tutorial, commentary, study resources, plot, and web links

Confidence was Henry James’s fifth novel. It first appeared as a serial in Scribner’s Monthly from August 1879 through to January 1880. This was a magazine which James actually disliked, but it paid high rates for work published. The novel first appeared in book form in two volumes published by Chatto and Windus in December 1879, and it was published in America by Houghton, Osgood & Company in February 1880.

It is worth noting that the English and American editions differ substantially (and from the Scribner’s serial) in terms of punctuation and wording. The surviving manuscripts and their variants suggest that James was deliberately targeting what he saw as two different audiences – in England and America. And it is just possible that – copyright agreements being rather hazy at that time – he was consciously creating two different ‘versions’ for commercial and legal reasons.

cover design by Parish Maxfield

Confidence – critical commentary

This is probably one of the least well known of James’s early novels – indeed, it could almost be counted as completely unknown to most people other than James specialists. It has certainly not been in print recently in any popular or paperback editions – with the honourable exception of the Library of America series. It was not included in the New York Edition published in 1907-1909, which suggests that James himself did not consider the novel worthy to stand alongside his more substantial achievements.

The novel was written in between two early novels which have generally remained popular with the reading public – The Europeans of 1878 and Washington Square of 1880. Like The Europeans there is very little action or dramatic tension in the story, just a great deal of conversation between the principal characters. This is James developing his interest in what we now call the psychological novel. His principal concerns are with the ways his characters understand, mis-understand, and interact with each other.

This is highlighted in the central character of Bernard Longueville. James creates a clever account of Longueville’s psychological processes in dealing with Angela Vivian. He cannot understand her shifting attitudes yet feels drawn to seek explanations and cannot fathom why he finds her so fascinating. It is quite clear to the reader that he is falling in love with her – but this is not apparent to Bernard himself. As the narrator eventually remarks on the dawning of his self-knowledge half way through the narrative:

a great many things had been taking place in his clever mind without his clever mind suspecting them

But although this oblique presentation is successful, the novel lacks the sharpness and the depth of interest of his more successful works published around this time. Events are very slow-moving and schematic, and for all its subtleties, the final resolution is quite unconvincing. We are told (via Angela’s letters to Bernard) that she has succeeded in converting Gordon’s wounded pride and jealous rage into a calm acceptance, but the events are not dramatised – we are not shown any of this process taking place.

There is also a problem of characterisation when compared with James’s more successful novels. Angela Vivian is certainly an intriguing figure – intelligent, witty, yet mysteriously contrary. But it is difficult to take the central character Bernard Longueville seriously at all – a man of endless wealth and a complete lack of purpose. Even the narrator describes him as ‘culpably unoccupied’.

However, there are two further possible readings of this spindly and makeshift plot. The first is that Bernard’s initial report to Gordon of finding Angela to be a flirt and not suitable for marriage, represents another unconscious stratagem on his part – a smokescreen to deter Gordon, so that Bernard himself can stake a claim in a woman he finds so fascinating.

The advantage of this reading is that it would fit neatly alongside his being unconsciously in love with her at that stage in the narrative. However, there is very little direct evidence in the text to support this idea. If James had this possibility in mind, he makes no mention of it in his notes for the story or in the novel itself.

But a second reading, made possible in the light of many texts from James’s later work, is that the story is a thinly veiled study in homo-eroticism – written unconsciously it should be added. In his notes for the story, James stresses the bond between the two men, as well as emphasising their different personalities:

The two men are old friends – closely united friends. The interest of the story must depend greatly upon this fact of their strong, deep friendship and upon the contrast of their two characters. They are in effect, singularly different [Bernard] must be represented as the (roughly speaking) complex nature of the two – the subtle, the refined, the fanciful, the eminently modern … [Gordon] is simpler, deeper, more masculine more easily puzzled, less intellectual, less imaginative. He is greatly under the influence of his friend and has a great esteem for his judgement.

Gordon summons Bernard to Baden-Baden, wishing to both display the woman he has fallen in love with and asking for Bernard’s critical approval of her. Bernard promptly falls in love with the same woman. It does not take a brass plaque on anyone’s front door to realise that when two people share the same love object, it is often a psychological displacement of their attraction to each other.

And this also proves to be the principal plot denouement. The story is not resolved by Gordon’s being reunited with his scatty wife Blanche, nor does it end with Bernard’s marriage to Angela (which is given no dramatic substance at all). It ends when the two men are reunited with each other – and concludes (literally) with Gordon writing Bernard “the longest letter he had ever addressed to him”, and then even more pointedly the narrative ends with these words: “The letter reached Bernard in the middle of his honeymoon.” Gordon has actually re-united himself with Bernard during the consummation of his friend’s marriage.

