Section ALife Section B Works

Born:In a wealthy knowledgeable family Family:Henry James,Sr(father),William James(brother), Mary Walsh(mother) ,Alice(younger sister)Famous Friends:Dean Howells

Life

Henry James,Sr( 1854)

Willim James(1859)

Childhood(1859)

Characteristics in my mind:

Sentimental,serious,restrained homo

• The first period(1865-1882):

• Major theme:the international theme

• Major works:• Daisy Miller 1897(won

his international fame)• The American 1877• The Europeans 1878• The Portrait of A Lady

1881

The international theme

Americans Europeans

over-refinement degeneration complexityhigh cultivation,

innocenceenthusiasmvulgarityignorance unsophistication freshnessfreedom individuality

The international theme refers to the moral and psychological complications when the American innocence encountered the European sophistication.

The second period (1882-1895):

• Major theme:experimented with different themes and forms(subtle studies of inter personal relationship).

• Major works:• The Bostonians • The Private Life • The death of a lion • The Beast in the Jungle • The Turn of the Screw.

The third period (1895-1916)

Major theme: a revival of the theme of innocence in a corrupted world and return to"the international theme".

Major works:The AmbassadorsThe Golden BowlThe Wings of the DoveThe American Scene

The Portrait of A Lady

• 伊莎贝尔·阿切尔，一位美国少女，父母双亡后，被她富有的姨母带到英国。在那，先后拒绝了英国贵族沃伯顿和美国富商戈德伍德的求婚。她的表兄拉尔夫也爱上她，但他知道自己患不治之症无法结婚，便说服父亲把一笔巨额遗产留给表妹。

• 伊莎贝尔又结识了梅尔夫人，对这位已彻底欧洲化了的美国女人十分倾倒。姨父死后，伊莎贝尔得到遗产去意大利游历。进入梅尔夫人布下的圈套。梅尔夫人介绍她认识了长期侨居意大利的美国人奥斯蒙德，外表儒雅斯文。伊莎贝尔为之动心；他的女儿帕茜，也引起她的爱怜。她不顾亲戚朋友的警告和反对，自作主张下嫁于他。

• 婚后她发现自己受骗，奥斯蒙德是平庸卑鄙的小人。她还发现梅尔夫人是奥斯蒙德的情妇，帕茜是他们的私生女。痛苦中，她强作欢颜，对外人隐瞒了婚姻的不幸。表兄拉尔夫在英国病危，伊莎贝尔不顾丈夫的反对赶去看他。拉尔夫死后，伊莎贝尔出乎众人的预料，又回到罗马。

Themes

independenceidentitycontrasting regionswomen and femininitypossessionpridewealthlovelies and deceit

Isabel Archer character analysis

• She is real and a lot of contradictions.

• kind

• lovable

• naive

• pitiful

• Over-independent

toughgloriousintelligentbrave responsibleOver-individual

Major Subjects

• Children• James wrote about children

as children,not as small adults.Typical example is What Maisie Knew.

• New woman• James' s fiction is filled with

female characters,not as sexual objects,never married,reticent from sexual passion.

• Artist• Many of James's novels and

short stories deal with the artist,whether he is a painter,a sculptor,author,or playwright.The author examined the artist to find out how the artist thinks about his audience,what problems the artist has in deciding what to write about,and how to write,or how to paint.This is a realist problem.

Literary Features of James

• Realism:represent life• The cultural conflict bet

ween Europe and America

• The psychological activities of character

• Dramatic effect• Ambiguity in attitude to

wards many things

Artistic features of Henry James

• International themes:James's fame generally rested upon his handing of the major fictional theme

• Psychological approach

• Point of view: internal monologue(illumination of the situation and

characters through one or several minds)

• Characterization: He portrays upper-class unmarried women inv

olved in various courtship rituals and marriage rites with upper-class men,and records the social splits that separate males from females in the nation's public life.

• Style:

a. over-elaborate styleb. Language: highly-refined,

polished, (文雅 ) insightful, accurate

c. Construction: complicated, intricate

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