Henry James: biography, works

2025 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2025-01-24 17:46

Henry James is an American-born writer and playwright whose career spans more than half a century. He is loved by English-speaking readers for his unique artistic style, but little known in Russia.

Biography

Writer Henry James was born in New York. His youth fell on the years of the Civil War. The formation of the personality of the future writer took place under the influence of European culture, since his father often took him on trips. From childhood, he read a lot and was an avid theatergoer. James absorbed the culture of Europe and the New World equally. This is what later made him a writer whose work is at the crossroads of two cultures: English and American.

Growing up, the American left the New World and settled in Cambridge. New trends and old Puritan traditions combined in a strange way in English society, which always attracted the interest of the writer. Henry James studied law, but preferred the literary field to a career in law. His first story was published during the years of important political and social events. But the writer's politics were of little interest. The main goal of his work wascomparison of English society with American.

Private life

Henry James spent his whole life alone. The only meaning of life was writing. His perseverance did not stop even the lack of recognition from readers. The theme of the Civil War did not find a response either in the writer's work or in his soul.

Europe

At thirty-two, the writer left the United States. The older he got, the more uncomfortable he felt in American society. James decided to devote his life to prose and literary theory. But he believed that it was impossible to lay a creative path where the desire to get rich was valued above all else. Most of the writer's works were created in Europe. Among them are the novels "Roderick Hudson", "Portrait of a Woman".

Psychological story

The Daisy Miller novella was created by Henry James, according to critics, under the influence of Ivan Turgenev. Like the Russian classic, James has always been interested in the problem of foreigners abroad. In the short story, the author tries to reveal the character of an American girl, so misunderstood by a European person. The plot echoes Turgenev's Asya. It should be said that the plot coincidences are not accidental, since the Russian writer was one of James's favorite authors.

The main character of the work "Daisy Miller" Henry James portrayed ingenuous and spontaneous. The author endowed her with typical, in his opinion, properties of the American character. Daisy's behavior causesresonance in prim English society. Ignoring conventions, she strikes up an acquaintance with an Italian whose origin leaves much to be desired. Henry James narrates in a detached way, on behalf of the hero, who is not directly related to the plot, but is rather an observer. The ending of the story is tragic. A young American woman dies from a serious illness.

The author created a multi-faceted female image, which caused an ambiguous attitude of criticism. One of the publishers rejected the work, seeing in it a distorted image of an American lady.

Portrait of a Woman

Henry James' novel "Portrait of a Woman" became an example of subtle psychological style. The inner world of women has always been extremely interested in him. The title of the piece speaks for itself. In the novel, the author reveals an image that was not standard for that time. Of course, the main character is smart and beautiful. But the hallmark of her character is independence. Isabella does not want to follow the outdated traditions that prevail in the society to which she belongs, and chooses her own path in life. This story may not seem new to the modern reader. But it should be borne in mind that it was created twenty years before the appearance of Dreiser's novel "Sister Kerry". Therefore, it aroused great interest among English readers and bewilderment among Americans.

Turgenev

Henry James was one of the first English-speaking writers who at the end of the 19th century promoted Russian literature among their compatriots. Since Turgenev's work occupied a special place in the life of James, he dedicatedRussian classics two laudatory articles. A few years later, the writers met and warm friendly relations began between them.

The literary language of Henry James is quite complex. Perhaps that is why his works were not widely popular outside of the English-speaking audience. But even in England and the USA they forgot about him for many years. Remembered only in the forties of the XX century. Since that time, he began to be popular with both readers and literary theorists.

In his work, James actively experimented with the literary form and was able to create his own storytelling system. New techniques, a variety of artistic images made him an author who aroused great interest among literary critics.