Confidence – study resources

Confidence – Library of America – Amazon UK

Confidence – Library of America – Amazon US

Confidence – Tark Classics – Amazon UK

Confidence – Tark Classics – Amazon US

Confidence – Kindle edition

Confidence – eBook versions at Project Gutenberg

The Cambridge Companion to Henry James – Amazon UK

Henry James – biographical notes

Henry James at Wikipedia – biographical notes, links

Henry James at Mantex – tutorials, web links, study resources

Confidence – plot summary

Chapter I.   A young American Bernard Longueville is touring Italy when he meets a woman and her daughter in Siena. He includes the attractive daughter in a landscape picture he paints, which she regards as presumptuous.

Chapter II.   Two months later he is in Venice when he receives a letter from his friend Gordon Wright imploring him to come to Baden-Baden to give his opinion on a woman with whom he is in love.

Chapter III.   On arrival in Baden-Baden Longueville meets Mrs Vivian and her charge, the talkative Blanche Evers. Then they are joined by the Englishman Captain Lovelock and Miss Vivian, who refuses to acknowledge their earlier meeting in Siena.

Chapter IV.   Bernard discusses with Gordon his being in love, which he is finding a painful experience. Bernard conceals from his friend the fact that he has already met Angela Vivian in Siena.

Chapter V.   Gordon explains his love for Angela, who moves home from one place to another in Europe with her widowed mother. Gordon has followed them from Dresden to Baden-Baden.

Chapter VI.   Bernard spars conversationally with Angela Vivian, who will still not refer to their earlier meeting in Siena. He finds her puzzling but fascinating.

Chapter VII.   Next evening they continue to argue and flirt verbally. She is concerned that Captain Lovelock is a penniless trifler, leading on the gullible Blanche Evers. Bernard challenges her directly about their Siena meeting.

Chapter VIII.   She refuses to explain, but Bernard spends more time in her company than Gordon, whom she treats politely but indifferently. Gordon reveals that he proposed to her some weeks earlier, but was turned down. He is now perplexed by her.

Chapter IX.   Bernard wonders why Mrs Vivian seems to disapprove of him, and discusses Angela with Miss Evers and the Captain.

Chapter X.   Bernard decides to ‘interview’ Mrs Vivian, who reveals that she thinks Gordon is very rich and therefore a suitable match for Angela.

Chapter XI.   Gordon has to go to England to see his sister. He leaves Bernard with a request that he study Angela closely during his absence.

Chapter XII.   Bernard visits Mrs Vivian and Angela where there is further intellectual sparring between them, and a hint that Angela is concealing something about her recent past.

Chapter XIII.   Bernard’s thoughts are increasingly taken up with Angela, who correctly guesses that George has asked him to keep an eye on her. Bernard thinks she might marry George for his money, even though she does not love him.

Chapter XIV.   Gordon’s return is delayed. Bernard impulsively decides to leave Baden-Baden, but when he mentions it to Angela she asks him to stay – which he does.

Chapter XV.   When Gordon returns Bernard reveals his reservations about Angela’s intentions – and then uncharacteristically goes to the casino, where he wins lots of money. Next day Gordon suddenly leaves Baden-Baden, but does not say why. Bernard fears he might have misjudged Angela and done the wrong thing.

Chapter XVI.   Suddenly the Vivians and Blanche Evers leave Baden-Baden and travel to Lausanne. Captain Lovelock cannot leave Baden-Baden because of debts he has run up, so Bernard, feeling uneasy about his winnings, lends him money – which he promptly loses in the casino. Bernard then leaves to go round the world alone.

Chapter XVII.   Two years later Gordon writes to Bernard to say that he is getting married to Blanche Evers. Bernard travels to New York, where he finds them both very happy with each other.

Chapter XVIII.   However, Bernard thinks that Blanche might have married Gordon for his money, and he wonders how his friend can be happy with such a frivolous and garrulous wife. When social gossip about Bernard and Blanche begins to circulate because of the time they are spending together, he decides to leave, whereupon Blanche claims that Gordon does not care for her at all.

Chapter XIX.   Bernard goes to California, finds nothing to keep him there, then decides to go back to Europe. As he leaves, Captain Lovelock arrives to stay at Gordon’s house.

Chapter XX.   Bernard goes to Normandy where he meets Angela again on the beach. He feels that he has wronged her by spoiling her chances of a marriage to Gordon. They spar with each other again, as in the past.

Chapter XXI.   Bernard finds Angela as remote as ever, yet he feels that she does not bear any grudge against him. He takes Mrs Vivian and Angela to the local casino – then suddenly realises that he is in love with Angela.

Chapter XXII.   In fact he realises that he has been in love with her for the past three years – and the idea frightens him. He decides to leave immediately, but the next day goes for a long walk instead. When he goes to pay his respects to the Vivians, they have suddenly left for Paris.

