LN Aula 8

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LN8
Have an overview of Henry Jame’s work during his second phase (psychological);
Analyze the characters’ style and creation;
Identify the psychology in the short stories: The altar of the dead and The figure in the carpet.
Introduction
The class will mainly focus on the psychological phase of Henry James’ career best represented in his second phase. It so happens that during the “transition” between his first phase and the second one, James was led to the writing of great novels. His work definitely showed the way for the 20th-century novel, describing features of The Realism with all its details and ending up by leaving his stage comparatively bare. In addition, this second phase projected his own views in a flexible prose.
Henry Jame’s work during his second phase (psychological)
As a great prose writer in American Literature, James’ artistic intentions and evolving literary style reflected the transition from the Victorian to the Modern times in English literature. Besides, his later work became notoriously complex. James was one of the first famous novelists to use modernist, stream-of-consciousness techniques. That made him also use an aesthetic approach that reveled the process of "showing" rather than a simple act of "telling." James' fiction, for instance, is exceptional for its keen psychological insight, charged with symbolic imagery and realistic views on European and American society.
All this psychoanalytic aspect of James’s painterly style is due to the influence and awareness owed much to his remarkable family. His sister was an accomplished diarist and prose stylist. His older brother was a famous American psychologist philosopher.
Needless to say, his father, the philosopher and theologian was Henry James Sr. To sum up, The James family was one of the most productive intellectual families in the history of the United States and Henry James was its most gifted literary stylist and innovator.
Characters’ style and creation
James’ characters were definitely influenced by the major figures of trans-Atlantic literature, I mean, characters from different worlds —the Old World (Europe), artistic and corrupting ; and the New World (United State), open, and assertive. In other words, the clash of personalities and culture really affected the two worlds.
In James’ psychological drama there were conflicts between imaginative protagonists and their difficult environment. Also, some changes in the speech of his characters occurred to his work during this second phase.
Some biographers have noted that the change of style occurred at approximately the time that James began dictating his fiction to a secretary due to a mild stutter. That more elaborate manner to express the characters’ words deeply reflected his belief that “good writing should resemble the conversation of an intelligent man”. Consequently, the process of dictating his works maybe cater for a change in style from direct to conversational. This often resulted in a baroque style.
Another important feature of James’ characters is that when he creates a certain type of character, this character will consistently act throughout the whole book. That means that even considering the subjective aspect mentioned previously, this character will always accept his realistic nature.
The altar of the dead is a short story by Henry James based on a fable of literally life and death significance. This work was first published in his collection entitled “Terminations” in 1895 after the story failed of magazine publication.
The short story is about a fifty-five-year-old man who is obsessed with observing the anniversary of his fiancée’s death. This situation leads him to to expand this feeling to include all the other departed friends who he still remembers. Then, he decides to create a symbolic sign entitled “the religion of the dead” in the form of a private altar in a church.
The altar has been worshiped by the man called Stransom while noticing a lady who did the same. One day he saw this lady at a concert and asked if she recognized him and he got to know she did. That’s how they started a friendship! They both got along well throughout a mysterious plot.
In order to have a more general view of what the short story is all about, try this audio book or read the short story. http://www.pagebypagebooks.com/Henry_James/The_Altar_of_the_Dead/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CN5DddjTXX8
The figure in the carpet
The figure in the carpet is a critical story interpreted as a paradigm for theories that believes literature never tells the truth and even that "truth" is nonsense. Consequently, the stories turn out to be ironic, starting with names from Latin referring to “truth” — vere-care, for instance, was the name of the main character. In other words, it means “a person who really cares about truth”.
Besides, this irony is understood while seeing a hidden figure in a carpet and that is a central metaphor for the ability of fiction to show truth. In this truth-telling fiction, James uses the figure-in-the-carpet image as an archetype for the inability of fiction. A critical interpretation based on its intertextual dimension will definitely help explore the intertextual dimension of Henry James's The figure in the carpet.
Which literary movement or style is Henry James important for during his second career phase? Psychological
What was the main difference between James’ first phase and second? The first phase expressed more realistic ideas and the second was much more subjective.
What is true about The altar of the dead? The religious views.
Based on the short story The figure in the carpet, we can say that: There’s an attempt to be ironical about the truth.
How can this quote by James be interpreted with a view to analysing his characters?
“What is character but determination of incident? What is incident but illustration of character? It is a way to describe the conflicts of situations that his characters are often involved.
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/h/henry_james.html#2qxWMC04eddaXEIt.99
By analysing the the features of the second phase of Henry James, we can say that:
It shows subjective features.
It’s true about James’ characters: They’re creative.
Based on James’ views, what is the basic issue his own work? Expressing the psychological features of his creation.