STUDY QUESTIONS FOR HENRY JAMES

The Art of Fiction (1884)

1. James writes that moralists have long insisted that fiction should apologize for its
supposed untruthfulness, its status as make-believe. How does he begin his
defense of the novel against this charge?
2. What is it about fiction that causes greater anxiety amongst some earnest
Protestant readers than a painting?
3. James defends the novel from certain assumptions commonly made about its form
and value. How does he characterize the errors of the general public and of Walter
Besant, and what principle itself does James assert against such fallacious
judgment?
4. How does James define his key-terms reality and experience? What
relationship does he posit between the novel and real life? What is the problem
with the well-intentioned rules of realistic novel-writing according to James?
5. What fault does James find with statements made by Walter Besant and others
concerning the kind of incidents and adventure that constitute a good novel?
6. James saves the issue of the novels moral status for last. How does he propose to
answer the difficult demand set by the earnest Victorian readers that there be a
moral in the novel? In what sense is it wrong to talk about a work of fiction as
moral or immoral? What usage of ethical terms does James himself sanction as
acceptable and why?
The Figure in the Carpet (1909)
1. In The Art of Fiction James writes: A novel is in its broadest definition a
personal, a direct impression of life. With this quotation as your point of
reference analyze the particular impression that James is trying to create in the
story.
2. James has often been called a psychological realist, more interested in the
development of a consciousness than in portraying character types and social
reality. Discuss the extent to which this observation holds true in relation to the
story.
3. What counts as evidence in the reading of a literary text? How do we read and
interpret texts according to James? How valid are such interpretations?
4. How has or gains access to the truth about a text and how do they do so? How
do we arrive at (if at all) certainty? How do we communicate our findings? What
makes any particular reading true?
5. What is Jamess view on marriage? Does he critique societys view on marriage?
How and through what characters?
6. What is the authors view on sexuality expressed in the story?
7. What is the narrative technique employed in the story?
8. From what point of view is the story told? Is the narrator reliable or not?
9. What does the figure in the carpet stand for?

A good critical text on The Figure in the Carpet is J. Hillis Millers essay, written from
the point of view of structuralism and incorporates structuralist terminology.