Chapter XXIII.   Bernard follows the Vivians to Paris, where Mrs Vivian is welcoming and Angela is as polite yet as indifferent as ever.

Chapter XXIV.   Visiting frequently, Bernard eventually tells Angela that he has been in love with her since they first met. She accepts his declaration, and Mrs Vivian gives her blessing to them. Bernard apologises for ‘wronging’ her in Baden-Baden, and she explains that she was angry at being a pawn in Gordon’s ‘assessment’ of her.

Chapter XXV.   A wedding is planned, but then Gordon, Blanche, and Captain Lovelock suddenly arrive from New York. Blanche is as silly and flirtatious as ever, and Lovelock is a pompous bore, acting as if he is Blanche’s lover.

Chapter XXVI.   Bernard and Gordon go for a private walk to resume their close friendship – but they meet Mrs Vivian and Angela, which results in Bernard’s revelation that he is engaged to marry Angela. Gordon does not like the news, and walks off.

Chapter XXVII.   When Bernard reports Gordon’s annoyance to Angela she reveals that Gordon asked her for a second time to marry him – even after Bernard had filed his critical report on her. However, she refused him, so Bernard need no longer feel that he had misled either of them.

Chapter XXVIII.   Blanche suddenly arrives with Captain Lovelock in tow and gushes indiscreetly about herself and Gordon, claiming to be ‘unwell’. She is eventually surprised to learn about Angela’s impending marriage to Bernard.

Chapter XXIX.   On the next day Bernard visits Angela and finds Gordon there. Gordon is angry, feels betrayed, claims his wife is about to leave him, and wants Angela to postpone her marriage so as to give him another chance. She agrees to do so.

Chapter XXX.   Angela argues to Bernard that Gordon is actually in love with his wife but doesn’t realise it. She plans to get rid of Captain Lovelock and reconcile Gordon and Blanche. Bernard is exiled to London, where Angela writes to him each day with news of progress. After just over a week, she has persuaded Gordon that all is well.

Chapter XXXI.   Angela’s plan works, and Bernard returns to Paris, where he and Gordon are happily reconciled. Gordon takes Blanche to Cairo, and Bernard marries Angela.

Baden-Baden – the Kurhaus

Confidence – principal characters

Henry James’s study

Further reading

Theodora Bosanquet, Henry James at Work, University of Michigan Press, 2007.

F.W. Dupee, Henry James: Autobiography, Princeton University Press, 1983.

Leon Edel, Henry James: A Life, HarperCollins, 1985.

Philip Horne (ed), Henry James: A Life in Letters, Viking/Allen Lane, 1999.

Henry James, The Letters of Henry James, Adamant Media Corporation, 2001.

Fred Kaplan, Henry James: The Imagination of Genius, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999

F.O. Matthieson (ed), The Notebooks of Henry James, Oxford University Press, 1988.

Critical commentary

Elizabeth Allen, A Woman’s Place in the Novels of Henry James London: Macmillan Press, 1983.

Ian F.A. Bell, Henry James and the Past, London: Palgrave Macmillan, 1993.

Millicent Bell, Meaning in Henry James, Cambridge (MA): Harvard University Press, 1993.

Harold Bloom (ed), Modern Critical Views: Henry James, Chelsea House Publishers, 1991.

Kirstin Boudreau, Henry James’s Narrative Technique, Macmillan, 2010.

J. Donald Crowley and Richard A. Hocks (eds), The Wings of the Dove, New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 1978.

Victoria Coulson, Henry James, Women and Realism, Cambridge University Press, 2009.

Daniel Mark Fogel, A Companion to Henry James Studies, Greenwood Press, 1993.

Virginia C. Fowler, Henry James’s American Girl: The Embroidery on the Canvas, Madison (Wis): University of Wisconsin Press, 1984.

Jonathan Freedman, The Cambridge Companion to Henry James, Cambridge University Press, 1998.

Judith Fryer, The Faces of Eve: Women in the Nineteenth Century American Novel, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1976

Roger Gard (ed), Henry James: The Critical Heritage, London: Routledge, 1968.

Tessa Hadley, Henry James and the Imagination of Pleasure, Cambridge University Press, 2009.

Barbara Hardy, Henry James: The Later Writing (Writers & Their Work), Northcote House Publishers, 1996.

Richard A. Hocks, Henry James: A study of the short fiction, New York: Twayne Publishers, 1990.

Donatella Izzo, Portraying the Lady: Technologies of Gender in the Short Stories of Henry James, University of Nebraska Press, 2002.

Colin Meissner, Henry James and the Language of Experience, Cambridge University Press, 2009

John Pearson (ed), The Prefaces of Henry James, Pennsylvania State University Press, 1993.

