Henry James

“The Most Innocent!” Symbolism in the Final Scene of Daisy Miller Henry James’s “Daisy Miller: A Study” is the story of a free-spirited American girl who finds herself under the harsh scrutiny of the society of American expatriates living in Europe – key among them is one Mr. Winterbourne. Though an American by birth, Winterbourne has lived outside the country long enough to be no longer familiar with its customs. However, he is also set apart from European society (esp. when compared with Mr.…

proven exemplary at excluding female voices; leaving literary interpretation from the perspective of feminist theory limited, at least somewhat, to work written by men. Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw affords the opportunity to explore feminist ideals with the interesting, and arguably, rare perspective of a female protagonist. James even gives the main character a voice with the use of first person narration. However, even as a first person narrator, her story is filtered/framed through men,…

In Henry James’ novella The Turn of the Screw, the insane governess undeliberately strangles Miles in an attempt to be his hero and save him from the ghosts she is hallucinating. The governess soon becomes delusional after arriving at the estate and begins to hallucinate and sees two ghosts, a man and a woman. After her first sighting of the man in the tower, she speaks with another worker, Mrs. Grose, and they decide that it is the ghost of a previous servant, Peter Quint. After the governess’…

Gaining control can feel empowering, but there comes a point where we are too prideful about our power. The accumulation of power and the misdirection from arrogance are themes that occur throughout the course of “The Turn of The Screw”, by Henry James. The story is told in the perspective of a governess, who takes up a job out in Bly where she is to care for and educate two upper class children, Flora and Miles. The Governess’ encounters with apparitions slowly fuel up her need to take control,…

American Revolution. Many American victories were won under his command which included winning independence from Great Britain. President Washington’s strong values and principles helped a shape a nation in desperate need for guidance and leadership. James Monroe said to Thomas Jefferson, “Be assured, his influence carried this government.” (Personal communication, July 12, 1788). As his second term came to a close Washington wrote a Farewell Address to the American people to help guide them…

Literature sometimes embeds secrets in the narrative of a text. What remains unreachable for the reader produces the desire for them to find the truth about something). Bennet and Royle call this “the process of unfolding and revelation” (271). Brontё’s Jane Eyre accounts to “telling [the reader] the plain truth!” (111) indicating that narrators in Literature can be ‘all-knowing’ and ‘all-telling’. However, Bronte relies on the first-person narrative to have readers think that Jane and they…

The Turn of the Screw, by Henry James, is ghost story that focuses on a young governess that encounters a pair of ghosts. She becomes convinced that the ghosts are somehow corrupting the two children she is charged with caring for. The new governess is enamored with the two children, and when she first meets them, she comes to the conclusion that they are perfect children (and can do no wrong). Her changing emotional states cause her to later suspect that the children are not necessarily perfect…

James Henry Hammond of South Carolina, was known to be in a pro-slavery state of mind. With the biggest issue of this time period in the United States being the idea of abolishing slavery in the southern states, Hammond was one of the well known spokespersons for the south. Hammond shows his ideas of why slavery is needed in the south and the effects abolishing slavery would bring for both the southern and also the northern states (“James Henry Hammond” My GA). Needless to say, Hammond would not…

Henry James’ Brooksmith is the narration by an unnamed character about his experiences with a servant names Brooksmith during and after his conversations with Brooksmith’s master Mr Offord. In the story, Brooksmith starts off as more of a background character to the narrators and Mr. Offord’s conversations. But as the story goes on, Mr.Offord becomes ill, ultimately bringing Brooksmith into the story’s spotlight. Later on in the story we see the death of Mr.Offord, and then begins the decline of…

Ernest Hemingway was born in 1899 in Oak Park, Illinois, being the first son and second child to Clarence and Grace Hemingway. His mother hoped that he would foster an interest for music, but he liked the outdoors much more, like his father. In high school, he excelled academically as well as athletically. After high school, he was not interested in going to college, and wanted a writing career. He started his career as a writer in a newspaper office in Kansas City, at the young age of seventeen…