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Strengths and weaknesses of Psychoanalytic Theory
Psychoanalytic theory essays
Henry james the art of fiction attempt a critical appreciation of henry james the art of fiction
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Henry James, one of America¡¯s major novelists and critics, has produced many great works, such as Portrait of a Lady, The Wings of the Dove, The Golden Bowel and The Ambassadors. His method of characterization is ¡°a complete objectification of characters.¡±¢Ùand he focuses on the inner life of characters rather than external action and environment to explore the mind and inner activities of the characters through their dialogues, mental conflicts, thoughts on man and events instead of the complex plot. So his writings do not present readers a series of events as traditional novels do. Especially in his final and ¡°major phase¡±, the very subtlety and complexity of characterization is almost to deliberately depicting degree. Thus people call him a psychological realist and consider him as the founder of psychological realism. James believes that reality lies in the impressions made by life on the spectator, and not in any facts of which the spectator is unaware. So by making the conscious part of the artist the final measure of experience, James shifts the ground of realistic art from the outer to the inner world. His short story Paste is one of typical examples reflecting his such writing techniques and theories on literary creation.
The plot of the story is quite simple. A governess, Charlotte Prime, attends the funerals of her uncle, a vicar, and his second wife. The couple died within a month of each other. The Vicar¡¯s son, Arthur Prime, gives his cousin Charlotte some cheap costume jewelry which had belonged to his stepmother from her pre-marital career as an actress. Among the old jewels, a pearl necklace strikes Charlotte as having some value, alt...
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...for driving ambition, a lust for money and power. ¢ßAnyhow, Charlotte¡¯s shocked awareness and questions in the end of the story leave us readers much space to think. James ends the story like this, which may vaguely hint us on the one hand the betrayal of innocence on the other hand the hope of innocence. But this is quite ambiguous which is just a good example of Jamesian style. For James never tells us things directly by himself but let us readers make our own judge by ourselves
Notes:
¢ÙA Short History of English Literature P456
¢ÚModern American Literature P12-13
¢ÛModern American Literature P11
¢ÜAn Introduction to American Literature P315
¢ÝA Survey of American Literature P173
¢ÞClass Notes by Prof Xiao
¢ßA Survey of American Literature P159
Henry's first-person narrative is the most important element of these stories. Through it he recounts the events of his life, his experiences with others, his accomplishments and troubles. The great achievement of this narrative voice is how effortlessly it reveals Henry's limited education while simultaneously demonstrating his quick intelligence, all in an entertaining and convincing fashion. Henry introduces himself by introducing his home-town of Perkinsville, New York, whereupon his woeful g...
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.
...it up to each reader to draw their own conclusions and search their own feelings. At the false climax, the reader was surprised to learn that the quite, well-liked, polite, little convent girl was colored. Now the reader had to evaluate how the forces within their society might have driven such an innocent to commit suicide.
Bette Howland, in her criticism of Henry James's Washington Square, focuses on two different aspects of the story's development. She begins by impressing on the reader how Henry James himself viewed his creation and then plunges into the history behind the plot. In doing this, she describes how Henry James has used irony to make this story his own creation. Half way through the article she changes directions and shows how Washington Square is the forerunner of his other novels. She describes how they all have the same basic plot.
Essay 2 Psychoanalysis is the method of psychological therapy originated by Sigmund Freud in which free association, dream interpretation, and analysis of resistance and transference are used to explore repressed or unconscious impulses, anxieties, and internal conflicts (“Psychoanalysis”). This transfers to analyzing writing in order to obtain a meaning behind the text. There are two types of people who read stories and articles. The first type attempts to understand the plot or topic while the second type reads to understand the meaning behind the text. Baldick is the second type who analyzes everything.
In the short story “‘The Pupil” by Henry James, James introduces three characters, Pemberton, Morgan Moreen and Mrs. Moreen. Through an ironic tone focusing on Pemberton’s perspective, James uses the three characters to create a story.