Richard Poirer, The Comic Sense of Henry James, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1967.

Hugh Stevens, Henry James and Sexuality, Cambridge University Press, 1998.

Merle A. Williams, Henry James and the Philosophical Novel, Cambridge University Press, 1993.

Judith Woolf, Henry James: The Major Novels, Cambridge University Press, 1991.

Ruth Yeazell (ed), Henry James: A Collection of Critical Essays, Longmans, 1994.

Other works by Henry James

The Aspern Papers (1888) is a psychological drama set in Venice which centres on the tussle for control of a great writer’s correspondence. An elderly lady, ex-lover of the writer, seeks a husband for her daughter. But the potential purchaser of the papers is a dedicated bachelor. Money is also at stake – but of course not discussed overtly. There is a refined battle of wills between them. Who will win in the end? As usual, James keeps the reader guessing. The novella is a masterpiece of subtle narration, with an ironic twist in its outcome. This collection of stories also includes three of his accomplished long short stories – The Private Life, The Middle Years, and The Death of the Lion.
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The Spoils of Poynton (1896) is a short novel which centres on the contents of a country house, and the question of who is the most desirable person to inherit it via marriage. The owner Mrs Gereth is being forced to leave her home to make way for her son and his greedy and uncultured fiancee. Mrs Gereth develops a subtle plan to take as many of the house’s priceless furnishings with her as possible. But things do not go quite according to plan. There are some very witty social ironies, and a contest of wills which matches nouveau-riche greed against high principles. There’s also a spectacular finale in which nobody wins out.
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Daisy Miller (1879) is a key story from James’s early phase in which a spirited young American woman travels to Europe with her wealthy but commonplace mother. Daisy’s innocence and her audacity challenge social conventions, and she seems to be compromising her reputation by her independent behaviour. But when she later dies in Rome the reader is invited to see the outcome as a powerful sense of a great lost potential. This novella is a great study in understatement and symbolic power.
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Henry James – web links

Henry James at Mantex
Biographical notes, study guides, tutorials on the Complete Tales, book reviews. bibliographies, and web links.

The Complete Works
Sixty books in one 13.5 MB Kindle eBook download for £1.92 at Amazon.co.uk. The complete novels, stories, travel writing, and prefaces. Also includes his autobiographies, plays, and literary criticism – with illustrations.

The Ladder – a Henry James website
A collection of eTexts of the tales, novels, plays, and prefaces – with links to available free eTexts at Project Gutenberg and elsewhere.

A Hyper-Concordance to the Works
Japanese-based online research tool that locates the use of any word or phrase in context. Find that illusive quotable phrase.

The Henry James Resource Center
A web site with biography, bibliographies, adaptations, archival resources, suggested reading, and recent scholarship.

Online Books Page
A collection of online texts, including novels, stories, travel writing, literary criticism, and letters.

Henry James at Project Gutenberg
A major collection of eTexts, available in a variety of eBook formats.

The Complete Letters
Archive of the complete correspondence (1855-1878) work in progress – published by the University of Nebraska Press.

The Scholar’s Guide to Web Sites
An old-fashioned but major jumpstation – a website of websites and resouces.

Henry James – The Complete Tales
Tutorials on the complete collection of over one hundred tales, novellas, and short stories.

Henry James on the Internet Movie Database
Adaptations of James’s novels and stories for the cinema and television – in various languages. Full details of directors and actors, production features, film reviews, box office, and even quizzes.

© Roy Johnson 2014

More on Henry James
More on literature
More on the novella
More on literary studies
More on short stories

tutorial, critical commentary, plot, and study resources

Roderick Hudson (1875) was Henry James’s second novel, and the first to bring him a popular success. It initially appeared in twelve monthly issues of the Atlantic Monthly, for which he was paid $100 per instalment. Later in 1879 it was published in three volumes in the UK. This was a common format for full length novels at the time. His first novel had been Watch and Ward published as a serial in 1871, but James virtually disowned the book later in life, and it was not included in the New York edition of his collected works published in 1912.

Roderick Hudson – critical commentary

Biography

Henry James’s grandfather was a relatively poor Irish immigrant who though sheer effort and economic enterprise became one of America’s first millionaires, second only to Jacob Astor. Henry James senior (his son) disdained commerce and became a religious philosopher, yet lived on the proceeds of his father’s labours.

This enabled Henry James senior and his family to live in relative luxury, oscillating between Europe and America. His own two sons William and Henry James were raised in a social expectation that they did not have to earn their livings, and both of them dabbled with the idea of becoming artists – before William eventually studied medicine and Henry began supplementing his private income by journalism and writing novels.

