ABSTRACT
The greatest novelists have always used their material in such a way that symbol and allegory have emerged seemingly without the conscious manipulation of the writer. English and American novelists, with their special affinity for actuality, their allegiance to the medium of prose and its implicit logic, have traditionally been equivocal about the conscious use of symbols and frankly suspicious of the organization of symbols into allegory. 'For even satire is a form of sympathy'. Lawrence's passing intuition in Lady Chatterleys Lover accurately defines satire in the first and second phases of the Anglo-American novel, but it lacks validity in the third phase. English satire in the nineteenth century was both purer and more refined than the American variety. Native American satire in the nineteenth century typically faltered at the social theme and turned to burlesque; Henry Adams's Democracy, however, represents the closest treatment of manners outside of James that was produced.
