Introduction
Henry James is known not only as a novelist but also for his work as literary critic. In his famous essay “The Art of Fiction” (1884), he reacted on a pamphlet that the British author Walter Besant had published under the same title earlier that year. In fact, a discussion and controversy on the novel had already been started in 1882 with Howells' “Henry James Jr.” and Stevenson's “A Gossip of Romance”. James used the opportunity to present his ideas on the novel of fiction: “A novel is in its broadest definition a personal, a direct impression of life” 1. It is very important for him to stress that life is personally -and therefore subjectively- received by an author who than tries to represent life in his2 work. James offers in his essay various new aspects that a novelist should be aware of and make use of if he wants to write a realistic and true novel.
This essay deals with the novel What Maisie knew (first published in 1897) which is one of the less known and less studied novels written by Henry James. Critics see it as a work in which James has left the `mainstream literature´ that the literary market asked for and has realised some of his ideas he had coped with in theory already in the 1880’s when he wrote “The Art of Fiction”. Most of these critics have studied the morality in What Maisie knew and the innovation to present the story from a child’s consciousness. This essay is not interested in the moral aspect of the novel but raises the question if Henry James put into practise his own theory when he wrote Maisie more than ten years after his “Art of Fiction”. After presenting the main arguments of James’ theory, I will scrutinise whether James really has put his theory into practice. Most attention will be turned to his ideas of a realistic writing, looking not only at the aspect of how to write a realistic novel but also of how to create a realistic atmosphere. This essay will try to prove that Henry James did practise his own preaching at least to a certain degree in What Maisie knew and show where James' realistic fiction might reach its limits.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. I. The Art of Fiction
2.1 I.1 The representation of life
2.2 I.2 Freedom of form
2.3 I.3 The subject of the novel
2.4 I.4 Psychology in the novel
2.5 I.5 Morality and the novel
2.6 I.6 Subjectivity
2.7 I.7 Conclusions
3. II What Maisie knew and James' theory on the novel
3.1 II.1 Incidents and their different functions in the novel What Maisie knew
3.2 II.2 Maisie as a centre of consciousness
3.3 II.3 Maisie’s learning and development
3.4 II.4 Maisie as an object of study
3.5 II.5 What Maisie knew – a highly structured drama?
Objectives & Research Topics
This study explores whether Henry James successfully applied the literary theories outlined in his seminal essay "The Art of Fiction" to his later novel "What Maisie knew". The research investigates the degree to which James implemented his principles of realistic representation, the use of incidents, and the construction of a child's consciousness within a structured narrative framework.
- Henry James' literary theory on the art of fiction and realistic writing
- The role of "incidents" as characterising and atmosphere-building elements
- Maisie as the central consciousness and her developmental journey
- The intersection of psychology and literature in late 19th-century fiction
- Structural symmetry and the influence of the "scenic method" on the novel's form
Excerpt from the Book
II.2 Maisie as a centre of consciousness
James criticises Edmond de Goncourt in “The Art of Fiction” for failing in his description of the moral consciousness and the development of a child. It is interesting that James chooses exactly these topics as well for his own novel, giving grounds for certain expectations concerning his way of dealing with them. In the Preface he mentions not only the origin of the novel’s idea but as well comments on Maisie: He explains why he chose a girl and not a boy as centre of consciousness and the way he tried to present it. His main reason is that girls are more sensible than boys and that they are more present. All things presented in the novel are seen or experienced by the limited consciousness of the girl Maisie whom Lyall H. Powers sees as an unreliable authority (cf. Powers 1971: 170). James declares that he had to guard at the same time “with care the integrity of the objects presented” (WM: 6) and repeats the importance of presenting Maisie’s world through her eyes but not forgetting that “the whole […] should be honourably there” (WM: 7). Therefore James had to present a world that Maisie saw and witnessed “of which quality she either wouldn’t understand at all or would quite misunderstand” (ibid.). Ergo he had to restrict the information given in the novel: only those things were to be described in the novel that Maisie would witness.
Summary of Chapters
Introduction: This chapter provides context regarding Henry James' role as a critic and introduces the research question: whether his theory of the realistic novel is practiced in "What Maisie knew".
I. The Art of Fiction: A thorough analysis of James' 1884 essay, detailing his views on the necessity of freedom of form, the importance of personal experience, and the requirement for a novel to represent life realistically.
II What Maisie knew and James' theory on the novel: This part applies the aforementioned theoretical concepts to the specific narrative of "What Maisie knew", examining the function of incidents, the development of the child protagonist, and the structural design of the novel.
Keywords
Henry James, What Maisie knew, The Art of Fiction, Literary Theory, Realism, Centre of consciousness, Narrative structure, Free Indirect Speech, Incidents, Psychology, Subjectivity, Child protagonist, Victorian literature, Literary criticism, Scenic method
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core subject of this academic essay?
The essay explores the practical application of Henry James' literary theories, specifically those presented in his essay "The Art of Fiction", within his 1897 novel "What Maisie knew".
What are the primary thematic areas addressed?
The study focuses on the representation of life in fiction, the function of small incidents in narrative construction, the psychological development of a child character, and the use of a central consciousness.
What is the research goal of the work?
The primary goal is to determine if James successfully put his own literary "preaching" into practice, and to identify where his realistic fiction reaches its limitations.
Which scientific or critical methods are employed?
The author employs a comparative literary analysis, contrasting James' theoretical essay with the textual evidence from the novel, while also considering critical perspectives on James' form and technique.
What topics are covered in the main body?
The main body breaks down James' theory (such as freedom of form and subjectivity) and applies these to the novel by analyzing Maisie's role, the narrator's voice, the scenic organization of the plot, and the overall construction of the work.
Which keywords best characterize this publication?
Key terms include Henry James, Realism, Centre of consciousness, Incidents, and Literary Theory.
Why did James choose a child as the centre of consciousness?
James believed that girls were more sensible than boys and more present within the domestic situations he wished to explore, allowing him to portray a world that the protagonist witnesses but only partially understands.
How does the novel utilize "Free Indirect Speech"?
The novel uses this technique to shift between the narrator's commentary and Maisie's internal thoughts, often blurring the line between the two and allowing the reader to access her mind without explicit markers.
Is "What Maisie knew" considered a realistic novel?
The essay concludes that while James achieves a high degree of realistic atmosphere through his method, the novel remains highly constructed and artificial, leading to a critical debate about its "true" realism.
How does the narrator's role change throughout the book?
As Maisie grows older and gains more understanding, the narrator's necessity as a mediator diminishes, though the narrator remains present until the end, showing increasing self-reflexivity.
- Citation du texte
- Sebastian Frese (Auteur), 2007, Henry James' "The Art of Fiction" and the application of his theory in "What Maisie knew", Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/114978
