Henry James: biography, works

Henry James is a writer and playwright of American descent whose creative path spans over half a century. He is loved by English-speaking readers for their unique artistic style, but they know little about Russia.

Biography

Writer Henry James was born in New York. His youth fell during the Civil War. Formation of the personality of the future writer took place under the influence of European culture, since his father often took him on a trip. Since childhood he read a lot and was an avid theatergoer. James absorbed the culture of Europe and the New World in the same degree. This is what subsequently made him a writer whose work is at the crossroads of two cultures: English and American.

Growing up, the American left the New World and settled in Cambridge. New trends and old Puritan traditions were strangely combined in English society, which always attracted the interest of the writer. Henry James studied law, but the career of a lawyer preferred a literary career. His first story was published in the years of important political and social events. But the writer's policy was of little interest. The main goal of his work was the comparison of English society to American.

Personal life

Henry James spent his whole life alone. The only meaning of life was writing. His persistence did not stop even the lack of recognition on the part of readers. The theme of the Civil War did not find any response either in the writer's work, or in his soul.

Europe

At thirty-two, the writer left the United States. The older he became, the more uncomfortable he felt in American society. James decided to devote his life to prose and theory of literature. But he believed that it is impossible to create a creative way where the desire to enrich itself is above all else. Most of the works the writer created in Europe. Among them - novels "Roderick Hudson", "Female Portrait".

Psychological story

Novel "Daisy Miller" Henry James, in the opinion of critics, created, under the influence of the work of Ivan Turgenev. Like the Russian classic, James was always interested in the problem of foreigners abroad. In the novel, the author tries to reveal the character of an American girl, so misunderstood by a European person. The plot echoes Turgenev's Asya. It should be said that the plot coincidence is not accidental, since the Russian writer was one of James's favorite authors.

The main character of the work "Daisy Miller" Henry James portrayed simple-minded and direct. The author endowed it with typical, in his opinion, properties of the American character. Behavior Daisy evokes resonance in a prim English society. Ignoring the conventions, she gets acquainted with the Italian, whose origin leaves much to be desired. Henry James leads the narrative detached, on behalf of the hero, who has no direct relationship to the plot, but is rather an observer. The ending of the story is tragic. A young American woman dies of a serious illness.

The author created a multifaceted female image, which caused an ambiguous attitude of criticism. One of the publishers rejected the works, seeing in it a distorted image of an American lady.

"Female portrait"

An example of a subtle psychological style was Henry James's novel The Woman's Portrait. The inner world of women has always been extremely interested in him. The title of the work speaks for itself. In the novel, the author reveals a non-standard image for that time. Of course, the main character is smart and beautiful. But the distinctive feature of her character is independence. Isabella does not want to follow the outdated traditions that prevail in the society to which she belongs, and choose her own way in life. This story may not seem new to the modern reader. But it should be borne in mind that he was created twenty years before the advent of Dreiser's novel "Sister Kerry". Therefore, the interest of the British readers was of great interest and the Americans were perplexed.

Turgenev

Henry James was one of the first English-speaking writers who at the end of the XIX century propagated Russian literature among their compatriots. As Turgenev's work occupied a special place in James's life, he devoted two laudatory articles to Russian classics. A few years later the writers met and warm friendly relations developed between them.

The literary language of Henry James is quite complicated. Perhaps, therefore, his works were not widely used outside of the English-speaking audience. But even in England and the US about him for many years forgotten. They remembered only in the forties of the twentieth century. From that time it began to be popular both among readers and literary theorists.

In his work, James actively experimented with the literary form and was able to create his own narrative system. New techniques, the variety of artistic images made him an author, which aroused a keen interest among literary critics.