There is therefore a strong connection between Henry James’s own experience of a richly privileged lifestyle and that of his characters in Roderick Hudson who move around the European cities of the Grand Tour supported entirely by the wealth of Rowland Mallet, his principal character . Mallet has inherited his wealth from a puritan father, and he appears to be no worse off financially at the end of his two year experiment than he was at the beginning.

Mallet has no ambition at the outset of the novel other than to collect good quality paintings and donate them to an American museum – something for which he is criticised by his cousin Cecilia and by Mary Garland. He later changes this ambition to that of ‘cultivating’ the talent he sees in Roderick Hudson.

The artist

James makes very little attempt to give substance and credibility to Roderick’s efforts as a sculptor. There is no detail of what might be involved in manipulating clay or chiselling marble – and Roderick’s meteoric rise to success in such a short time puts a strain on the reader’s credulity.

We know that James studied painting, and that he spent time amongst expatriate American artists during the time he lived in Rome – but there is no convincing sense of the physical or practical issues involved in being a three dimensional artist, even though we are led to believe that Roderick produces two large-scale figures (Adam and Eve at almost his first attempt.

The significance of this weakness in characterisation is that it reinforces the notion that James was not genuinely interested in developing what might be called ‘a portrait of the artist’, whereas he did pursue his interest in the relationship between the two men to its bitter end.

Location

The geographic dislocations (particularly towards the end of this over-long novel) undermine its coherence. The narrative begins in America, then moves to Rome. But later the action switches from Rome to two locations in Florence, and then finally for no convincing reason to Switzerland.

Since the main focus of interest is on the psychological relationships between the principal characters (Rowland, Roderick, Mary, and Christina) there is no meaningful connection between the drama of their relationships and the locations in which they are acted out.

The key points of the drama are that Christina is threatened with the revelation that Giacosa is her natural father, as a result of which she reluctantly marries the Prince. Because of this, Rodericks’ romantic aspirations and artistic confidence are shattered. These events could take place anywhere, and the only justification for the climax occurring in Switzerland is to give Roderick a mountain cliff from which to fall to his death.

Intertextuality

Intertextuality is a term used to describe one text referring to or alluding to another. This can happen by allusion, pastiche, parody. or direct quotation. James creates a particularly interesting form of intertextuality in Roderick Hudson by creating characters who will appear in more than one of his future novels.

Christina Light first appears in Roderick Hudson as the beautiful but disillusioned offspring of a fairly unscrupulous mother who is trying to locate a rich husband for her daughter. But then she reappears as a major character in the later novel The Princess Casamassima (1885) performing a very different role.

Between the end of Roderick Hudson and the beginning of The Princess Casamassima Christina leaves her husband and takes up the cause of revolutionaries in London. She is accompanied by the same trusty advisor Madame Grandoni who continues to support her and acts as a link between Christina and the hero of the later novel, Hyacinth Robinson. Her husband the Prince Casamassima also reappears in the later novel – in hot pursuit of his wife, seeking a reconciliation – which she refuses to effect.

A smaller example is the character of Gloriani – the rather sceptical and pragmatic sculptor who creates works which will appeal to popular public taste rather than something of lasting value. Gloriani appears in Roderick Hudson as the embodiment of an alternative artistic value to Roderick himself, who wishes to be honest to a higher system of values.

Gloriani also appears in the later novel The Ambassadors (1903) filling a similar role – and commentators have observed that his character is based on the controversial American painter James McNeil Whistler.

Psycho-interpretation

Whilst the two principal male characters appear to be in parallel amorous relationships with the two principal females, Mary and Christina, most readers will have no difficulty in recognising that Roderick and Rowland spend the whole of the novel locked into a very emotional relationship – with each other.

Rowland is the older, more experienced figure, and Roderick being younger, is a character to whom Rowland is very attracted. His initial interest is triggered by the statuette of a young boy that Roderick creates – a youth drinking from a cup. Rowland then pays for Roderick’s two year experiences in Europe, and even gives financial support to his mother Mrs Hudson and her companion Mary Garland. He pays off Roderick’s debts, indulges his every whim, and stays loyal to him right through to the bitter and tragic end, despite the many emotional lover-like spats they generate between themselves.

It is often observed that when two men are in love with the same woman, this is a psychological clue that they are (perhaps unconsciously) attracted to each other. But in Roderick Hudson Rowland and Roderick are not just attracted to one woman, but to two.

At the start of the novel Rowland is intrigued by the plain but intelligent Mary Garland, but it is Roderick who has proposed marriage to her, and been accepted. In the two years of their sojourn in Europe, Rowland is increasingly attracted to the idea of Mary and he feels mildly annoyed with Roderick’s neglect of his duties towards his fianceé.

