Rogers Hall School - Splinters Yearbook (Lowell, MA)

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Henry James Hugh Walpole once said that Henry Iarnes was a quite legendary figure, a sort of sniffed wax- work from whose mouth a stream of coloured sentences, like winding rolls of green and pink paper, are forever issuing. ' This legendary figure of Irish and Scottish ancestry was born in New York on April 15, 1843. His father, Henry james, Sr., was a follower of Swedenborg and a remarkable writer on questions of theology. His elder brother, William james, was a distinguished philosopher and psy- chologist. It was once said by some of William's students at Harvard that William wrote psycho- logy like a novelist and Henry wrote novels like a psychologist. 3 His father was a firm believer in culture and thought that this could be found more readily in Europe than in America. His sons thus received a European education. In 1862 Henry james entered Harvard Law School, although he had no serious intention of entering the legal profession. His literary career began during the Civil War, which he would have entered had he not been prevented by a physical infirmity. The Story of a Year, his first short story, was based on an event in the war in which he was not allowed to take part. His early work shows the influence of Balzac, George Eliot, and Hawthorne. In 1874 he decided to make Europe, where he always felt more at home, his permanent home. He turned first to Paris, but in 1876 he settled in London for good. From 1890 until 1895, he worked on drama, a career which was very unsuccessful. He himself said, I worked on scenes. I am not positively certain I arrived at acts. a In 1915, he became a British subject. This act aroused much discussion, but a New York Times' article stated: . . . a patriotic American, he was never more loyal to Americah traditions and prin- ciples than when he became a British subject. 4 He received the Order of Merit, the highest honor that England, through the King, can give distinguished 'men of letters, in 1916. Later that year, he died of a chronic disease. 5 Roderick Hudson, written in 1874, was his first full-length novel. The theme of this book is an American in foreign surroundings who finds himself unable to meet strange conditions. 'i His First Fiction Period lasted from 1875 until 1889 and included such novels as The Ameri- can, The Bostonians, and The Portrait of a Lady, which again has the theme of an American in England. The lady of the story, Isabel Archer, is one of his most attractive heroines. ' Some ol the stories of this period are Daisy Millier, Washington Square, The Madonna of the Future, and A Passionate Pilgrim. The latter is about an American's feeling for his original ancestral home, to claim which he has come to England. His Second Fiction Period, from 1890 until 1900, included the novels What Maisie Knew, The Tragic Muse, The Spoil-s of Poynton, and The Awkward Age. The Lesson of the Master, a story of this period, has an art interest theme. This theme is that art, satisfied with nothing less than the best, demands everything of those who would follow it. james himself attempted to live up to this. ' The Wings of the Dove and The Golden Bowl are in his Third Fiction Period which lasted from 1901 until 1911. His last writings, from 1913 to 1915, are stories of reminiscence. A Small Boy and Others, Notes ofa Son and Brother, and the unfinished Middle Years were written during this period. 'U

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Life Does Repeat Itself Tell me, is it the same? Are the thorny roses still tangled about the river bank Like men locked in a bloody death-struggle? And are the forget-me-nots still wandering aimlessly through the fields, Crushed pitilessly by the small flying feet Which once stepped lovingly over them? And on a rainy day, does the air still smother one with grass, earth and flower- As it did, once, long ago? And, tell me, are youthful dreams still caught woven in the river-glass Against an unfurrowed azure sky, black in the distance? And in that black distance, are those idylls still crushed ruthlessly by the life Which once so carefully nurtured them, And smothered by the choking, dust-filled blanket of fate- As were mine, once, long ago? BETH MCGOVERN '63 Conservation of Matter Life deteriorates into dust. Dust is trampled upon By Civilization. But these clouds of dust rise And then are swept away Into Eternity. NANCY SQANNBLL '63

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james' chief concern was the impact of the older civilization of Europe upon American life. ll He desired to know the meaning of European thought and tradition, how it differed from that of America. and what were the possible effects of one on the other. He found the difference in the two traditions to be a matter of age and experience. 'F ujames' interior life was very nearly his entire life. The theme of the dedicated life of the artist recurs in his workg '3 however, james' stories often deal with melodramatic violence. Concerning The Turn of the Screw, james said, I meant to scare the whole world with that story. 14 This might be either because he was unsure of himself, or because the frustration which is dominant in james' work was partly sexual. 15 But, if he had fought in the Civil War, his whole future attitude toward America might have been different. His next concern was more exclusively an English stage. He analyzed the English character with extreme subtlety, verging at times on obscurity. U' Thomas Hardy said that james had a ponderously warm manner of saying nothing in infinite sentences. H On the other hand, Gamaliel Bradford said in American Portraits: . . . he lived and thought and felt to write great novels. 'B ln only two long short stories did james ever achieve popularity or his nearest approach to it. One was Daisy Miller and the other The Turn of the Screw. Daisy Miller is the story of an American girl in Switzerland and Italy. At first the story was attacked viciously and was said to be a 'libel' on American womanhood. Today, Daisy is accepted as a delightful, harmless creature, a victim of social customs she does not understand. However, because Daisy, who is the most remem- bered of all james' heroines, dies of Roman fever in lless than half a sentence james was aoain severel criticized. ' ra Y 19 These are four reasons given for james' comparative unpopularity. One is his difficult style, another is his reticence, his seeming lack of sympathy with his characters is a third, and the last is his interest in trivialities. But if one looks more closely, he will see that the difficult style belonged only to later dictated works and to the earlier ones that he revised long after their original publica- tion. Reticence seems to be a sounder reason, however, for his unpopularity because the reader must guess for himself, with little assurance, that he has guessed accurately. His lack of sympathy is more apparent than real. james shows his interest and devotion to his characters by a deep con- cern with their response to situation and environment. james, himself, gives an answer as to whether he was overly interested in trifles. He said, The subjects only seemed to be trivial to those who did not look under the surface and My subjects are not trivial to me. 20 Anstry and Alfred Sutro said that if he took his time he always finally reached a point that was well worth waiting for. 2' This statement is a Hne tribute to a truly great master. JUDY ANDansoN '64 1. S. Nowell-Smith, The Legend of the Master, p. xxi. 2. Authors Today and Yesterday, S. I. Ktmitz, p. 351. 3. S. Nowell-Smith, op. cit. p. xv. 4. Authors Today and Yesterday, op. cit. p. 353. 5. lbid., pp. 352-4. 6. lbid., p. 354. 7. Ibid., p. 354. 8. Ibid., p. 354. 9. Ibid., p. 354. 10. S. Nowell-Smith, op. cit., pg. xv-ii. ll. The Oxford Companion to nglish Literature, Paul Harvey, Ed., p. 406. 12. M. Swan, Henry James, p. 42. 13. Ibid., p. 9. 14. Authors Today and Yesterday, op. cit., p. 356. 15. M. Swan, op. cit., p. 37. 16. The Oxford Companion to,English Literature, op. cit., p. 406. 17. S. Nowell-Smith, op. cit., . xxi. 18. Authors Today and Yesterdfay, op. cit., p. 357. 19. Ibid., p. 356. 20. lbid., pp. 356-7. 21. S. Nowell-Smith, op. cit., p. xxii.