Essay About Case Of Henry James And Critics Of Its True Meaning

Huckleberry Finn
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he Warning in The Beast in the Jungle
“In the case of Henry James there should not be much dispute about the
exactness and completeness of the representation; no man ever strove more
studiously or on the whole more successfully to reproduce the shape and
color and movement of his æsthetic experience.” These are the remarks
of Stuart P. Sherman from his article entitled “The Aesthetic Idealism of
Henry James,” from The Nation, p. 397, April 5, 1917. Now, some seventy-two
years later critical readers are still coming to terms with James
aesthetic vision. As we have discussed in class, James aestheticizes
everything. Sexual intercourse, carnal knowledge, painful self-discovery,
human mortality, etc., are often figuratively and metaphorically veiled so
as not to disturb or repulse the reader. Taking a closer look at this, one
might say that James did this so that he himself would not be repulsed.
Perhaps James wasnt thinking so much of the reader as he was thinking of
himself.
In “The Beast in the Jungle” James has aesthetically hidden the
reality of Marchers destiny by treating it as a symbolic crouching beast
waiting to spring. The reader will ask why James has done this? Wouldnt it
be more effective to speak plainly of Marchers and Bartrams relationship?
The author could tell us exactly why John Marcher does not marry May
Bartram. The narrator tells us that Marchers situation “was not a
condition he could invite a woman to share” and “that a man of feeling
didnt cause himself to be accompanied by a lady on a tiger hunt” (p. 417).
This is nonsense. Marcher wont marry May because he doesnt want to
inconvenience her with his condition or endanger her life on a tiger hunt?
First of all, he inconveniences her right up to the day of her death with
his condition, and as for the metaphorical tiger hunt, what exactly does
that refer to? What is it here that James will not speak of in plain
language? Simply what is the meaning of this; what is the authors intent?
One might speculate that this story is somewhat autobiographical in
that James himself never married and often carried on close personal
relationships with a very select few. The various biographers of his life
have brought to light a number of respectable ladies and men with whom
James was personally and privately acquainted. There is also the belief
that everything an author produces is autobiographical to a certain extent.
And supposing “The Beast in the Jungle” is largely autobiographical, once
again I ask what was James intention? Is the story so autobiographical
that James felt it necessary to create an elaborate smoke-screen to elude
the critics of its true meaning in view of his personal life? Was the
aesthetic curtain drawn to protect his privacy? I believe this to be the
case, yet it seems to me that “The Beast in the Jungle” might also be read
as a warning to people who behave much like Marcher. Perhaps James is
saying one should not be foolish with the precious time of ones life. I
believe Krishna Vaid would agree with me; Vaid states:”The wider thematic
context of The Beast is perhaps too obvious to merit more than a bare
mention: it is a fantastic embodiment of the central Jamesian theme of
the unlived life”(Vaid p. 224). Readings and interpretations on James
intent vary widely.
For this brief examination I have acquired around ten different
sources. There was also an exchange of ideas in our February 28th class on
other critical works which I will attempt to deal with. In some ways the
criticism I have found is rather uniform, but on some points it differs
considerably. I shall start with the common parts of the criticism. Because
“The Beast in the Jungle” is a rather short work, the majority of these
critics tend to summarize the entire story instead of concentrating on one
or two significant aspects. I have found they are in general agreement that
May Bartram is the figurative “Beast.”