Analysing the Female Characters in Henry James' Fiction

3999 Words8 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The great expectations by charles dickens analysis

Analysing the Female Characters in Henry James' Fiction ‘A woman it seems to me has no natural place anywhere;

wherever she finds herself, she has to remain on the surface and more

or less to control’

Discuss James’ representations of ‘places’ for women in his novels.

There is an impressive range of female characters in Henry James’

fiction. Drawn to the world of wealth and leisure as a subject, a

world which was at the same time, ironically the context for his own

hermetic labours as a writer, James perhaps inevitably came to

concentrate on the feminine. Correspondingly, most of his male

characters seem to be concentrating on women too.

It seems a woman’s place and her relationship with others in James’s

novels is to act as a sign. Through the exploration of women as signs

in James’ novels, I will focus on a specific pattern and try to trace

a development in his use of women as sign and women as consciousness,

and the implications each has for the other. I will thus concentrate

on Daisy Miller, The American and The Portrait of a Lady which seem to

me to exemplify various stages of treatment in this pattern. Also

these texts form a chronological progression, so that in the early

stories the figure of the ‘American girl’ functions simply as a sign

for an observant consciousness. Daisy Miller is the paradigm of the

woman as a sign in James’ early work, whose destruction raises

questions as to the real nature of her individuality and freedom.

These questions are explored in the use of the same figure attempting

to be the free subject of her own experienc...

... middle of paper ...

...graphical and Historical

Context to Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations. Boston. USA.

Dickens, Charles. (1990). Great Expectations. Penguin. London.

U.K.

Habegger, Alfred. (1989). Henry James and the “Woman Business”.

Cambridge University Press.

Howells, W, D. (1958). Henry James and His novels. Gibson. New York

James, Henry. (1985). Daisy Miller and Other Short Stories. OUP.

U.K.

James, Henry. (1994). The American. Everyman. U.K.

James, Henry. (1989). The Portrait of a Lady. OUP. U.K.

Jefferson, D,W. (1960). Henry James: Writers and Critics. Oliver

and Boyd. Edinburgh and London.

Slater, Michael. (1983). Dickens and Women. Stanford. USA

Walsh, Susan. (1993). Bodies of Capital: Great Expectations and the

Climacteric Economy. Victorian Studies. Longman. U.K.

Show More
Related

  • Gender Roles in Little House on the Prairie

    2315 Words  | 5 Pages

    During the Victorian Era, society had idealized expectations that all members of their culture were supposedly striving to accomplish. These conditions were partially a result of the development of middle class practices during the “industrial revolution… [which moved] men outside the home… [into] the harsh business and industrial world, [while] women were left in the relatively unvarying and sheltered environments of their homes” (Brannon 161). This division of genders created the ‘Doctrine of Two Spheres’ where men were active in the public Sphere of Influence, and women were limited to the domestic private Sphere of Influence. Both genders endured considerable pressure to conform to the idealized status of becoming either a masculine ‘English Gentleman’ or a feminine ‘True Woman’. The characteristics required women to be “passive, dependent, pure, refined, and delicate; [while] men were active, independent, coarse …strong [and intelligent]” (Brannon 162). Many children's novels utilized these gendere...

    Read More

  • Gender Criticism and The Turn of the Screw by Henry James

    1302 Words  | 3 Pages

    Gender Criticism and The Turn of the Screw The Turn of the Screw by Henry James continues to stir up an immense amount of controversy for such a short novel. Making a definite, educated decision on the actual truth considering the countless inquiries that develop while reading this story proves more difficult than winning a presidential election. That being said, taking one particular side on any argument from a close reading of the story seems impossible, because the counter argument appears just as conceivable. Any side of the controversy remains equally disputable, considerably supported by textual evidence from the novel.

    Read More

  • A Comparison of The Yellow Wallpaper and Daisy Miller

    954 Words  | 2 Pages

    James’ character did what most rebellious young American women would do.  She broke free from cultural restrictions and lived her life as she pleased.  A woman of passion, she chose to ignore the repressive attitudes of those around her.  Women of today are still fighting for equality, but have authors of the past and women like the characters in their stories to thank for the improvements they made.