But when the beautiful and enigmatic Christina Light appears, Roderick’s affections switch completely from one woman to the other. Rowland thinks this might make Mary available, but by far the greater part of his emotional energy is devoted to his pursuit of Roderick.

The submerged theme of homosexuality was probably created unconsciously on Henry James’s part – just as his two fictional characters are not aware of it themselves. But it is a critical stance worth taking to the novel – because of its frequent recurrence in the rest of James’s oeuvre. There are countless other works (particularly the tales) that deal with this theme and its many variations – the fear of marriage (The Path of Duty) the threat of inheritance (Owen Wingrave) and the missed opportunity (The Beast in the Jungle).

The submerged theme could also have a bearing on the rather unsatisfactory conclusion to the novel. Roderick may well be disappointed by Christina’s choosing to marry the Prince [he does not know that her hand has been forced] but his death in what appears to be almost a suicide does not seem persuasive. However, it might be one or even the only way for James to draw to a close the relationship between the two men.

Roderick Hudson – study resources

Roderick Hudson – Penguin Classics – Amazon UK

Roderick Hudson – Penguin Classics – Amazon US

Roderick Hudson – Kindle edition

Roderick Hudson – eBooks at Project Gutenberg

The Cambridge Companion to Henry James – Amazon UK

The Essential Henry James Collection – Kindle edition (40 works)

The Prefaces of Henry James – Introductions to his tales and novels

Roderick Hudson – Notes on editions (Library of America)

Henry James at Wikipedia – biographical notes, links

Henry James at Mantex – tutorials, biography, study resources

Roderick Hudson – chapter summaries

I. Rowland Mallet is a rich young American bachelor who is preparing to go to Europe. He visits his cousin Cecilia who chides him about his lack of purpose and ambition. He claims he will collect paintings and donate them to a museum. Cecilia shows him an impressive statuette made by her friend Roderick Hudson.

II. Next day Rowland meets Roderick, who is a young and nervous Virginian. He is working with no enthusiasm in a law office. Rowland feels attracted to him and offers to take him to Rome to become a sculptor.

III. Roderick’s plan is resented by his mother, and Cecilia regrets his going to Rome. Rowland reassures Mrs Hudson of his good intentions and his belief in Roderick’s talent, but Mr Striker and Mary Garland remain sceptical.

IV. Rowland becomes more interested in Mary Garland. At a picnic she chides him for having no occupation.. When they set off for Europe, Roderick suddenly reveals to Rowland that he is engaged to Mary.

V. Three months later Roderick suddenly feels he is a changed man. He is spending money and absorbing impressions at a very fast rate. He is suddenly inspired after seeing a very attractive girl in a garden. He becomes an active participant in Rome’s social life; he completes a statue of Adam then three months later a complementaryEve.

VI. Rowland tries to overcome his feelings for Mary Garland by considering Augusta Blanchard. At a party, Roderick announces boastfully his intention to create great works of Art. The sceptic Gloriani thinks he will not sustain his early promise, and Madame Grandoni warns him against bohemianism. Shortly afterwards, Roderick runs out of inspiration. He stays alone in Switzerland and Germany for the summer, leaving Rowland to visit England.

VII. In England Rowland receives letters from Cecilia and Mary Garland, and from Roderick who is in Baden-Baden, losing money gambling. Rowland pays his debts and they meet in Geneva, where Roderick confesses that he is susceptible to attractive women. Back in Rome Roderick returns to work but feels that inspiration has deserted him. Their fellow American artist Sam Singleton has spent the entire summer in Italy improving his art, and is very happy.

VIII. Roderick and Rowland are visited by the eccentric Mrs Light and her daughter Christina, who is beautiful but disdainful. Roderick offers to make a sculpture of her. Rowland discovers from Madame Grandoni that Mrs Light is an adventuress with a chequered past who is searching for a rich husband for her daughter. When he goes to visit them, he discovers Roderick at work on the sculpture

IX. Roderick wishes to stay in Rome indefinitely, and thinks to send for Mary Garland and his mother to join him there. But meanwhile he is drawing closer to Christina Light. The completed bust of her is a big success. Rowland is sceptical about Christina, and is mildly envious of Roderick’s connection with Mary.

X. Augusta Blanchard introduces Roderick to Mr Leavenworth, a rich American businessman who wishes to commission a statue for his library. Christina complains that her mother is immoral and that she is disgusted by her conspicuous husband-hunting. She quizzes Rowland about Roderick, and he reveals to her that he is engaged to Mary Garland.

XI. Roderick is angry about this revelation and accuses Rowland of trying to control him. The two of them argue about Christina Light. Roderick falls into artistic doldrums and fears that his genius has left him. Rowland tries to encourage him, but to no avail.

