Henry James was a true cosmopolite. He was a citizen of the world and moved freely in and out of drawing rooms in Europe, England, and America. He was perhaps more at home in Europe than he was in America, but the roots of his life belong to the American continent. Thus, with few exceptions, most of his works deal with some type of confrontation between an American and a European.
Henry James was born in New York in 1843. His father, Henry James, Sr., had inherited a considerable sum of money and spent his time in leisured pursuit of theology and philosophy. The father often wrote essays and treatises on aspects of religion and philosophy and developed a certain degree of mysticism. Among the guests in the James household were some of the most famous minds of the mid-nineteenth century. Henry James was able to hear his father converse with people like Ralph Waldo Emerson, Bronson Alcott, and George Ripley. The father was insistent that his children learn to approach life with the broadest possible outlook.
In the strictest sense of the word, Henry James had no formal education. As a youth, he had private tutors. Then in his twelfth year, his father took the entire family to Europe, where they moved freely from Switzerland to France to Germany in pursuit of stimulating conversation and intellectual ideas. The world of Europe left an everlasting impression on young Henry James. He was ultimately to return and make his home in Europe.
When the family returned from Europe, the elder James decided to settle in New England. He chose Cambridge because this was the center of American intellectual thought. Many of the writers of Cambridge, Boston, and nearby Concord, where Emerson and Thoreau lived, were often visitors in the James household. It was in Boston that James met the first great influence on his literary career. He established a close friendship with William Dean Howells, who as editor of one of America’s leading magazines, was able to help James in his early efforts to write and publish.
In Boston, Henry James enrolled briefly in the Harvard Law School but soon withdrew to devote himself to writing. His older brother, William James, the most famous philosopher and psychologist America had yet produced, was also a student at Harvard, where he remained after graduation to become one of the most eminent lecturers in America.
By the late 1860s, James had done some reviewing and had sold one work of fiction to the Atlantic Monthly. He also went to Europe on his own, to see the continent as an adult. He returned again to Cambridge and New York in the hope of continuing his literary career, but he gradually came to the realization that Europe was more suitable for his writings. Thus, in 1876, when he was in his thirty-third year, James made the momentous decision to take up residence abroad. With the exception of short trips to various parts of the world, he lived the rest of his life in and near London. Until 1915, he retained his American citizenship, but when World War I broke out, he became a naturalized citizen of England in protest over America’s failure to enter the war against Germany.
James’ life and background were ideally suited for the development of his artistic temperament. Even though he was not extremely wealthy, he did have sufficient independent means to allow him to live a leisured life. His father’s house provided all the intellectual stimulation he needed. The visitors were the most prominent artists of the day, and James was able to follow the latest literary trends. In his travels, he moved in the best society of two continents and came into contact with a large variety of ideas.
With such a life, it is natural that James’ novels are concerned with a society of people who are interested in subtle ideas and subtle refinements. There are no really poor people in his novels. He wrote about people who had enough money to allow them to develop and cultivate their higher natures. His novels develop with a deliberate slowness and conscientious refinement. Many critics and readers resent the deliberate withholding of information and the slow development found in the Jamesian novel, but James’ life was lived with a high degree of leisure and refinement. And finally, James was the first American qualified to develop the theme of the American in Europe. By the time he made his decision to settle in Europe, he had made several trips there and had lived and attended school in several parts of Europe. Thus, the subject matter of most of James’ works is concerned with an American of some degree of innocence meeting or becoming involved with some European of experience.
In spite of his decision to live abroad, James remained essentially American in his sympathies. His greatest characters (or central characters) are almost always Americans. But at the same time, some of his most unpleasant characters are also Americans. But the important thing is that the characters who change, mature, and achieve an element of greatness are almost always Americans.
Daisy Miller, an 1878 novella by Henry James, portrays the confused courtship of the eponymous American girl, who is very beautiful, by Winterbourne, a compatriot of hers with much more sophistication. His pursuit of her is hampered by her own flirtatiousness, which is frowned upon by the other expatriates they meet in Switzerland and Italy.
Plot summary The pair first meet in Vevey, Switzerland, where Winterbourne is vacationing from his studies. They are brought together by young Randolph Miller, Daisy's irrepressible adolescent brother. Randolph considers his hometown of Schenectady, New York, to be far superior to all of Europe, particularly in the quality of candy available. Daisy, though, is absolutely delighted with the Continent, especially the high society she wishes to enter.
