henry james.ppt

Literary career: three stages a. 1865~1882: international theme The American 《美国人》 Daisy Miller 《黛西米勒》 The Portrait of a Lady 《贵妇画像》 b. 1882~1895: inter-personal relationships, plays The novels and plays were poorly received but he got a better knowledge of literary techniques. c. 1895~1900: novels and tales dealing with childhood and adolescence, then back to international theme The Turn of the Screw《螺丝在拧紧》 What Maisie Knew 《梅西所知道的》 The Ambassadors 《奉使记》 The Wings of the Dove 《鸽翼》 The Golden Bowl 《金碗》 Literary criticism The Art of Fiction a. the aim of the novel is to present life b. the artist should write about anything that concerns him, even the ugly and the commonplace Psychological description emphasizing the inner awareness and inward movement of characters Plot depends not on external events but the characters’ internal consciousness the forerunner of stream-of-consciousness novels the founder of psychological realism He hopes to find his “alter ego”. He begins to walk the halls and rooms of his childhood home late at night, reflecting on the memories of his youth and bemoaning his lost potential. Noticing that a door he had left open has been shut, he believes that his alter ego is sitting in the room behind the closed door. Unwilling to open the door, Spencer attempts to make his escape. As he descends the stairway, he catches a glimpse of another door that should be closed but is not. Through this open door Spencer finally faces his alter ego. The apparition, described as a “black stranger,” is dressed in evening wear but has a monstrous face. Shocked, Spencer collapses. He saw, in its great grey glimmering margin, the central vagueness diminish, and he felt it to be taking the very form toward which, for so many days, the passion of his curiosity had yearned. It gloomed, it loomed, it was something, it was somebody, the prodigy of a personal presence. Rigid and conscious, spectral yet human, a man of his own substance and stature waited