Henry James' The Aspern Papers The Aspern Papers by Henry James illustrates a classic opposition throughout the story: the underestimation of the old by the young. The narrator, Aspern’s publisher, sets himself to the task of retrieving several mysterious “papers” from a former lover of his idol, and goes in with the easy confidence of a young man who never dreams that anyone, much less an elderly lady, could be not one, but in fact several, steps ahead of him at all times in his hunt for literary
published, including a review of a stage performance “Miss Maggie Mitchell in Fanchon the Cricket” in 1863, his first short story A Tragedy of Error a year later, and his first novel, Watch and Ward. In between these successes, James wrote for several papers including the North American View, The Nation, and Atlantic
find out what they know, to make them admit rather than to forecast what might happen to them in the future. Her fear of innoce... ... middle of paper ... ...s cited Haralson, Eric L and Kendall Johnson. Critical companion to Henry James. New York: Facts on File, 2009. Print. James, Henry and Henry James. The turn of the screw; and, the Aspern papers. Ware: Wordsworth Classics, 1993. Print. James, Henry, Deborah Esch and Jonathan Warren. The turn of the screw. New York: W.W. Norton, 1999. Print
clues that support the governess was in a state of hysteria. According to a Freudian psychoanalysis of the governess, we understand that there is much more occurring than just a haunted estate. The reader knows what is occurring... ... middle of paper ... ...rong because of the inconsistencies with the laws of nature that are portrayed in the novel. According to Sussman, the governess is “a textbook case of hysteria” (230). The symptoms of hysteria were laid out in a book by Freud and Breuer
This knowledge explains why he used papers, diaries, notes, documents, plans, letters, manuscripts, wills, messages, decrees, telegrams, and other written communications as tools to advance his stories. For ease of reading, I will call these, collectively, "writings." The frequency with which James utilizes these writings is surprising. A few examples of these in his texts are: the telegrams from In the Cage, the messages and papers in The Aspern Papers, the letters (obviously) from A Bundle