Winterbourne is at first confused by her attitude, but soon determines that she is nothing more than a young American flirt. He continues his pursuit of the fair Daisy in spite of the disapproval of his imperious aunt Mrs. Costello, who spurns any family with so close a relationship to their courier as the Millers have with their Eugenio. She also thinks Daisy is a shameless coquette for agreeing to go sight-seeing with Winterbourne after a mere half hour's acquaintance. The two have a fine time touring the Château de Chillon, an old castle, then Winterbourne informs Daisy that he must go to Geneva the next day. Daisy extracts a promise from him to meet her in Rome, and they part.
Winterbourne and Daisy do meet in Rome, unexpectedly in the parlor of Mrs. Walker, a fellow American. Daisy shocks the local society by walking out with Mr. Giovanelli, a handsome young Italian of no status. Daisy is undeterred by the open disapprobation of the other Americans in Rome, and her ineffectual mother seems quite oblivious to underlying tensions. Winterbourne attempts to extricate Daisy from her situation, but she refuses to take any of it seriously.
One night, Winterbourne takes a walk through the Colosseum and, at its center, sees Giovanelli standing in front of Daisy. Winterbourne tells himself that Daisy is too common for him to love. He warns her about the danger of "Roman fever" (malaria) to her health, and she rushes home, although protesting that she doesn't care. Daisy does fall ill, and dies a few days later. Looking back on what Mrs. Miller told him as her daughter lay dying, Winterbourne finally realizes that Daisy did love him, in spite of her playful denials, and that she was just an innocent flirt. He goes back to Geneva and resumes his studies and his interest in a "clever foreign lady." Key themes This short story serves as both a psychological description of the mind of a young woman, and an analysis of the traditional views of a society where she is a clear outsider. Henry James uses Daisy's story to discuss what he thinks Europeans and Americans believe about each other, and more generally the prejudices common in any culture. In a letter James said that Daisy is the victim of a "social rumpus" that goes on either over her head or beneath her notice.
The names of the characters are also symbolic. Daisy is a flower in full bloom, without inhibitions and in the springtime of her life. Daisy contrasts sharply with Winterbourne, who is more ambivalent and unwilling to commit to any relationship. Flowers die in winter and this is precisely what happens to Daisy, after catching the Roman Fever or, to put it more bluntly, the attention of foreign men. As an objective analogue to this psychological reality, Daisy catches the very real Roman fever, the malaria that was endemic to many Roman neighborhoods in the 19th century.
Critical evaluation Daisy Miller was an immediate and widespread popular success for James, despite some overheated criticism that the story was "an outrage on American girlhood". If the Amazon.com sales ranks are any guide, the story continues to be one of James' most popular works, along with The Turn of the Screw and The Portrait of a Lady. Critics have generally praised the freshness and vigor of the storytelling,
Despite changes in times and customs, the forthright if naive Daisy can still cast a spell on today's readers. The touches of humor help offset the pathos of the tale, and the supporting cast is vividly portrayed. While some may feel that James tries to overload a simple story with too many trappings of tragedy, few readers will be unaffected by Daisy's fate.
In 1909 James revised Daisy Miller extensively for the New York Edition of his fiction. He deepened the tone of the story but some feel he robbed the original version of its color and immediacy. Fortunately, both the early and late versions of the tale are available online (see below) so readers can compare for themselves.
إضغط على الصوره لتراها بحجمها الطبيعي
Derivative works James converted his story into a play that failed to be produced, much to his chagrin. He published the play in The Atlantic Monthly in 1883, and it shows many changes from the original story. In particular, a happy ending was inserted to please what James believed to be the preferences of theater-goers.
A 1974 film adaptation directed by Peter Bogdanovich starred Cybill Shepherd as Daisy.
لا تستطيع كتابة مواضيع جديدة في هذا المنتدى لا تستطيع كتابة ردود في هذا المنتدى لا تستطيع تعديل مشاركاتك في هذا المنتدى لا تستطيع حذف مشاركاتك في هذا المنتدى لا تستطيع إرفاق ملف في هذا المنتدى