The Shorter Fiction of Henry James

Catalog description

This course is dedicated to the shorter fiction of Henry James (1843-1916). James's shorter fiction ranges from the realistic to the satirical to the supernatural. We begin with his early novella of manners, Daisy Miller, before turning to his artist tales and ghost stories. His protagonists are governesses, writers, and artists employed or patronized by the rich but not at home among them. His settings are largely British and European: London, Paris, Geneva, Venice. Class, gender and sexuality are among his more prominent themes. Often credited with raising fiction to high art, James belongs to the tradition of Jane Austen and George Eliot, but his innovations laid the groundwork for modernists such as James Joyce and Virginia Woolf.