The Theme Of Personification In 'The Bostonians'?

The Bostonians, was first published by Henry James as a serial in a magazine and only 1886 did it get turned into a book. This novel tells an intricate story of the relationships and ideals between men and women of the time in which the story is set. The book has within itself many underlining themes that are emphasized by the characters personalities and natures; and the events surrounding the historical context of this novel i.e. the events of the civil war and its influence. The use of personification to reflect the complexity of the situation evokes emotions which speak to the larger issues presented by the story, the idea of gender, region and national memory.
The story initially deals with the interactions of three characters: Basil Ransom, Olive Chancellor and Verena Tarrant. The character of Basil Ransom, a Mississippian who has fought in the Civil War on the side of the Confederates, is presented to us as head-strong, determined, full of honor and tough in his own masculinity and as someone who is aware of the world and the society which he lives in but of which he is not fully accepting. Olive Chancellor, (Basil Ransom’s cousin), a Bostonian woman, on the other hand is a hard-hearted woman who is bitter and is quite opposed to the traditional notions of women and men. She believes that the times of traditional feminine and masculine nature is in the past and that women are as equal as men in the changing future of society; she fights against the brutal nature of men with her rugged character in the narrative. The historical context of the story is the Civil War and its influence on the society of the day, Basil who lost everything in the war has to seek new employment and does not see eye to eye with the new ideals of r...

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...e of this section. The Memorial Hall is the meeting of Verena with Basil away from Olive and in secret from her and thus shows a slight lean of Verena’s feelings toward Basil. The fact that their meeting takes place at a memorial hall for a war that Basil was in fact a part of but the memorial is not for the side that he is on shows almost a test by Verena of Basil’s ability to see past his own head at times into the bigger issues of the world like the changes it must go through. Basil’s evoking emotions from the Memorial Hall serves as a way of reminding us of his human nature and the ability human nature gives us to understand others. Although the story ends with the belief that Verena might cry again in the future of her relationship with Basil it stands to show that every situation in life is a war and one must always fight to the very end no matter the outcome.