The Fortunes of Oliver Horn

"The Fortunes of Oliver Horn" by Francis Hopkinson Smith is a set in the mid-19th century that explores themes of ambition, family expectations, and the quest for self-identity during a time of societal change. The narrative centers around young Oliver Horn and his relationship with his father, Richard Horn, a passionate inventor, as Oliver struggles between his own artistic aspirations and the weight of familial expectations to follow a more conventional path in law, as his father once did.