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‘The Reader Who Likes a Complete Image’ vs. ‘The Arbiter of Destinies’: Henry James's The Bostonians, William Dean Howells, and Realism

‘The Reader Who Likes a Complete Image’ vs. ‘The Arbiter of Destinies’: Henry James's The... Comparative Critical Studies 4, 1, pp. 87–104 © BCLA 2007 anne-claire le reste The Bostonians relates the contest between a stern New England feminist and a self-confident sexist Southerner over a beautiful, submissive girl who speaks out for women’s rights; it notoriously ends with the virile male protagonist getting the girl. As this summary intimates, reading it is likely to be painful enough in itself. The trial seems innocuous enough, however, when compared to the often distressing experience of going through the bulk of criticism written about this novel. Wolfgang Iser has reminded us that readers’ judgement will ‘reveal their own norms’,1 yet The Bostonians is a narrative that has triggered particularly intense reactions, luring readers into displaying their own ideology, urging them to take sides either with the caring feminist (Olive) and against the brutal woman-hater (Basil), or with the no-nonsense hero-in-love (Basil again) and against the ruthless, perverting man-hater (Olive). Let me quote a few words about the latter, the Bostonian reformer who is trying to create a ‘Boston marriage’ with Verena or, in James’s careful words, ‘one of those friendships between women which are so common in New England’.2 In the less careful words of http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Comparative Critical Studies Edinburgh University Press

‘The Reader Who Likes a Complete Image’ vs. ‘The Arbiter of Destinies’: Henry James's The Bostonians, William Dean Howells, and Realism

Reste, Anne-Claire Le
Comparative Critical Studies , Volume 4 (1): 87 – Feb 1, 2007
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References (16)

Publisher
Edinburgh University Press
Copyright
© Edinburgh University Press
ISSN
1744-1854
eISSN
1750-0109
DOI
10.3366/ccs.2007.4.1.87
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Comparative Critical Studies 4, 1, pp. 87–104 © BCLA 2007 anne-claire le reste The Bostonians relates the contest between a stern New England feminist and a self-confident sexist Southerner over a beautiful, submissive girl who speaks out for women’s rights; it notoriously ends with the virile male protagonist getting the girl. As this summary intimates, reading it is likely to be painful enough in itself. The trial seems innocuous enough, however, when compared to the often distressing experience of going through the bulk of criticism written about this novel. Wolfgang Iser has reminded us that readers’ judgement will ‘reveal their own norms’,1 yet The Bostonians is a narrative that has triggered particularly intense reactions, luring readers into displaying their own ideology, urging them to take sides either with the caring feminist (Olive) and against the brutal woman-hater (Basil), or with the no-nonsense hero-in-love (Basil again) and against the ruthless, perverting man-hater (Olive). Let me quote a few words about the latter, the Bostonian reformer who is trying to create a ‘Boston marriage’ with Verena or, in James’s careful words, ‘one of those friendships between women which are so common in New England’.2 In the less careful words of

Journal

Comparative Critical Studies – Edinburgh University Press

Published: Feb 1, 2007

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