Advertising the Self: The Culture of Personality in E. B. White’s Charlotte’s Web

Abstract

E. B. White’s Charlotte’s Web reflects the emergence of what Warren I. Susman has termed the “culture of personality.” This shift from an older culture of character to a newer culture of personality is thrown into sharp relief in the novel, which juxtaposes the bucolic Zuckerman farm against an emerging consumeristic society in which self-promotion has become necessary for success. While White acknowledges the need for confident self-promotion, he also interrogates the culture of personality, resurrecting aspects of the culture of character as a corrective to the competitive and egoistic norms of modern life.