    Read More

  • Trope In Frankenstein

    730 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout most of literature and history, the notion of ‘the woman’ has been little more than a caricature of the actual female identity. Most works of literature rely on only a handful of tropes for their female characters and often use women to prop up the male characters: female characters are sacrificed for plot development. It may be that the author actually sacrifices a female character by killing her off, like Mary Shelly did in Frankenstein in order to get Victor Frankenstein to confront the monster he had created, or by reducing a character to just a childish girl who only fulfills a trope, as Oscar Wilde did with Cecily and Gwendolen in The Importance of Being Earnest. Using female characters in order to further the male characters’

    Read More

  • Character Interaction in Henry James' The Pupil

    536 Words  | 2 Pages

    In “The Pupil” by Henry James, we are able to travel with Pemberton as he searches for answers to his thoughts. Through fluctuations of tone and the interesting point of view from Pemberton, James allows readers to experience his hesitation and unravel his relationships with Mrs. Moreen and Morgan Moreen. The comprehensiveness of this passage helps portray Mrs. Moreen’s physical qualities as well as Morgan’s social well-being as readers learn how the smallest connection can forever impact a life.

    Read More

  • Angela Carter's The Passion Of New Eve And Don Quixote: Gender Analysis

    643 Words  | 2 Pages

    In this dissertation, ideological systems considered to limit the creation of Western female identity were explored through feminist discourse: Angela Carter’s The Passion of New Eve (1977) and Kathy Acker’s Don Quixote (1986). The former discussed the extent to which gendered identities are founded on biological difference and binary structures, looking at how these dichotomies work to confine female identity to a concept of fixed ideals. With reference to the work of Butler, Carter undermines essentialist views which limit identity, demonstrating through multifaceted and changeable characters that identity is constructed as opposed to determined. By engaging in multiple discourses, Carter’s characters reject conforming to regulatory norms, and are consequently revealed to be living out simulacrums, as Butler suggests all people do. The motif of the mirror was explored with reference to the work of Lacan and Mulvey, looking at how the novel presents female identity as contingent upon male desires due to society’s preoccupation with the phallus. Female identity is therefore constructed to appease masculine appetites, with the mirror revealing the discord between unified appearance and incoherent inner identity. The lack of female representation was discussed with reference to speech and narrative structure, with patriarchal systems of communication shown to exclude women from representation. Carter uses the dual perspective of Eve(lyn)’s narration to destabilize gender identity, revealing it as cleft and uncertain. Lee suggests that the incongruity of the narration also works to mount a critique of the role of the gaze, with the fact that Eve(lyn) narrates in retrospect hindering the reader’s ability to know whether the narrator ...

    Read More

  • Women's Issues in The Awakening by Kate Chopin, The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and Souls Belated by Edith Wharton

    1014 Words  | 3 Pages

    These women authors have served as an eye-opener for the readers, both men and women alike, in the past, and hopefully still in the present. (There are still cultures in the world today, where women are treated as unfairly as women were treated in the prior centuries). These women authors have impacted a male dominated society into reflecting on of the unfairness imposed upon women. Through their writings, each of these women authors who existed during that masochistic Victorian era, risked criticism and retribution. Each author ignored convention a...

    Read More

  • Sexism In The Great Gatsby

    1447 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout time women have been written as the lesser sex, weaker, secondary characters. They are portrayed as dumb, stupid, and nothing more than their fading beauty. They are written as if they need to be saved or helped because they cannot help themselves. Women, such as Daisy Buchanan who believes all a woman can be is a “beautiful little fool”, Mrs Mallard who quite died when she lost her freedom from her husband, Eliza Perkins who rights the main character a woman who is a mental health patient who happens to be a woman being locked up by her husband, and then Carlos Andres Gomez who recognizes the sexism problem and wants to change it. Women in The Great Gatsby, “The Story of an Hour,” “The Yellow Wall Paper” and the poem “When” are oppressed because the fundamental concept of equality that America is based on undermines gender equality.