Both the 19th and 20th century authors of Henry James and Edith Wharton are commonly compared to one another and their works are criticized as being close to, if not, the same. For ten years, the two authors had been close friends and even traveled throughout France and Europe together looking for inspiration and new ideas. Wharton had never taken any type of criticism well. Eventually Edith Wharton sent her first written story, “The Line of Least Resistance,” to Henry James and she learned to accept criticism respectfully as one author to another. Henry James soon became a vital literary advisor in some of her most famous works. But soon she began to follow the example of James closely and started to write in his style. This style included the construction of appearances along with a tragic ending. Writing with the manners, customs, and beliefs of the upper class society, also allowed James to question the truth of that society. While including this style in Ethan Frome, Edith Wharton also reflects Henry James’s ideas of an unreliable narrator, through the view of a different gender than that of the author, from The Turn of the Screw. In writing through the mind of another person, Henry James and Edith Wharton both used their knowledge of psychology to influence their works. But while psychology is only a minor influence in Wharton’s work, her texts closely resemble that of an influence from James. Since Henry James was a friend, critic, and mentor to Edith Wharton, her novel Ethan Frome, published in 1911, reflects the influences James had on her writing, especially from his novel The Turn of the Screw, published in 1898.
This is an odd little book, but a very important one nonetheless. The story it tells is something like an extended parablethe style is plain, the characters are nearly stick figures, the story itself is contrived. And yet ... and yet, the story is powerful, distressing, even heartbreaking because the historical trend it describes is powerful, distressing, even heartbreaking.
One of the main reasons for picking this section was how well it explained the themes and ideas that Henry James was trying to convey in “The Real Thing”. This article was able to help us better understand the use of realism and how it had an impact on the story and characters. The main driving force behind “The Real Thing” is the nature of what is real and what is simulated. The Monarch’s seem to pass for wealthy, upper class citizens, from the way they talk, act, and even dress, and the Artist believes it as well. “For the narrator, Mrs. Monarch stubbornly remains ‘the real thing’; the Monarchs radiate the aura of wealth and its desired associations” (Bazargan 135). However, the Monarchs were only trying to pass as wealthy in the eyes of others, even when they had no such wealth. This view that the Artist had of the Monarchs overlapped into his paintings, and he was never able to portray them as they were, instead, only as he perceived them to
There are many characteristics in Crane’s novel that would more readily fit within the category of realism: the ordinariness of his characters, the use of dialect, the portrayal of protagonist Henry Fleming as a complex individual, the description of nature as disinterested in human affairs, and the positive ending of the story. Realism, often described as "slice of life" or "photographic" writing, attempts to portray life exactly as it is, without twisting it or reworking it to fit it into preconceived notions of what is appropriate or what is aesthetically pleasing. In this book, Crane relies on neither the oversimplified rationalism of classicist literature nor the emotional idealism of romantic prose. Instead, he offers realistic, believable characters with average abilities. The soldiers are presented neither as epic heroes nor as bloodthirsty killers; rather, their most noticeable trait is their overwhelming normalcy. The soldiers of Henry’s regiment curse, fight, and argue just like normal people. This down-to-earth, gritty, everyday style is characteristic of realism. A particular convention used by Crane in convincing the reader of his characters’ existence is dialect. The distinctive speech of the soldiers enhances the photographic effect of the novel, lending it authenticity. Another distinctive trait of realism is complexity of character – a trait readily evident in Henry Fleming. As he switches between cowardice and heroism, compassion and contempt, and optimism and pessimism, the reader observes that he is more than just a stereotype. He is a person with fears, hopes, dreams, and foibles.
In the novel Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte shows us that all people have a feeling inside of them to recognizing what their personal desires and what their duty to others is. In Jane Eyre, the endless theme of unforgettable war between a passion and responsibility always appears, with a strong set of principles Jane is able to decide what is right. Throw out the book Charlotte Bronte show us that Jane’s integrity to her self is more important than what anybody else thinks of her. Duty and desire plays a huge role in which Jane has to learn to control her desire of her anger outburst and her duty to herself.
