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1、.,1,Henry James (1843-1916),.,2,Contents,Life story Literary Career and major works International theme Features of his works Evaluation Comparison with Howells and Twain,.,3,Life story,He was born into a wealthy cultured family of New England. Henry James was one of the few authors in American lite
2、rary history who did not have to worry about money. He was exposed to the cultural influence of Europe at a very early age. Later he met and developed a life-long friendship with William Dean Howells. For a while he attended the Harvard Law School but read literary works there. He toured England, Fr
3、ance and Italy, and met Flaubert and Trugenev who was then staying in Paris.,.,4,He wanted to be a critic in New York but could not endure the prevailing materialism. He settled down in London in 1876 and spent the rest of his life there. In 1915, he became a naturalized British citizen. James was n
4、ot married. He once loved his attractive cousinMinny Temple who died young.,.,5,Literary career and major works,Henry James was a prolific writer, psychological realistic writer, short-story writer, playwright, critic, essayist. He composed novels, travel papers, critical essays, plays, autobiograph
5、ies and a series of critical prefaces on the art of fiction. His literary career can be divided into three periods;,.,6,The first period (1865-1882) Major theme: the international theme, that is, the meeting of America and Europe, American innocence in contact and contrast with European decadence, t
6、he clashes between two different cultures and the moral and psychological problems. Major works: Daisy Miller 1879 won him international fame. The American 1877 The Europeans 1878 The Portrait of a Lady 1881,.,7,The second period (1882-1895): Major themes: experimented with different themes and form
7、s. He wrote his tales of inter-personal relationships, more English, focusing on realistic social life Major works: The Bostonians 1886 (a satire account of female emancipation in Boston), The Princess Casamassima 1886 (richly observed novel of anarchists and aristocrats in London) Short stories: Th
8、e Death of a Lion, The Middle Year,.,8,The third period (1895-1916) Major themes: returned to “the international theme”; developed mature and formidable style, and dwelt on peoples psychology when confronted with ethical problems. He wrote a few novellas and tales dealing with childhood and adolesce
9、nce.青少年意识小说、国际题材小说 Major works: The Wings of the Dove 1902 The Ambassadors 1903 The Golden Bowl 1904 The last 3 ones represent the summit of his art,.,9,鸽翼写一位英国记者为钱财追求一个患有不治之症的美国姑娘的故事。 使节描绘一位高雅的法国女人对一个美国阔少所产生的难以抗拒的魅力 金碗通过一段继母与女婿私通的故事引发出了许多涉及道德问题的思索 这些小说大多颂扬美国资产阶级高尚的品德。它们基本以人物微妙的内心活动为主，有时冗长烦琐 ，并显得晦涩难
10、解。,.,10,International Theme,It refers to the meeting of America and Europe, American innocence in contact and contrast with European decadence, and its moral and psychological complications, conflicts between New and Old world; traditional, innocent, honest American v.s complex, sophisticated, snobb
11、ish, arrogant, vain Europeans; American freshness of impulse, moral integrity, candor of heart vs complexity deviousness of the European mentality.,.,11,Marriage and love are used by James as the focal point of the confrontation between the two value systems, and the protagonist usually goes through
12、 a painful process of the spiritual growth, gaining knowledge of good and evil from the conflicts, as in The Portrait of a Lady,.,12,with the development of his artistic vision and accumulation of his experience, the cultural contrast between nations tends to wear thin and James soon transcends it b
13、y realizing that underneath the surface of national differences lies the universal of human nature that claims more attention. consequently, he develops his fictional universe from the restricted American-European theme to an exploration of profound and universal questions in his later literary ende
14、avors.,.,13,Daisy Miller,Plot Themes Characterization,.,14,Daisy Miller,Plot: it is a novel about American innocence defeated by the stiff, traditional values of Europe. Daisy brings her “free” American spirit to Europe. She looks at people as individuals, rather than as members of a social class. D
15、espite her goodness, she is completely misunderstood by the European characters. She meets a young American, who had lived in Europe a long time and had taken on the same kind of coldness. The coldness of these people finally leads Daisy to her death.,.,15,Themes: this story serves as both a psychol
16、ogical description of the mind of a young woman, and an analysis of the traditional views of a society where she is a clear outsider. Henry James uses Daisys story to discuss what he thinks Europeans and Americans believe about each other, and more generally the prejudices common in any culture.,.,1
17、6,Characterization: The names of the characters are symbolic. Daisy is a flower in full bloom, without inhibitions and in the springtime of her life. Daisy contrasts sharply with Winterbourne, who is more ambivalent and unwilling to commit to any relationship. Flowers die in winter and this is preci
18、sely what happens to Daisy, after catching the Roman Fever or, to put it more bluntly, the attention of foreign men. As an objective analogue to this psychological reality, Daisy catches the very real Roman fever, the malaria that was endemic to many Roman neighborhoods in the 19th century.,.,17,A P
19、ortrait of Lady,Plot Major themes Literary significance Howells concerned himself chiefly with middle class life; Mark Twain dealt largely with the lower strata of society. Technically, Howells wrote in the vein of genteel realism, James pursued an “imaginative” treatment of reality or psychological realism, but Mark Twains contribution to the development of realism and to American literature as a whole was partly through his theories of localism in American fiction, and partly through his colloquial style.,