directed personality. His early 1892 diary reveals a more positive and relaxed frame of mind toward both his studies and his Harvard environment. When Parrington boarded the boat for Maine after successfully completing his junior exams and attending Harvard’s baccalaureate and commencement exercises, he was in the curious position of already possessing a bachelor’s degree. Eighteenth-Century British Literature was the only upper-division course Parrington took at Harvard.