XII. They are joined by Mrs Light, Christina, and Prince Casamassima. A picnic is arranged, after which Christina flirts with Roderick, which makes the Prince jealous, because he is in love with her. Giacosa reveals to Rowland that the Prince is very rich and very proud of his family’s name and his title. Mrs Light complains to Rowland about the sacrifices she has made in her ambition for Christina.

XIII. In the Colosseum Rowland overhears Christina reproaching Roderick for being weak and indecisive. Roderick proposes to show off by climbing dangerously to retrieve a flower for her, but is stopped by Rowland. Socially, Roderick makes few friends, he becomes more and more jaded, and slides into bohemian habits.

XIV. Rowland meets Christina in an old church. They discuss Roderick, and Rowland asks her to leave Roderick alone if she has no intention of marrying him. He appeals to her to make a sacrifice as a gesture of generosity and good will. A few days later she claims to have done so.

XV. Rowland writes to Cecilia in despair about the failure of his project with Roderick. He is exasperated by his friend’s mercurial temperament. Leavenworth breaks the news of Christina’s engagement to the Prince. Roderick refuses to complete his commission, and then argues with Rowland and will not accept his advice.

XVI. Rowland escapes alone to Florence, leaving Roderick still occupied with Christina. There he broods on Mary Garland and Roderick’s possible downfall. After a quasi-religious experience he returns to Rome and suggests that Mrs Hudson and Mary Garland should join them there. Roderick finally agrees – but he fails to meet them when they arrive.

XVII. Mary has matured in the two years they have been apart. There is tension between Roderick and his two guests. Next day they meet Christina in St Peter’s, where Roderick reveals that Christina may not be marrying Prince Casamassima after all.

XVIII. Mrs Hudson sits for a newly inspired Roderick in the mornings, leaving Rowland free to show Mary Garland around Rome. They challenge each other regarding art and nationalism, and she begins to take a serious interest in culture. Roderick and Rowland do not discuss the situation in which they find themselves.

XIX. Roderick finishes the sculpture (which is a success) but tells Rowland he is bored by the presence of his mother and Mary Garland. Rowland implores him to leave Rome with Mary at once and repair their relationship, but Roderick wishes to stay for Christina’s wedding. Gloriani thinks Roderick is truly talented. Christina arrives uninvited to Madame Grandoni’s party to inspect Mary Garland.

XX. Mary Garland does not like Christina and is suspicious of her motives. Giacosa pleads with Rowland to help Mrs Light, because Christina has suddenly called off her engagement to the Prince. Roderick has banished his mother and Mary for a week so that he can bask in the pleasure Christina’s news gives him. Mrs Light pleads with Rowland to remonstrate with Christina – but it is Giacosa’s additional supplication that moves him. He speaks to Christina, who tells him that she does not love the Prince..

XXI. Next day Rowland says goodbye to Sam Singleton who is returning to America, then he learns from Madame Gardoni that Christina married the Prince early that morning. They conclude that Giacosa is Christina’s true father, and her mother has used this information to force her hand. Roderick tells his mother and Mary that he is a failure. He also tells his mother about his infatuation with Christina and that he is bankrupt. Rowland arranges for them to leave Rome and stay at a villa in Florence.

XXII. At the villa in Florence the general mood of the party continues to be one of depression. Roderick does no work, and Mary is unhappy. Roderick says he might as well be a failure in America, but Rowland persuades him to stay in Europe for another year.

XXIII. The party leave Italy and travel to Switzerland. Roderick expresses his total despair to Rowland, who wonders if Mary will become available for him. Roderick claims he no longer cares for her, or for anyone else. Rowland makes subtle overtures to Mary, but she rebuffs him.

XXIV. Roderick feels bitter about Christina because he thinks she betrayed him. Sam Singleton turns up and is a model of artistic industry. Rowland meets Christina and the Prince on an excursion. She insists to him that she was sincere about her feelings for Roderick, but was forced into her marriage. She also says she is going to live recklessly.

XXV. Roderick asks Rowland to lend him money to go to Interlaken to meet Christina. She has fired up his desire and his will to live again. When Rowland is hesitant, he asks his mother and Mary, but they have no money. The two men argue about their behaviour and motivation, and Rowland reveals that he has been in love with Mary for two years.

XXVI. Roderick goes off alone into the mountains. There is a ferocious thunderstorm. Next day when he has still not returned, Rowland and Sam Singleton find his dead body at the bottom of a cliff from which he has fallen. The principals later return to America.

© Roy Johnson 2015

Roderick Hudson – principal characters

Henry James’s study

Further reading

Biographical

Theodora Bosanquet, Henry James at Work, University of Michigan Press, 2007.

Leon Edel, Henry James: A Life, HarperCollins, 1985.

