Henry James’ Narrative Technique: Consciousness, Perception, And Cognition

Henry James’ Narrative Technique This page intentionally left blank Henry James’ Narrative Technique C ons c io usn ess, Perc e p t i o n , a nd C o gnitio n Kristin Boudreau HENRY JAMES’ NARRATIVE TECHNIQUE Copyright © Kristin Boudreau, 2010. Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2010 978-0-230-10262-0 All rights reserved. Cover photograph of Henry James near Rye, Sussex. Courtesy of the Leon Edel Collection, Rare Books and Special Collections, McGill University Library Ink drawing by Max Beerbohm of Henry James on the witness stand. Courtesy of the Henry James Collection (#6251-K). Clifton Waller Barrett Library, Albert and Shirley Small Collections Library, University of Virginia Library. Reproduction of John Singer Sargent’s Sortie de l’église, Campo San Canciano, Venice (c. 1882). Courtesy of Marie and Hugh Halff First published in 2010 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN® in the United States - a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world, this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-28699-7 ISBN 978-0-230-10686-4 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9780230106864 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Boudreau, Kristin, 1965– Henry James’ narrative technique: consciousness, perception, and cognition/Kristin Boudreau. p. cm. ISBN 978-1-349-28699-7 (alk.paper) 1. James, Henry, 1843–1916—Technique. 2. Narration (Rhetoric)—History—20th century. 3. Narration (Rhetoric)— History—19th century. 4. Consciousness in literature. 5. Fiction—Technique. I. Title. PS2127.T4B68 2010 813’.4—dc22 2009040628 A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library. Design by MPS Limited, A Macmillan Company First edition: May 2010 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 For Grace, who makes the heart too big for the body. This page intentionally left blank Contents List of Figures ix Preface and Acknowledgments xi Introduction: Thinking of Philosophy 1 1 Experiences of Culture, History, and Politics in The Bostonians 2 Hyacinth Robinson’s Demoralization 3 4 31 63 But Half the Matter: Picturing Thought and Feeling in The Wings of the Dove 103 Passionate Pilgrimages: James’ Travel in Italy and the United States 139 Notes 181 Bibliography 193 Index 199 This page intentionally left blank List of Figures 0.1 2.1 “A Nightmare, Mr. Henry James Subpoenaed as Psychological Expert in a Cause Célebrè.” Caricature by Max Beerbohm John Singer Sargent, Sortie de l’église, Campo San Canciano, Venice (c. 1882) 25 96 This page intentionally left blank Preface and Acknowledgments Henry James’ Narrative Technique: Consciousness, Perception, and Cognition situates Henry James’ famous narrative technique within an emerging modernist tradition with roots in philosophical debates between rationalism and empiricism. The book takes as its point of departure T. S. Eliot’s famous (and famously misunderstood) claim that James “had a mind so fine that no idea could violate it.” Although most critics responding to Eliot’s description have misunderstood it to mean that thought itself could not survive in such a rarefied mind as James’, Eliot meant his remark as high praise, and we can begin to under