Three Lives

American author Gertrude Stein’s first published book, Three Lives (1909), comprises three stories, “The Good Anna,” “Melanctha,” and “The Gentle Lena.” Each tale takes place in the fictional town of Bridgepoint, modeled after Baltimore, Maryland. While independent of each other, the tales center on working-class women struggling to find and express their identities, dreams, hopes, and aspirations in a society geared toward keeping them down. The three stories are based on artists Cezanne, Matisse, and Picasso’s, influence on Stein. Three Lives was also inspired by Gustave Flaubert’s Three Tales, which Stein’s brother Leo encouraged her to translate in 1904 to improve her French. The compilation has been praised as one of the earliest examples of literary modernism, cementing Stein’s status as one of the most influential writers of her time.

Set in the fictional city of Bridgepoint, “The Good Anna” follows Anna Federner, a German servant woman whose primary goal in life is to help others. Part one of the story details Anna’s happy life working as a housekeeper for Miss Mathilda. While Anna is a servant, her duties don’t always fulfill her need for caretaking. Anna describes her struggles with under servants and stray cats and dogs. After five years, Anna becomes the head of the household, presiding over subordinates Lizzy, Molly, Katy, and Sallie. While clearly in charge, Miss Mathilda expresses concern for Anna’s generosity toward poor friends, often giving away her money to them.

The second part of the story concerns Anna’s background. Born in Germany, Anna emigrates to the south in her teens, where her mother passes away from consumption. Anna moves to Bridgepoint near her brother, a baker, and begins housekeeping for Miss Mary Wadsmith and her orphaned niece and nephew. The former, Little Jane, resents Anna at first but soon comes to respect her, gifting her with a green parrot. When Jane gets married six years later, Anna chooses not to accompany Mary to her new household. Anna finds work with Doctor Shonjen, a bachelor who had previously operated on Anna, whose health remains poor. Anna visits her brother but clashes with her sister-in-law. However, Anna helps with her savings when their daughter, Anna’s goddaughter niece, is married. When Anna’s replacement in Mary’s household, Mrs. Lehntman, decides to open a boarding house, Anna begrudgingly lends her the necessary funding. Doctor Shonjen marries a “proud” and “unpleasant” woman, causing Anna to seek work elsewhere. A fortuneteller leads her on the path to Miss Mathilda.



The last part of story, “The Death of Good Anna,” details Anna’s final years. Mathilda leaves Anna her house, and the housekeeper continues taking in lodgers despite charging too little money. As a result, Anna relieves Sallie of her duties. Following an operation at Mrs. Drehtman’s behest, “the good Anna with her strong, strained, worn-out bodied died.” Mathilda is given the news in a letter written by Mrs. Drehtman. “The Good Anna” is partially inspired by Flaubert’s first story in Three Tales.

Stein’s second and longest novella in Three Lives is entitled “Melanctha,” and has become a milestone in literary modernism since its release. The story revolves around a mulatto woman named Melanctha Herbert, who despite being extremely beautiful and well-educated, suffers from severe depression. As a result, she fails to achieve her dreams and build a meaningful future for herself. Born in segregated Bridgepoint to a black father and mixed-race mother, Melanctha is constantly dissatisfied with her station in life. The story opens late in Melanctha’s latter years, as she nurses friend Rose Johnson during the birth of her baby. After the baby dies, the narrator uses several flashbacks to depict Melanctha’s hardscrabble childhood.

One such example includes a life-defining row with her father, James Herbert, which culminates in Melanctha prevailing. From there, Melanctha begins wandering her whole life in search for a certain quality that defies definition. Stein never articulates what it is Melanctha desperately searches for, making her a kind of rebel symbolic of a woman’s longing for something more. Throughout the story, Melanctha sets out to end her unhappiness by exploring passions and obtaining wisdom, knowledge and power. Many failed attempts ensue until Melanctha eventually meets a young doctor named Jefferson Campbell. Rather than chart the progress of their relationship, Stein’s experimental story emphasizes the emotional process of their attempts to know and communicate with each other.



As Melanctha flirts with men in search for a deeper connection, she begins feeling “blue” and miserable. When Rose turns Melanctha away from her home, Melanctha is crestfallen and becomes ill. Yet, Melanctha succumbs less to her physical illness and more to her profound sense of despair, often complaining about feeling “sick,” “hurt,” and in “pain.” In the end of the story, Melanctha dies of consumption, more commonly known as tuberculosis. Stein uses repetition, new words, ambiguous diction, and grammatically incorrect sentences to form a new kind of language and aesthetic. Themes of race, sex, identity, and gender all play a vital role in Melanctha.

The third novella in Three Lives is entitled “The Gentle Lena.” Similar to Anna, Lena is of German descent and works as a servant. Brought to Bridgepoint as a child by her cousin, the story chronicles the life and death of Lena, who isn’t a particularly happy person. After becoming a servant in America, Lena ultimately marries a man named Herman Kreder, the son of German émigrés. Lena and Herman are both extremely passive people who only decide to get married to appease their elders. Lena and Herman have three children together despite growing more and more distant from one another. A fourth baby is expected, but neither Lena nor the infant survive childbirth. Herman doesn’t seem to mind the death of his wife and newborn, with the narrator noting that he is “very well content now…with his three good, gentle children.”