Philip Horne (ed), Henry James: A Life in Letters, Viking/Allen Lane, 1999.

Henry James, The Letters of Henry James, Adamant Media Corporation, 2001.

Fred Kaplan, Henry James: The Imagination of Genius, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999

F.O. Matthieson (ed), The Notebooks of Henry James, Oxford University Press, 1988.

Critical commentary

Elizabeth Allen, A Woman’s Place in the Novels of Henry James, London: Macmillan, 1984.

Martha Banta (ed), New Essays on The American, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987

Ian F.A. Bell, Henry James and the Past, London: Palgrave Macmillan, 1993.

Millicent Bell, Meaning in Henry James, Cambridge (MA): Harvard University Press, 1993.

Harold Bloom (ed), Modern Critical Views: Henry James, Chelsea House Publishers, 1991.

Kirstin Boudreau, Henry James’s Narrative Technique, London: Macmillan, 2010.

Oscar Cargill, The Novels of Henry James, New York: Macmillan, 1961.

Roger Gard (ed), Henry James: The Critical Heritage, London: Routledge, 1968.

Tessa Hadley, Henry James and the Imagination of Pleasure, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009.

Barbara Hardy, Henry James: The Later Writing (Writers & Their Work), Northcote House Publishers, 1996.

Richard A. Hocks, Henry James: A study of the short fiction, New York: Twayne Publishers, 1990.

Colin Meissner, Henry James and the Language of Experience, Cambridge University Press, 2009

John Pearson (ed), The Prefaces of Henry James, Pennsylvania State University Press, 1993.

Ruth Yeazell (ed), Henry James: A Collection of Critical Essays, Longmans, 1994.

Other work by Henry James

Washington Square (1880) is a superb early short novel, It’s the tale of a young girl whose future happiness is being controlled by her strict authoritarian (but rather witty) father. She is rather reserved, but has a handsome young suitor. However, her father disapproves of him, seeing him as an opportunist and a fortune hunter. There is a battle of wills – all conducted within the confines of their elegant New York town house. Who wins out in the end? You will probably be surprised by the outcome. This is a masterpiece of social commentary, offering a sensitive picture of a young woman’s life.
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The Aspern Papers (1888) is a psychological drama set in Venice which centres on the tussle for control of a great writer’s correspondence. An elderly lady, ex-lover of the writer, seeks a husband for her daughter. But the potential purchaser of the papers is a dedicated bachelor. Money is also at stake – but of course not discussed overtly. There is a refined battle of wills between them. Who will win in the end? As usual, James keeps the reader guessing. The novella is a masterpiece of subtle narration, with an ironic twist in its outcome. This collection of stories also includes three of his accomplished long short stories – The Private Life, The Middle Years, and The Death of the Lion.
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The Spoils of Poynton (1896) is a short novel which centres on the contents of a country house, and the question of who is the most desirable person to inherit it via marriage. The owner Mrs Gereth is being forced to leave her home to make way for her son and his greedy and uncultured fiancee. Mrs Gereth develops a subtle plan to take as many of the house’s priceless furnishings with her as possible. But things do not go quite according to plan. There are some very witty social ironies, and a contest of wills which matches nouveau-riche greed against high principles. There’s also a spectacular finale in which nobody wins out.
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Henry James – web links

Henry James at Mantex
Biographical notes, study guides, tutorials on the Complete Tales, book reviews. bibliographies, and web links.

The Complete Works
Sixty books in one 13.5 MB Kindle eBook download for £1.92 at Amazon.co.uk. The complete novels, stories, travel writing, and prefaces. Also includes his autobiographies, plays, and literary criticism – with illustrations.

The Ladder – a Henry James website
A collection of eTexts of the tales, novels, plays, and prefaces – with links to available free eTexts at Project Gutenberg and elsewhere.

A Hyper-Concordance to the Works
Japanese-based online research tool that locates the use of any word or phrase in context. Find that illusive quotable phrase.

The Henry James Resource Center
A web site with biography, bibliographies, adaptations, archival resources, suggested reading, and recent scholarship.

Online Books Page
A collection of online texts, including novels, stories, travel writing, literary criticism, and letters.

Henry James at Project Gutenberg
A major collection of eTexts, available in a variety of eBook formats.

The Complete Letters
Archive of the complete correspondence (1855-1878) work in progress – published by the University of Nebraska Press.

The Scholar’s Guide to Web Sites
An old-fashioned but major jumpstation – a website of websites and resouces.

Henry James – The Complete Tales
Tutorials on the complete collection of over one hundred tales, novellas, and short stories.

Henry James on the Internet Movie Database
Adaptations of James’s novels and stories for the cinema and television – in various languages. Full details of directors and actors, production features, film reviews, box office, and even quizzes.

© Roy Johnson 2015