“The Necklace”, narrated by Guy de Maupassant in 3rd person omniscient, focuses the story around Mathilde Loisel who is middle class, and her dreams of fame and fortune. The story is set in 19th century France. One day, Mathilde’s husband brings home an invitation to a fancy ball for Mathilde; to his surprise Mathilde throws a fit because she doesn’t have a dress or jewelry to wear to the ball. M. Loisel gets her the beautifully expensive dress she desires and Mathilde borrows a diamond necklace from Mme. Forestier, a rich acquaintance of Mathilde. Mathilde goes to the ball and has a night she’s dreamed of, until she gets home from the ball at 4 A.M. to find
This story is about Matilda and her husband. Matilda receives an invitation to attend to a party, but she has no jewelry to wear, so she borrows one from a rich friend. Unfortunately, Matilda loses the necklace at the party and has to buy a new one worth thirty-five thousand francs. She works for years to repay all the money she borrowed, but when she finally gets all the money, she finds out the necklace was worth “No more than five hundred francs.” This story has two unexpected twists in it: she loses the necklace and she works for years to pay it off, only to find out it is less than one sixth of what she paid. How Matilda deals with finding out the price is left to the reader’s imagination, but it shows that when Matilda loses the necklace she deals with it relatively calmly, borrowing money to buy a new one and later working for years to pay it
In the short story “The Necklace”, the main character, Loisel, is a woman who dreams of greater things in her life. She is married to a poor clerk who tries his best to make her happy no matter what. In an attempt to try to bring happiness to his wife, he manages to get two invitations to a very classy ball, but even in light of this Loisel is still unhappy. Even when she gets a new dress she is still unhappy. This lasts until her husband suggests she borrows some jewelry from a friend, and upon doing so she is finally happy. Once the ball is over, and they reach home, Loisel has the horrible realization that she has lost the necklace, and after ten years of hard labor and suffering, they pay off debts incurred to get a replacement. The central idea of this story is how something small can have a life changing effect on our and others life’s. This idea is presented through internal and external conflicts, third person omniscient point of view, and the round-dynamic character of Loisel. The third person limited omniscient point-of-view is prevalent throughout this short story in the way that the author lets the reader only see into the main character’s thoughts. Loisel is revealed to the reader as being unhappy with her life and wishing for fancier things. “She suffered ceaselessly, feeling herself born for all the delicacies and all the luxuries.” (de Maupassant 887) When her husband tries to fancy things up, “she thought of dainty dinners, of shining silverware, of tapestry which peopled the walls…” (de Maupassant 887) As the story goes on her point of view changes, as she “now knew the horrible existence of the needy. She took her part, moreover all of a sudden, with heroism.” (de Maupassant 891) Having the accountability to know that the “dreadful debt must be paid.” (de Maupassant 891 ) This point-of-view is used to help the reader gain more insight to how Loisel’s whole mindset is changed throughout her struggle to pay off their debts. Maupassant only reveals the thoughts and feelings of these this main character leaving all the others as flat characters. Loisel is a round-dynamic character in that Maupassant shows how she thought she was born in the wrong “station”. “She dressed plainly because she could not dress well, but she was as unhappy as though she had really fallen from her proper station.
The broad extent of criticism addressing materialism in Henry James is best summed up in H.G Wells's searing castigation in 1915 of We can note here the roots of an ongoing tradition of literary criticism regarding Jamesian materialism. Wells and other peers of James, amongst them his friend Edith Wharton, pointed out the incomprehensibility of certain passages of James and the often infuriatingly minute attention paid to detail, which was, certainly according to Wells, all to no effect. Wells cruelly compared James to a hippoptamus struggling to pick up a pea in the corner of its den; (Wells, 3:108). In Wells's vision of Jamesian materialism, the object itself is intensified to the extent where it becomes nothing, merely refuse. Wells sees James as simultaneously too materialist and not materialist enough, which presents the reader with a significant textual problem. If we are to take it that certain things are inherently Jamesian; cabinets and chairs, collections, portraits, the golden bowl in The Golden Bowl, which seems tenable, and therefore make the assumption that such material things are invested with nuanced meaning, we are then forced to answer certain questions. Is the destruction of such items of importance? In almost every James novel the object(s) at the centre of the novel is destroyed, erased. From that arise more questions - can we conceivably erase an image that has been so carefully worked into the reader's consciousness? The negation of an image leaves something of itself after all, and often an impression that would not exist where it not for the initial effacement. Such lingering images often serve only to highlight the immaterial aspects of a novel. Materialism in James is highly ...