Henry James s Permanent Adolescence
Also by John R. Bradley and from the same publishers HENRY JAMES AND HOMO-EROTIC DESIRE (editor) HENRY JAMES ON STAGE AND SCREEN (editor)
Henry James s Permanent Adolescence John R. Bradley
John R. Bradley 2000 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2000 978-0-333-91874-6 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1P 0LP. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2000 by PALGRAVE Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N. Y. 10010 Companies and representatives throughout the world PALGRAVE is the new global academic imprint of St. Martin s Press LLC Scholarly and Reference Division and Palgrave Publishers Ltd (formerly Macmillan Press Ltd). ISBN 978-1-349-42367-5 DOI 10.1057/9780230286160 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Bradley, John R., 1970 Henry James's permanent adolescence / John R. Bradley. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-349-42367-5 1. James, Henry, 1843 1916 Knowledge Psychology. 2. Homosexuality and literature United States History. 3. Psychological fiction, American History and criticism. 4. James, Henry, 1843 1916 Characters Men. 5. James, Henry, 1843 1916 Psychology. 6. Adolescence in literature. 7. Narcissism in literature. 8. Young men in literature. 9. Desire in literature. 10. Boys in literature. 11. Sex in literature. I. Title. PS2127.P8 B7 2000 813'.4 dc21 00 033338 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 00 ISBN 978-0-230-28616-0 (ebook)
For Kelvin
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Contents Textual Note List of Abbreviations ix xi 1. Critical Hostility 1 2. Defining James s Homosexuality 13 3. Whitman, Pater and the Importance of Being 31 Manly in James s Early Fiction 4. John Addington Symonds and The Author of Beltraffio 75 5. Public Scandals, Private Dilemmas 91 6. The Uses of Obscurity 125 Notes 141 Bibliography 155 Index 161 vii
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Textual Note Since this book traces the chronological development of the stylistic and structural treatment of a particular theme in James s fiction, quotations are from the first published magazine or book versions rather than from the often heavily revised New York Edition of the Novels and Tales (1907 9). The exception is The Ambassadors. The New York Edition of the novel now in print has the benefit of having the chapters in the correct order, and with this late novel the question of chronology is less of an issue anyway: it was published during the same decade in which it was revised, and the revisions to the sentences (as opposed to the arrangement of chapters) were not extensive. ix
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List of Abbreviations The following abbreviations refer to works by Henry James, which are cited parenthetically in the text. Full references to the editions used are given in the bibliography. A AB AC AM AP AUT BJ C DL DM DMF GGP HJG HJL HJLL IC LM TP PL RH TOS TM The Ambassadors The Author of Beltraffio The Art of Criticism The American The Aspern Papers Autobiography The Beast in the Jungle Confidence The Death of the Lion Daisy Miller The Diary of a Man of Fifty The Great Good Place Letters of Henry James to Edmund Gosse Henry James Letters Henry James: A Life in Letters In the Cage A Light Man The Pupil The Portrait of a Lady Roderick Hudson The Turn of the Screw The Tragic Muse xi