    Read More

  • The Impact Of Women In A Scandal In Bohemia

    1103 Words  | 3 Pages

    As part of the Sherlock Holmes series, the short story, “A Scandal in Bohemia,” written by Arthur Conan Doyle, introduces the Victorian concept , “The New Woman.” The term “New Woman” describes noncomformist females as smart, educated, independent, and self-reliant. These women decided that they did not want to get entrapped into the stereotypical “Angel of the House.” The New Woman concept did not only apply to middle class women, but factory and office workers. These women put off marriage to make themselves an individual. The New Woman concept made a major impact in social changes that redefined gender roles, consolidating women’s rights, and overcoming masculine supremacy. This new woman also appeared in literature that involved crime

    Read More

  • Theme Of Patriarchy In Jane Austen's Emma

    1968 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the Eighteenth and Nineteenth centuries, the idea of patriarchy ruled the many societies all over the world. Particularly in Britain, its “overarching patriarchal model” (Marsh) had “reserved power and privilege for men” (Marsh). Also during this time period feminist literature began to arise and was invaded by, “the complex social, ethical, and economic roots of sexual politics… as testimony to gender bias and the double standard” (“Sexual Politics and Feminist Literature”). In Jane Austen’s writing, readers have been aware of her constant themes of female independence and gender equality. However, many have criticized the author for the fact that many of her “individualistic” female characters have ended up

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Written At The Close Of Spring By Charlotte Smith

    1578 Words  | 4 Pages

    Throughout literature’s history, female authors have been widely recognized for their groundbreaking and eye-opening accounts of what it means to be a woman in society. In most cases of early literature, women are portrayed as weak and unintelligent characters who rely solely on their male counterparts. Also during this time period, it would be shocking to have women characters in some stories, especially since their purpose is only secondary to that of the male protagonist. But, in the late 17th to early 18th century, a crop of courageous women began publishing their works, beginning the literary feminist movement. Together, Aphra Behn, Charlotte Smith, Fanny Burney, and Mary Wollstonecraft challenge the status quo of what it means to be a woman during the time of the Restoration Era and give authors and essayists of the modern day, such as Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, a platform to become powerful, influential writers of the future.

    Read More

  • The Portrayal of Women in American Literature

    2124 Words  | 5 Pages

    Throughout American Literature, women have been depicted in many different ways. The portrayal of women in American Literature is often influenced by an author's personal experience or a frequent societal stereotype of women and their position. Often times, male authors interpret society’s views of women in a completely different nature than a female author would. While F. Scott Fitzgerald may represent his main female character as a victim in the 1920’s, Zora Neale Hurston portrays hers as a strong, free-spirited, and independent woman only a decade later in the 1930’s.

    Read More

  • Tremendous Spirit and Feminism Displayed in Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre

    1934 Words  | 4 Pages

    Lamonaca, Maria. "Jane's Crown Of Thorns: Feminism And Christianity In Jane Eyre." Studies In The Novel 34.3 (2002): 245.Literary Reference Center. Web. 14 Apr. 2014.

    Read More

  • The Evolution of the Role of Women in British and American Literature

    1818 Words  | 4 Pages

    “Girls wear jeans and cut their hair short and wear shirts and boots because it is okay to be a boy; for a girl it is like promotion. But for a boy to look like a girl is degrading, according to you, because secretly you believe that being a girl is degrading” (McEwan 55-56). Throughout the history of literature women have been viewed as inferior to men, but as time has progressed the idealistic views of how women perceive themselves has changed. In earlier literature women took the role of being the “housewife” or the household caretaker for the family while the men provided for the family. Women were hardly mentioned in the workforce and always held a spot under their husband’s wing. Women were viewed as a calm and caring character in many stories, poems, and novels in the early time period of literature. During the early time period of literature, women who opposed the common role were often times put to shame or viewed as rebels. As literature progresses through the decades and centuries, very little, but noticeable change begins to appear in perspective to the common role of women. Women were more often seen as a main character in a story setting as the literary period advanced. Around the nineteenth century women were beginning to break away from the social norms of society. Society had created a subservient role for women, which did not allow women to stand up for what they believe in. As the role of women in literature evolves, so does their views on the workforce environment and their own independence. Throughout the history of the world, British, and American literature, women have evolved to become more independent, self-reliant, and have learned to emphasize their self-worth.

    Read More

  • Role of Women in Jane Eyre

    1506 Words  | 4 Pages

    Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre represents the role of women in the Victorian era by giving the reader an insight into the lives of women from all social classes. Jane Eyre therefore represents figures of the Victorian time yet the character of Jane Eyre, herself, can be seen as very unconventional for the Victorian society.

    Read More

More about Analysing the Female Characters in Henry James' Fiction

Open Document