Henry James, The Bostonians

Pat Righelato (University of Reading)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.3: American (US) Writing and Culture: The Early Twentieth-century , 1900-1945.
Vol. editors: J. Michael Duvall (College of Charleston), Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), Dale Enggass (University of Utah), Matthew Hofer (University of New Mexico), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University), Tony Papanikolas (San Jose State University), Justin Parks (UiT - The Arctic University of Norway), Nick Selby (University of East Anglia)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1886

Places

United States (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel

Resources

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Henry James, pondering ideas in his Notebook entry of 8 April 1883 for a new novel to be set mainly in Boston, transcribed part of a letter he had written to J. R. Osgood, his American publisher:

I wished to write a very American tale, a tale very characteristic of our social conditions, and I asked myself what was the most salient and peculiar point in our social life. The answer was: the situation of women, the decline of the sentiment of sex, the agitation on their behalf. (James, Notebooks, 47)

I wished to write a very

American

tale, a tale very characteristic of our social conditions, and I asked myself what was the most salient and peculiar point in our social life. The answer was: the situation of women, the decline of the sentiment of sex, the agitation on their behalf.…

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5893 words

Citation: Righelato, Pat. "The Bostonians". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 25 September 2018 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=1407, accessed 25 April 2024.]

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